As corporate controllers head into 2026, Gartner’s latest survey of over 200 CFOs reveals a landscape defined by competing imperatives. Controllers are tasked with supporting CFOs in balancing cost pressures with growth ambitions, all while leading the shift to AI-first accounting.
Gartner recommends controllers prioritize three key actions to help strike balance between cost, growth and AI ambitions:
Use these findings to pressure-test your agenda, prepare your executive team and deliver on your CFO’s priorities in 2026.
AI adoption in finance is widespread, but scaling remains elusive. Only 4% of finance teams have moved beyond pilots. While knowledge management is a common starting point for finance teams getting started with AI, controllers should consider some less-established, high-feasibility use cases that demonstrate significant potential.
For example, 37% of finance teams using AI for code generation report a high impact, as it enables staff to find custom, high-leverage opportunities for increased automation and insight generation. Other high-feasibility, high-impact use cases include accounts payable automation and error and anomaly detection. Controllers can consult the Gartner AI Use Case Insights tool to identify additional opportunities for implementing underused, yet relatively easy-to-implement, AI use cases.
