STAMFORD, Conn., February 24, 2026
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Gartner Predicts Embedded AI in Cloud ERP Applications will Drive a 30% Faster Financial Close by 2028
Five Emerging Themes in Cloud ERP Will Reshape the Finance Function
Five emerging themes in cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) finance applications will shape the future of the finance function through AI and automation, according to Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company. Based on these themes, Gartner predicts that finance organizations using cloud ERP applications with embedded AI assistants will see a 30% faster financial close by 2028.
“Cloud ERP finance applications will deliver additional automation, insight, and efficiency to finance functions in the near future by integrating machine learning, GenAI, and AI agents,” said Mike Helsel, Senior Director, Research in the Gartner Finance practice. “However, realizing these benefits requires CFOs to navigate vendor hype, organizational change, and the evolving economics of AI in the enterprise.”
The five emerging themes for AI innovation in the cloud ERP finance application market include:
- Composable ecosystem
- Intelligent process automation
- AI trust, risk and security management (TRiSM)
- Adaptive analytics
- AI-driven planning and forecasting
Five Emerging AI Themes in Cloud ERP
Composable ecosystems are critical to the cloud ERP landscape because they empower organizations to build and modify their financial systems with unprecedented agility. “Many ERP systems of the past earned the descriptor ‘monolithic’ due to their infamous inflexibility,” said Helsel. “In contrast, modern cloud ERP ecosystems embrace low-code flexibility and modular composability. This will enable finance functions to combine and operationalize new capabilities much faster, moving in lockstep with shifting market environments.”
AI-driven intelligent process automation in cloud ERP finance applications uses agentic AI, ML, and process orchestration to streamline reconciliation and collections. “Cloud ERP providers are redefining mature intelligent process automation solutions to handle everything from autonomous transaction processing to AI-driven accounts receivable (AR) collections that predict payment behavior and optimize working capital, freeing finance teams to focus on strategic priorities instead of routine tasks,” said Helsel.
As financial systems grow more complex, AI TRiSM is emerging as a safeguard against fraud, compliance breaches and insider threats. “AI TRiSM in cloud ERP finance promises AI-driven anomaly detection, continuous controls monitoring, and real-time audit logging to strengthen financial integrity, with both emerging and established capabilities available in the marketplace,” said Helsel.
Adaptive analytics capabilities are emerging in cloud ERP finance platforms, aiming to equip finance professionals with conversational, natural-language interfaces and context-sensitive dashboards that quickly translate large amounts of data into clear, actionable insights. “We are seeing developments in the market, such as GenAI ESG disclosures and conversational analytics, that allow CFOs and finance teams to interact with cloud ERP finance applications using plain language,” said Helsel.
AI-driven planning and forecasting tools offer scenario modelling, predictive analytics, and personalized dashboards to provide actionable insights for planning and risk management. “These tools have the potential to deliver more accurate forecasts and enhance strategic agility by enabling faster responses to market changes,” said Helsel.
Adoption Rate of Cloud ERP on the Rise
Despite the potential benefits of these five themes in cloud ERP, most CFOs are still in the early stages of adoption, hindered by data quality, integration complexity, skills gaps, and inconsistent multientity support in the market. Gartner forecasts that adoption of AI-enabled cloud ERP tools will progress rapidly with 62% of cloud ERP spending on AI-enabled solutions by 2027, up from 14% in 2024.
Gartner analysts recommend that finance teams select cloud ERP finance applications with independently validated ML, GenAI, and agentic AI capabilities, specifically those that deliver automation, conversational analytics, and autonomous operations aligned with strategic business outcomes.
“CFOs should insist on industry-specific features, transparent pricing, and referenceable customer adoption for AI tools, while investing in data governance and upskilling finance teams to maximize ROI and mitigate adoption risks,” said Helsel.
Gartner clients can read more in the report Innovation Insight: AI in Cloud ERP Finance Applications and nonclients can read The CFO Report.
About Gartner Finance Symposium/Xpo 2026
Attendees of the Gartner Finance Symposium/Xpo 2026, taking place March 23-24 in Sydney, May 27-29 in National Harbor and June 8-9 in London, will join Gartner analysts to explore how to test where AI is driving value, build leaner operating models without added complexity, lead capital and growth decisions through volatility, and build a culture of innovation and opportunity in Finance. CFOs and finance leaders will learn what it really takes to build the kind of finance organization where insights lead to faster decisions, automation supports more of the close and forecast, and finance teams engage with the business without becoming a bottleneck. Follow news and updates from the conferences on X and LinkedIn using the hashtag #GartnerFinance.
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