INSIGHT

How High-Performing CFOs Are Getting More From AI

Tom Achor • June 2, 2026

Services: Sage Intacct

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Finance leaders are using AI more than ever. The ones pulling ahead share a few habits worth paying attention to. 

While most CFOs are leveraging AI, not all are seeing the same results. Recent research from Sage, drawing on input from thousands of finance leaders across multiple countries, found that high-performing CFOs are significantly more likely to drive strong revenue growth than peers still operating with legacy finance approaches. And one of the clearest differentiators is how, not just whether, they use AI. 

The Gap Between Adoption and Impact 

For all the momentum around AI in finance, results haven’t always kept pace with expectations. Many finance leaders will tell you that the tools they have don’t quite fit the work they’re really doing.  

Generic AI wasn’t designed around reconciliation workflows, subledger discrepancies, variance analysis, or the rhythm of month-end. Apply a general-purpose tool to a highly specific process and you often get more friction, not less. 

High-performing CFOs have worked through this. Rather than experimenting with AI on the margins, they’ve embedded it in the core of how their teams operate. 

Five Habits That Set High Performers Apart 

The Sage research identifies five behaviors that consistently show up in finance organizations that outperform their peers. 

1. Leverage AI and Automation Wherever the Workflow Allows. For high performers, this isn’t about novelty or checking a box. AI is standard operating procedure, built into daily finance tasks and treated as infrastructure rather than an add-on. 

2. Make Data-Driven Decisions Consistently. High performers rely on data visualization, outlier detection, and process automation as regular practice, not just during close. The result is faster, more confident decision-making at every level of the organization. 

3. Expand Influence Beyond Traditional Finance Boundaries. High-performing CFOs have increasingly taken on broader organizational responsibilities, including operations, growth initiatives, and workforce planning. That kind of reach requires financial data that’s always current and always trustworthy. 

4. Take Command of Compliance. Rather than treating compliance as a burden to distribute, high performers own it directly. The payoff shows up in both efficiency and confidence: these leaders are far more likely to find compliance manageable and even a source of competitive advantage. 
5. Trust the Results. Sage AI tools enforce all of the internal controls and permissions already in place in the Intacct configuration, allowing leaders to have confidence in the outcomes. 

Each of these habits depends on a common foundation: real-time access to reliable, well-organized financial data. 

When AI Understands Finance, the Dynamic Shifts 

Finance-trained AI embedded directly in your ERP works differently than a general-purpose assistant. It’s operating inside the system where transactions are posted, journals are reviewed, and approvals are routed. That means insights surface when they’re still actionable, not after close when the cost of fixing something is highest. 

Sage Intacct Copilot is built around this principle. Rather than functioning as a separate tool you have to context-switch to reach, it works inside Sage Intacct to flag incomplete entries, surface subledger discrepancies, and explain variances as they develop throughout the month. Sage describes this approach as “continuous close,” a shift away from the end-of-month fire drill toward a steadier rhythm where close tasks happen as part of daily work. 

For finance teams, that’s not just an efficiency gain. It also reflects the future of Sage Intacct, where AI-enabled tools help reallocate capacity toward the strategic work the research identifies as the hallmark of high-performance leadership.

What This Means for Your Finance Team 

The CFOs getting real value from AI tend to be working with tools that fit how finance operates. If you’re evaluating how AI fits into your finance operations, or reconsidering whether your current tools are delivering, BPM works with organizations through Sage Intacct services to optimize and implement Sage Intacct, including its AI capabilities. The goal is building financial infrastructure that lets your team lead with clarity rather than scramble to catch up. 

Ready to explore what that looks like in practice? Let’s start a conversation.