New Survey: Tech Is CFOs’ Top Investment Priority for 2025
Justifying the cost of a significant tech upgrade to the C-suite is no walk in the park – but we’ve got some good news for you: There’s a good chance it will be easier to get approvals for tech upgrades in 2025.
That’s the upshot of Grant Thornton’s newly released Q3 2024 CFO Survey, which garnered insight from more than 230 senior finance leaders.
‘Tech Investments Have Become Table Stakes’
It’s not earth-shattering news that senior finance leaders plan to invest in technology.
Let’s face it, as far as investment strategies go, it sounds like a solid move. After all, artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize how we work.
But what might raise a few eyebrows is just how many CFOs said tech upgrades are their primary investment strategy right now.
A whopping 66% of respondents said they expect to increase their spending on IT and technology in the next year. That’s a 15-quarter high in the survey.
Let’s pause to put that time frame into perspective: Fifteen quarters ago was almost four years ago – Q1 of 2021. At that time, many people were still trying to figure out how to send Zoom invites, and the first COVID vaccines had just been administered in the U.S.
Put another way, it has been four long years since the C-suite was this committed to investing in technology. Why the shift now?
Just like HR pros need to future-proof their careers, companies also have to adjust their strategies to stay relevant and compete with their industry peers.
“These investments have become table stakes,” according to Paul Melville, national managing principal of CFO Advisory for Grant Thornton Advisors LLC. “CFOs understand that they need these technological capabilities to be competitive.”
Leveraging Opportunities for Tech Upgrades
Now that CFOs are open to allocating more resources to tech upgrades, how can HR capitalize on the opportunity?
1. Ask the Right Questions
First, it helps to know what the C-suite has in mind. Find out what they want from the tech upgrades. So you’ll need to ask some straightforward questions, like:
- What is the primary business goal?
- What kind of new technology is needed to support that goal?
- How can HR help with the selection, implementation and training as the company transitions to the new tech platform?
In the survey, CFOs revealed that they experimented with AI on behind-the-scenes business tasks earlier this year – and now more companies are also using generative AI in customer-facing roles. How so?
Respondents said they are using generative AI for:
- customer relationship management/customer experience (60%, up from 45% in Q1), and
- product/service development (58%, up from 35% in Q1).
What that means for HR pros: That’s especially promising news for HR professionals who have been banging the drums for a new Learning Management System (LMS) to streamline training processes. If the company invests in a new GenAI tool for customer service or product development, the technology will still need human oversight – which means employees will need training on how to use the platform.
And even if your CFOs have a different goal in mind, don’t worry. In many cases, CFOs and HR share the same concerns and watch the same metrics, such as attrition rates, time-to-fill open roles and employee engagement. Those areas can be expensive business problems.
Plus, the HR department’s net is cast so wide across the company that you’ll probably be able to show how new HR tech supports that business goal. For example, if the C-suite wants:
- Lower attrition rates, then an LMS platform supports retention efforts by providing continuous learning
- Faster time-to-fill rates, then an applicant tracking system (ATS) boosts hiring efficiency, or
- More employee engagement, then an employee engagement software platform enhances the employee experience and helps identify potential issues.
The bottom line: Ask the right questions to figure out the C-suite’s biggest priority – and then make recommendations based on that need.
2. Getting the ‘Yes’ – Make a Business Case
Second, if you want to get the yes for your ask, then focus on the value for the company. You want to make a business case for your pitch.
In the webinar Getting a Yes from your CFO, 1Mind CFO Scott Broomfield recommends presenting the most probable upside and downside to approving your request.
If you can show that even the worst-case scenario could still be profitable or reduce costs, you’ll have a much easier time convincing your CFO that it’s a smart business move, Broomfield says.
Looking for even more help? Check out Found the LMS Platform You Want? Here’s How to Get Your Boss to OK It.
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