CFO’s Take: Distinguishing AI From Buzzword to Budget Line
As a CFO, when I am pitched to review or even purchase a new AI tool, I tend to wonder whether it’s another “buzzy” application of AI (since almost every tool claims to use AI), and even in the case when it's a true AI tool - will it actually assist my team? And if so, how exactly?
When turning to my fellow CFOs with an AI tool pitch, you can guess the first question we’ll ask: What is the ROI? How much headcount will it “save”?
Now I’ll say something a little less CFO of me; there is so much more to it than only saving time. AI can and does actually improve the quality of work and assist the growth of a company.
Join me below, where I explore the three biggest benefits we should expect from AI tools as CFOs, founders and other budget-managers.
Employee efficiency
AI tools have the potential to dramatically scale employee efficiency, sometimes even to the point of replacing or reducing headcount. We’ve already seen this in R&D departments. An obvious example is Tabnine, which helps engineering teams speed up and simplify their entire development process. Today, Tabnine claims to write more than 30% of the code. It’s not just about speed: it frees developers to focus on the more complex tasks where human creativity and judgment are the real differentiators. (A different application of this for both design/product and developer teams is Anima.)
In Customer Support and Customer Success, tools like Tymely’s AI agent already provide end-to-end ticket resolution. Tymely learns the workflows and integrations across company systems, so it’s not just replying politely to customers; it can also take action to solve the issue. For example, it can initiate a product return and replacement on the customer’s behalf. That means CS teams save time, work around the clock, and resolve more tickets at a lower cost.
Marketing and Sales teams have plenty of AI-driven tools too, whether for optimizing messaging, running market research, or even supporting sales motions.
Finance is more complicated. Today, most AI initiatives focus on FP&A and budgeting, but I believe we’ll soon see tools take over a much bigger share of finance’s technical work. Imagine tax review, compliance checks, and contract audits being largely automated - flagging risks in advance so we can act before they become problems. That said, when it comes to finance, legal, and compliance, trust is critical. (Personally, I’m not ready to rely on AI alone here, but I do see value in using it as a backup or an early alert system.)
Upgrading outcomes
Because AI tools are not always 100% accurate or personalized (despite all the training on company policies, tone, and even ‘DNA’), we tend to judge them as all-or-nothing. If it can’t replace headcount, we dismiss it as not saving money. That mindset misses the point.
Especially for customer-facing work, AI can be a powerful starting point. It can draft the first version of market research, customer outreach, or email copy. Then employees add the “human touch,” creativity, and context. That combination - AI for the baseline, humans for the finishing - means faster execution without sacrificing quality. In many cases, it actually improves quality because employees can spend their time refining rather than starting from scratch.
Marketing is a clear example, but this logic applies across departments. Used well, AI enables a company to move faster and outperform competitors.
Growth and scale
AI also enables scale. For instance, AI-powered SDR agents can expand the pipeline significantly without adding headcount. More broadly, the time AI saves can be redeployed in different ways. Companies can either:
- Improve unit economics by doing the same work with fewer people, or
- Keep headcount steady and let teams focus on higher-value tasks.
Believe it or not, from a CFO’s perspective, I often prefer the latter.
Last year, during budget season, teams came to me to consult on requests for more headcount. My response was consistent: before hiring, check if software could solve the problem. That still applies, but today the question is broader: can AI help us do more with the same team, and at higher quality? Can we stretch KPIs further than before?
Of course, efficiency in one department isn’t enough. As we integrate AI tools across the company, we need to make sure capacity stays balanced. Otherwise, one team may scale faster than others, creating bottlenecks. Budgeting isn’t just about cost but about making sure the whole company can serve customers well.
From a professional point of view, I’ll say this: as tempting as it is to lean on AI for service quality, speed, and efficiency, the technology is still early. Human oversight and quality control remain essential.
But make no mistake; AI is not a ‘buzzy’ trend, even if we are being bombarded with buzzy aspects of it. Overall, it’s the start of something transformative. For CFOs, it’s an opportunity to show the true business value of our role: redefining efficiency, elevating outcomes, and enabling sustainable growth that aligns with company strategy.
