The majority of finance leaders feel AI could eventually be a threat to senior finance roles, including their own.
This is according to new research commissioned by cloud accounting provider iplicit, which surveyed 250 UK-based mid-market finance leaders on their AI readiness, usage and concerns.
The survey found that over half (51%) feel AI is already a threat to entry-level finance jobs, with 52% claiming AI could eventually impact senior finance roles, too.
This opinion was considerably stronger amongst day-to-day operational roles such as Financial Controllers (74%) vs. CFOs (48%) and VPs / FDs (45%).
Personal and professional concerns
The majority (92%) surveyed admitted a degree of personal or professional concern about adopting AI within their finance function.
Top worries included the need to learn new skills quickly to keep up (36%), the impact on professional reputations if AI makes mistakes (34%), and uncertainty about how it would change career paths (32%).
Again, concerns varied significantly by job role and seniority. Over a third (35%) of Financial Controllers fear feeling less connected to the strategic and analytical side of finance as a result of AI adoption (a fear shared by only 13% of CFOs).
The same per centage of Financial Controllers worry about their role being automated or reduced in scope (a fear shared by only 19% of VPs / FDs).
Rob Steele, CFO of iplicit, commented on the findings:
“The data lifts the lid on how finance professionals are really feeling about AI today – and not everyone is on the same page.”
“Senior leadership and those further up the chain of command are less fearful, possibly because they understand AI and its future implications better. In most cases, they’ve been exposed to AI earlier through exec leadership meetings and cross-functional collaboration.”
