CFOs from Adobe, Dataminr, and Huntington on Scaling AI Across the Enterprise

Good morning. Artificial intelligence is quickly rising to a board-level concern, placing chief financial officers at the heart of corporate AI strategy.

This insight came from the inaugural Emerging CFO webinar of the year, hosted on January 27 in collaboration with Workday, which featured a conversation with three finance executives: Tiffany Buchanan, CFO of Dataminr; Dan Durn, CFO and Executive Vice President of finance, technology, security, and operations at Adobe; and Zachary Wasserman, CFO at Huntington.

Buchanan stated that at Dataminr, AI is a permanent fixture in the annual operating plan and influences every budgeting choice. She considers AI integration essential for all departments, facilitated by built-in features in contemporary SaaS platforms and AI tools now available to businesses of every scale. This strategy, she noted, establishes the CFO as a key strategic ally to the CEO, channeling investment into projects that promote growth and operational efficiency.

Durn described Adobe’s AI approach as focused on boosting “organizational velocity”—shortening the time between gaining an insight and taking action within a data-abundant setting. Integrating AI throughout business functions enables teams to identify trends more quickly and react more efficiently, he stated. However, he clarified that technology by itself is insufficient; achievement also hinges on corporate culture, ongoing education, and leaders who exhibit inquisitive thinking instead of depending on rigid manuals.

Wasserman pointed out that implementing AI in a strictly regulated banking institution necessitates a careful equilibrium between pace and risk. He cautioned that as AI models evolve quickly, even a brief postponement can lead to a substantial competitive gap. In response, Huntington has developed a generative AI risk framework, ranks potential applications by their risk profile, and mandates human review for higher-stakes uses, he explained.

These leadership viewpoints highlight a wider transition occurring in finance departments: CFOs are progressing from testing AI to implementing it at scale.

The data challenge underlying the AI drive

During the webinar, Sommer Frazier, managing director of finance transformation at KPMG US, noted that while a majority of firms have embraced AI in some capacity, numerous are caught between trial initiatives and full-scale rollout. She identified problems with data integrity, inadequate governance, infrastructure deficiencies, skill gaps, and cybersecurity worries as some of the most frequent hurdles.

The key task is to enhance the finance function’s position as a guardian of corporate data. Frazier mentioned that a recent KPMG survey reveals 82% of executives now name data quality as the primary obstacle to AI effectiveness. She said finance executives must assist in setting up standards and governance structures, while operational units keep daily responsibility for the data they produce and manage.

Generative AI, once an emerging technology, is now integrated into common business applications, ranging from office software to essential financial platforms, she observed. Finance departments are leveraging it to condense meeting notes, prepare explanations for budget variances, review contracts in bulk, and spot trends in pricing and payment terms that can enhance fiscal outcomes.

Frazier anticipates that 2026 will signal a move towards widespread coordination of AI agents, where staff will more frequently oversee interconnected networks of AI tools instead of separate tasks. This evolution, she said, will lead to a redistribution of finance professionals’ efforts toward more strategic analysis and judgment calls.

Further details on other subjects covered are available.

Sheryl Estrada