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The last time we wrote a recap of the year in finance and accounting tech (2023’s version), it wouldn’t have taken a rocket scientist (or member of the C-suite) to guess what it was about. Generative AI was the name of the game.
And when we polled CFOs about what tech trends they expected to see in 2024, everyone mentioned AI, but they were starting to see through the AI-hype glasses that fogged up in 2023.
“I hope that 2024 will get us beyond the current AI hype and closer to appropriate utilization of AI,” Ben Taylor, former CFO at Exscientia, told CFO Brew back in January 2024. “CFOs should be looking for areas where AI can optimize their operational goals.”
Proof of concept. CFOs were right about the changing tone of AI talk. In 2024, those two letters, AI, were greeted with three more: AI…and ROI.
By the end of 2024, it’s become clear that companies increasingly need to show proof of concept to justify their rampant AI spending. That narrative was building throughout the year, but it started to really crystallize in the final months of 2024, as tech power players investing heavily in AI reported stellar earnings while the market yawned.
“I think we’re getting to the point where AI enthusiasm and potential is not enough. These companies…are not quite delivering the growth that is priced into them,” Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird Private Wealth Management, told CNBC, in reference to tech companies like Microsoft and Meta.
Even outside the tech sector, companies across the board will likely have to step up their ROI focus if they want to continue investing in AI. They’d be in rarefied company if they did: Only 15% of companies with annual revenues of at least $1 billion have developed “measurable business outcomes and tangible growth” for generative AI investments, according to an October 2024 KPMG study.
Bright spots. But 2024 in tech and finance wasn’t all missed opportunities and shattered hopes.
A notable bright spot: In the first three quarters of 2024, 38% of incoming tech CFOs and 48% of new finance CFOs were women, twice as high as the year before, according to Russell Reynolds Associates. This, as the S&P 500 remains 42 years away from gender parity in CFO roles, per the executive search firm. (A girl…can dream.)
There were big names in the mix. In June, OpenAI tapped Sarah Friar, formerly CFO of Nextdoor and Square, to serve as the artificial intelligence company’s finance chief.
Over at Airbnb, Ellie Mertz stepped into the CFO seat in March after over a decade with the company. And Instacart also clocked an internal hire, promoting VP of finance Emily Reuter, formerly of Uber, to the top finance seat.