As tech spending rises, CFOs gear up for measurable returns
Executive summary
Despite a volatile year, finance leaders’ optimism about the U.S. economy held steady at 52% in Q4 while tech investment increases surged to a 20-quarter high. Our Q4 2025 CFO survey showed that finance leaders are responding to uncertainty by strengthening resilience and investing in technology to drive growth and efficiency. The survey showed that:
- Confidence in key business fundamentals has stabilized, as just 7% of respondents aren’t confident they can meet their growth projections
- Digital transformation expenses are rising as two-thirds expect IT/digital transformation expenses to increase.
- Although focus on cost optimization decreased, more than one-fourth (27%) ranked it as one of their top two areas of focus
- Tax savings opportunities await, and half are relying at least partly on third parties to ensure compliance and maximize benefits
- Workforce management has become more challenging and is rising as an area of focus
The data shows that the economic rollercoaster of the past year hasn’t shaken finance leaders’ confidence or determination.
“CFOs have become accustomed to swings in the market, and they’ve developed enough resilience where they’re not afraid to invest in growth at this time,” said Grant Thornton National Managing Partner of Accounts and Growth for Advisory Services Paul Melville.
Our survey shows that finance leaders are seizing opportunities to gain a competitive advantage, even as economic uncertainty swirls around them.
Introduction
The final months of 2025 showed that finance leaders have developed enough resilience in their organizations to enable a strategic push for growth in a volatile economic environment. Our recently published Enterprise Resilience Survey report also shows the connection between resilience and the efficiency that CFOs crave.
The 52% of survey respondents who expressed optimism about the U.S. economy was nearly identical to the 51% figure from last quarter, showing stability that’s radically departed from the dramatic swings in optimism that followed the election a year ago (68%) and the tariff announcements in Q2 (39%).
Finance leaders’ assessment of many key business fundamentals also stabilized after reaching middle ground in Q3. Q4 data closely mirrored the Q3 numbers for respondents’ confidence in meeting goals for:
- Supply chain needs (57% in Q4 and Q3)
- Labor needs (53% in Q4, 51% in Q3)
- Cost control (53% in Q4, 50% in Q3)
- Growth (49% in Q4, 46% in Q3)
This stability contrasted with the volatility finance leaders are facing. The survey was in the field from Nov. 4–13, coinciding with the final days of a government shutdown that ended Nov. 12. Persistent inflation, questions about the Fed’s interest rate plans, and doubts about the future of healthcare subsidies created an environment with more uncertainty than the spin of a roulette wheel.
But CFOs were unperturbed.
“By now everybody understands the hand they’ve been dealt,” said Grant Thornton Audit Growth Leader Mike Desmond. “They’re surrounded by instability and uncertainty, but they’re putting mechanisms in place to deal with that.”
Those mechanisms are powered by AI-driven technology, aggressive spending and a desire by CFOs to transform their organizations so their competitors don’t leave them behind.
But the resilience that’s been built is accompanied by a drop in confidence that profits will rise (down 8 percentage points) and that technology objectives will be achieved (also down 8 points). Grant Thornton National Tax Solutions Leader Dana Lance said CFOs are uneasy even though they’ve become comfortable in their current state of ambiguity.
“There’s a lot of work to do to achieve the growth potential that they see,” she said.
What’s the key to effective tech investments?
How excited are CFOs about technology? The 67% of respondents who expect their IT and digital transformation expenses to increase in the next year marks a 20-quarter high in our survey, and the 60% expecting cybersecurity expenses to rise is up 17 percentage points from last quarter.
“A lot of CFOs believe keeping up with the pace of change on the AI front is essential for them to take advantage of the positive outlook that they see in the economy,” said David Sites, National Managing Partner for Grant Thornton’s Washington National Tax Office and International Tax Solutions. “But that’s where the uncertainty comes from. CFOs are not always sure which levers they need to pull to get digital transformation right.”
The uncertainty shows in the survey finding that just 58% of finance leaders expressed confidence in meeting their technology objectives, down from 66% in Q3. To make sure they reach their goals, Melville said, companies need to be deliberate in their technology spending.
For maximum effect, tech investments need to be aligned carefully with business objectives.
“Don’t buy the bright, shiny new toy if it doesn’t help you accomplish your strategy,” Melville said. “Invest in technology that helps improve the performance of your organization.”
Desmond looks at technology spending as an opportunity to make an impact in three key areas:
- Customer interfaces and customer experience
- Satisfaction of customer needs through technology, including tech that improves production processes
- Back-office administration of the enterprise
Each area provides a different type of return for an organization.
“The first should have top-line lift,” Desmond said. “The second should have margin benefit. The third should have a bottom-line benefit. So each one affects a different aspect of the P&L.”
While finance leaders are investing to affect those areas, they’re also prioritizing business resilience and being thoughtful about the security around the technology they invest in. Sixty percent of respondents expect cybersecurity expenses to increase, compared with 43% last quarter. The share of finance leaders who rank cybersecurity as a top-three focus area also rose by double digits over Q3.
Why are CFOs opening up their checkbooks?
Finance leaders have decided that the time for strategic spending is now:
- More than half (51%) expect operations expenses to increase over the next year, up from 35% last quarter, marking a 20-quarter high in the survey
- The portion who expect to cut costs on long-term strategic initiatives has dwindled to 28%, down from 36% last quarter
- Cash and liquidity (down to 30% from 45%) and cost optimization (down to 37% from 48%) fell as top-three areas of focus from last quarter
This is likely due to anticipated savings from new tax legislation — and because CFOs are tired of waiting for interest rate cuts.
“They’re deploying capital now because they need to move forward with these strategic initiatives, even if rates aren’t as low as they’d like,” Desmond said.
Interest rates have fallen 175 basis points over the past 16 months, and some new developments in financing are creating new opportunities for borrowers. Desmond and Melville said the current administration’s relaxing of banking regulations has made traditional lending more available. Meanwhile, a rise in private credit opportunities presents another potential avenue for funding.
Regardless of where they’re getting the capital, companies are investing with the understanding that it might take a while for their spending to deliver profits. The portion of finance leaders who expect their profits to grow over the next 12 months shrank to 68% from 76% last quarter.
As profit expectations dipped, customer acquisition and retention emerged as the No. 1 priority when finance leaders listed their top two areas of focus. This newfound emphasis coincides with the availability of new technology that can revolutionize and personalize customer experience.
“Speed to market is so fast now that you can be outmaneuvered by your competitors very quickly,” Melville said. “You have to be laser-focused on your customer with quality of service, follow-ups and added value, and speed is critical.”
CFOs are focused both on retaining existing customers to deliver profitability and attracting new customers to drive a multiple expansion on the enterprise value.
Shared services and outsourcing, meanwhile, is another area where finance leaders are finding value and savings to invest in additional strategic opportunities. In many cases, outsourcing provides technological and human capital capabilities that organizations don’t have in-house — allowing them to accelerate their transformation roadmap and ROI with lower risk than trying to build these capabilities on their own.
According to a recent survey report published by the Shared Services & Outsourcing Network (SSON) and Auxis, the new outsourcing arm of Grant Thornton, 52% of company shared services delivery executives are looking to increase their use of outsourcing as they seek cost advantages (78%) and access to talent (62%). Almost half (44%) see outsourcing as a vehicle to absorb growth, and 44% are looking to outsourcing to help increase their internal teams’ focus on higher-value activities.
“As finance leaders evaluate technology’s potential benefits, they also need to consider the potential advantages that offshore and nearshore outsourcing can deliver as they reimagine their businesses,” Melville said.
How can full tax savings benefits be achieved?
One emerging new source for this aggressive spending is tax savings, as many finance leaders are optimistic about the effects the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) tax legislation will have on their businesses — but about half will need help to reap the full benefits.
Almost half (44%) of respondents expect to benefit from the OBBBA, while just 18% predict the law will harm their financial position. But 18% (up from 5% in Q3) said they will need to outsource all compliance work to a third party and use them to maximize benefits. An additional 33% said they may need to consult a third party for compliance and realization of full benefits.
“CFOs understand now what needs to be done, but some of them lack confidence in their ability to do it,” Lance said. “They’re looking carefully at their people and at service providers to see what support they need.”
Although concerns in general about implementation have receded slightly since Q3, 43% are concerned about understanding eligibility and compliance requirements, and another 43% have concerns about adjusting their tax planning strategies.
Sites believes company leaders are missing out on opportunities to use the OBBBA to lower their international tax exposure.
“Companies are well-prepared to take advantage of domestic OBBBA opportunities such as bonus depreciation, R&D and interest expense limitations,” he said, “but there’s a lot of overlooked potential in the international tax space.”
Reforms of GILTI, FDII and BEAT rules are among the many promising OBBBA changes that can lead to savings from an international tax perspective.
There’s also overlooked risk related to state taxes, despite survey data showing that:
- 87% of respondents said their tax team’s understanding of compliance issues arising from various states’ reactions to the OBBBA was at least somewhat strong.
- 84% said their tax team is at least somewhat prepared to carry out the multistate compliance and tax planning needed to respond to states’ reactions to OBBA provisions.
Lance said we may expect increased state audit activity as some employees who lost their jobs in substantial IRS workforce reductions are being hired by states seeking to rebuild their tax enforcement ranks, which have been significantly understaffed for several years. Meanwhile, the OBBBA and tariff-related supply chain restructurings can create substantial complexity for companies with multistate profiles.
“Companies shouldn’t underestimate the potential risks of lack of conformity across their state filing profile,” Lance said.
How is automation affecting the workforce?
Our survey results reveal a workforce in flux as technology transformation intensifies:
- 45% of respondents listed workforce management as a top-three area of focus, up from 35% in Q3
- 43% are considering cutting human capital expenses related to headcount and compensation, but those expecting layoffs in the next six months plunged to 32% from 45% in Q3
- 37% expect to cut human capital expenses related to insurance and benefits, tying a 14-quarter high.
- 34% expect recruiting expenses to increase, up six percentage points from Q3
- 39% expect training and development expenses to increase, an identical number to Q3, even as the workforce needs training to adjust to rapid adoption of new technology
- More than half (55%) of respondents are experiencing challenges in attracting and retaining the right talent
As automation is implemented, CFOs need to constantly evaluate all workforce costs as well as their human capital strategy.
“The difficulty of attracting and retaining the right talent isn’t going away,” Melville said. “In fact, the emergence of AI only makes that more important.”
AI also can play a key role in reducing workforce costs such as recruiting (as long as it’s programmed to avoid bias) and training (with more just-in-time, personalized delivery). And while AI implementation can lead to reduced headcount, it also can lead to new hiring for different roles and in new locations.
Desmond is seeing that AI initiatives have companies considering the geographic footprints of their back-office functions and seeking resource reallocation opportunities.
“You might have situations where headcount doesn’t change, but where headcount resides does change,” he said.
Key takeaways
Our survey shows that CFOs are building resilience through tech bets and tax optimization — while managing workforce disruption. Technology transformation is emerging as the fuel that is propelling organizations toward growth and efficiency amid challenging, constantly changing economic conditions.
Companies that fail to match their competitors in technology adoption and innovation today will have difficulty catching up in the future.
“With AI, you get on board or you get left behind,” Melville said.
To stay ahead, our survey shows that finance leaders need to:
- Make investments in AI that solve your own specific problems: Choose the technology that fits your organization’s unique needs. Many rank-and-file end users will be best positioned to know how to innovate. Listen to them.
- Measure AI’s returns: Melville said: “When boards ask about the value that companies are getting out of AI investments, CFOs (and CIOs) need to have well-documented answers.”
- Treat your workforce as a competitive asset: AI can have implications for recruiting, retention, training, headcount and outsourcing opportunities. Above all, remember that organizations that treat their people right will be the winners in automation push.
- Re-examine your financing options: The financing environment has changed with private credit emerging and banking regulations easing, creating opportunity for CFOs.
- Focus on international tax savings options: For many companies, OBBBA opportunities don’t stop with domestic provisions.
- Investigate state tax risks: Individual states have had differing responses to the OBBBA, and some haven’t even decided yet on their course of action. CFOs should make sure their tax teams are maintaining vigilance on state tax compliance issues.
Admittedly, economic conditions aren’t perfect for a strong push for growth. But the CFOs who grow their companies the most don’t wait for perfect conditions, and our survey shows that they’re investing in key opportunities right now.
About our survey
Our survey of more than 230 U.S. finance leaders for the fourth quarter of 2025 was in the field from Nov. 4–13. Respondents came from companies across the industry spectrum with revenue of more than $100 million.
Contacts:
Audit Growth Leader, Grant Thornton LLP
Carolinas Market Managing Partner,
Grant Thornton Advisors LLC
Mike serves as the national Audit & Assurance client experience leader and is the Charlotte market managing principal at Grant Thornton.
Charlotte, North Carolina
Industries
- Manufacturing, Transportation & Distribution
- Technology
- Retail & Consumer Brands
Service Experience
- Audit & Assurance Services
Mike serves as Grant Thornton’s Audit Growth Leader and is the firm’s Carolinas market managing partner. He is responsible for supporting our firm’s industry programs to provide insights to our clients and audit professionals as well as attracting new client relationships with companies seeking a differentiated level of service. Mike has spent his entire career serving public and privately-held companies in the manufacturing and technology industries.
National Tax Solutions Leader
Grant Thornton Advisors LLC
Dana Lance is the National Tax leader for the Greater Bay Area and the SALT Practice Leader for the West Region. Dana is based in San Jose, California.
San Jose, California
Industries
- Manufacturing, Transportation & Distribution
- Technology
Service Experience
- Tax Services
- State and Local Tax
Dana has in-depth experience in providing a wide range of tax advisory services to businesses operating in many industries, but focuses primarily on technology, media and entertainment. Dana’s practice concentrations include state tax minimization services, including assisting taxpayers with the development and design of effective state tax planning; state due diligence reviews and M&A transaction analysis and consulting; nexus reviews; voluntary disclosure agreement negotiations to minimize state tax exposures; accounting for income taxes and uncertain tax positions for both federal and state taxes; and compliance outsourcing and reviews.
National Managing Partner of Accounts and Growth for Advisory Services
Grant Thornton Advisors LLC
Paul Melville is national managing principal in Grant Thornton Corporate Finance group and is located in Chicago.
Chicago, Illinois
Industries
- Construction & Real Estate
- Healthcare
- Manufacturing, Transportation & Distribution
- Retail & Consumer Brands
Service Experience
- Advisory Services
Paul has over 30 years of experience serving clients. He has advised stakeholders, including bank groups, customers, suppliers and shareholders, in several different scenarios, including company viability, reconstructions and debt restructuring and strategic options.
National Managing Partner,
Washington National Tax Office and International Tax Solutions
Grant Thornton Advisors LLC
David leads the firm's International Tax practice, which focuses on global tax planning, cross border merger and acquisition structuring, and working with global organizations in a variety of other international tax areas.
Washington DC, Washington DC
Industries
- Manufacturing, Transportation & Distribution
- Technology
- Retail & Consumer Brands
Service Experience
- Tax Services
- International Tax
David leads Grant Thornton’s International Tax practice, which focuses on global tax planning, cross-border merger and acquisition structuring, and working with global organizations in a variety of other international tax areas. David has extensive experience in U.S. federal income tax planning; tax due diligence; direct and indirect tax planning; foreign tax credit optimization; tax-efficient intellectual property planning; U.S. inbound and outbound investment tax strategy; and specialized aspects of foreign asset and account reporting.
Appendix
The graphic below shows the industries represented, organization sizes and regional breakdown for the more than 230 respondents to our CFO survey for the fourth quarter of 2025.
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