Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way enterprises manage their finances. Nowhere is this more visible than in the accounts payable (AP) function. Currently, more than 8 in 10 enterprise CFOs either use AI in AP or are actively considering its adoption to improve how they pay their suppliers and vendors. Despite its appeal, getting the rapidly evolving technology to work just right has its hurdles.
As companies navigate an increasingly complex financial landscape, AI offers powerful solutions with tangible benefits. The technology can streamline payment processes, enhance visibility into expenditures and improve overall operational efficiency. From predictive analytics to payment scheduling, AI is helping organizations reduce their costs, prevent and mitigate payment errors and optimize their working capital. More than two-thirds of CFOs are willing to invest in AI solutions that provide real-time visibility into expenditures.
At the same time, integrating AI into a company’s existing financial systems is notoriously tricky. Many enterprises struggle with compatibility issues that arise when different technologies try to work together, along with high implementation costs and a need for greater customization of AI tools. Despite these hurdles, CFOs are showing strong demand for AI software to help them make smarter spending decisions.
These are just some of the findings detailed in “Smart Spending: How AI is Transforming Financial Decision Making,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and Coupa collaboration. This edition examines the opportunities and challenges for enterprises utilizing AI to support and optimize spending. It draws on insights from a survey of 60 CFOs working at U.S. firms that generated at least $1 billion in revenues last year. The survey was conducted from Feb. 6, 2025, to Feb. 14, 2025.1
CFOs Face Pain Points When Integrating AI Into Existing AP Systems
Despite the widespread embrace of AI for AP functions, challenges with integration, customization and costs persist. Nearly two-thirds of CFOs report problems integrating AI into their existing technology. That share spikes to 78% among goods enterprises. Additionally, 44% of all companies struggle with a lack of customization, limiting their ability to adapt AI tools to fit their specific needs.
“Managing a diverse product portfolio across multiple channels creates challenges in allocating resources efficiently,” a goods enterprise CFO told PYMNTS Intelligence.
For service enterprises, implementation costs pose a significant challenge, with 89% reporting high upfront expenses. More than half of service businesses (56%) also experience integration difficulties and a lack of customization features. While AI solutions offer benefits, they often require significant adjustments and financial commitments before becoming fully operational.
Enterprises also face difficulties enhancing their AP with AI when their business operations are complex or involve multiple regions.
“The complexity of complying with various regional regulations on taxes and fees creates a barrier to streamlining our spending across multiple territories,” a CFO from a services enterprise told PYMNTS Intelligence.
Technology enterprises experience the lack of customization especially acutely, with all respondents in the sector citing this as a problem. Additionally, 20% of technology businesses report that AI-generated results are not replicable, an outcome that undermines confidence in the automated decision making afforded by AI.
The data underscores a demand for AI solutions that offer greater cross-system compatibility, cost-effectiveness and customization options.
82% of Enterprise CFOs Either Use or Are Interested in AI for Accounts Payable
Despite the pain points of integrating AI into AP, CFOs are rapidly embracing the technology. More than 8 in 10 companies are either using or interested in leveraging the software for their AP functions.
Currently, 38% of all CFOs surveyed report actively using the technology in AP. This strong interest comes from the fact that technology proves helpful in reducing costs, making data-based predictions, managing risk and driving profitability. We call these executives “adopters.” By contrast, a significant share of enterprises (43%) are “explorers” — not yet using the technology but interested in doing so. Only 18% are “skeptics,” neither using AI nor interested.
Enterprises with more than $10 billion in annual revenue exhibit the highest AI adoption rates, with 75% classified as adopters. By contrast, smaller enterprises are more likely to be explorers.
As they deploy AI to help optimize their spending, large businesses are most widely deploying the technology for payment scheduling and predictive cashflow analytics. Notably, 83% of enterprises using AI for AP apply it to at least one payment execution feature or function. These functions include certainty about payment timeliness, payment terms management and early-payment discount usage. Additionally, 74% of enterprises employ AI to support their cashflow and get the most out of their working capital.
As one CFO from a service enterprise explained to PYMNTS Intelligence, “AI helps us analyze operational costs, identifying areas where we can streamline spending and maximize profitability.”
Additionally, AI drives value and operational efficiency through predictive analytics, procurement cost control and risk management. Each of these functions plays a crucial role in firms’ financial decision making.
“With AI, we can automate procurement processes, reducing human errors and improving cost control across the supply chain,” one CFO from a goods enterprise told PYMNTS Intelligence.
Two-Thirds of CFOs Say AI Improves Accounts Payable Transparency
Using AI to power AP management enables improved transparency and efficiency for payments. Nearly 8 in 10, or 78%, of goods enterprises deploying the technology report that it improves the visibility of their relationships with vendors and suppliers. Two-thirds of enterprise firms in services and 40% of those in technology say the same. Moreover, 26% of CFOs surveyed stated that this precise improvement is the top benefit they have gotten from using AI.
Additionally, 61% of CFOs reported using AI solutions for AP functions improved their analytics capabilities. Nearly half, or 44%, reported that integrating AI into those processes was the largest benefit.
Moreover, 57% of CFOs stated that AI has enhanced their AP efficiency by reducing payment delays. Forty-eight percent say it has improved their visibility into spending; that share rises to 80% among tech firms. Three in 10 say it has benefited them by mitigating errors, such as inadvertently disbursing too little or too much money.
While some organizations report a reduced staff headcount due to automation, the most significant benefits of AI lie in its ability to boost transparency and visibility, enhance financial accuracy and make payments more efficient. Those advantages, in turn, drive overall business growth and resilience.
68% of CFOs Would Pay for AI Solutions That Power Greater Visibility Into Expenditures
Enterprises recognize the value of using AI to optimize their spending, with real-time spend tracking emerging as the most sought-after function. More than two-thirds (68%) of CFOs are willing to invest in AI solutions that provide real-time visibility into expenditures. An additional 20% consider the capability useful but would not allocate a budget for it. Evidently, firms value spend-tracking capabilities as a key part of their financial control and decision making.
Additionally, two-thirds of firms would pay for AI-fueled support for vendor negotiations, and 60% would pay for budget optimization functions. These capabilities enable businesses to secure better supplier terms, optimize resource allocation and enhance overall financial efficiency. Most CFOs would also pay for AI-driven fraud detection (55%) and predictive analytics (52%) capabilities. Overall, the figures indicate a strong demand for tools that help executives keep an enterprise’s finances secure and prepare for the future.
Significant shares of CFOs would also pay for payment term optimization (50%), spend benchmarking (43%) and supplier performance evaluation (40%). Additionally, more than 1 in 3 (37%) would pay for contract compliance monitoring and 35% for ERP integration.
Overall, there is clearly considerable demand for AI tools that make a wide range of functions more efficient and seamless. The willingness of CFOs to invest in these spend optimization functions reflects a shift toward AI-driven financial management.
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Methodology
“Smart Spending: How AI is Transforming Financial Decision Making” is based on a survey of 60 CFOs working at U.S. firms that made at least $1 billion in revenues last year, and was conducted from Feb. 6, 2025, to Feb. 14, 2025. The report examines the opportunities and challenges for enterprises utilizing AI to support financial decision making. Sixty-three percent of firms surveyed generated between $1 billion and $5 billion in revenue in 2024. The enterprises were from a wide range of industries, including retail, education, finance and technology.
1. This study on accounts payable automation for spending optimization considers all types of AI, including generative AI.↩
