Ready, Set, Adopt AI: How CFOs Can Get Your House in Order

Adopting AI is like inviting a house guest who eats everything in your fridge but also does your taxes flawlessly—impressive, slightly alarming, and mostly useful.

But before you start bragging about your new digital roommate, you’ll need to get your house in order. Here are pointers for CFOs and other company leaders ready to adopt AI in real and practical ways:

First things first: clean up your data. 

AI loves structured, quality data the way cats love laser pointers. If your data is scattered, incomplete, or unlabeled, AI will chase the nonsense and generate results that might sound smart but aren't useful. This is especially problematic for finance functions and other professional teams that depend on their data having a high level of accuracy. Start with a full data audit—cleanse, organize, and standardize.

Next, invest in your people. 

AI isn’t here to replace them (yet); it’s here to automate the boring tasks so humans can focus on the brainy ones—like strategy, analysis, and sipping coffee while pretending to think. Support change management efforts early—communicate the vision, address concerns, and create internal champions. Bonus points if your training module is titled ‘Surviving the Robot Uprising 101.’

Third, know why you want to use AI. 

It’s tempting for business professionals to chase after the latest technology buzzwords, but savvy leaders know that AI needs purpose. Identify high-impact, achievable use cases—think forecasting, customer support, or automating those emails you dread every Monday morning. When adopting AI technologies, small wins build momentum.

And don’t forget your tech stack. 

AI doesn’t thrive in outdated infrastructure. CFOs, CIOs, and company leaders need to work together to modernize their systems to ensure cloud readiness, integration capability, and scalable architecture. Otherwise, you risk having AI sit idle, waiting for a necessary connection that never comes.

Finally, embrace imperfection. 

AI is like a toddler with a PhD—brilliant, unpredictable, and sometimes obsessed with crayons (or irrelevant correlations). Test, learn, refine. Addressing early-stage imperfections can help your organization get the most out of its AI investment and stay relevant in the ever-evolving landscape.

AI isn’t the future—it’s the present, wearing fancy sunglasses and asking for your data. So get ready, stay curious, and most importantly, keep your sense of humor. You’ll need it.

Consider what's next for your organization and AI. 

If you're a business leader who's unsure where to start embracing artificial intelligence or how to realize meaningful results, reach out to Riveron for guidance. As a catalyst to the CFO, Riveron works alongside finance and technology leaders to navigate the evolving AI landscape with clarity and confidence. We help companies align their AI strategy with business goals, build trusted data and governance, and deploy intelligent tools that drive meaningful, lasting value.