Why CFOs are prioritising skills and technology over headcount
Chapter 5Finance leaders want to focus on strategy, but day-to-day demands still take up much of their time.
India Finance Leaders Barometer 2026
Chapter 6
India's finance leaders are moving from a cautious stance to a growth-oriented outlook. Grant Thornton Bharat's India Finance Leaders Barometer Survey 2026 shows that stronger demand conditions and the benefits of ongoing transformation initiatives have boosted confidence across corporate India.
85%
of CFOs are more optimistic about their organisation's financial outlook than they were six months ago.
With nearly two-thirds pursuing growth, organisations are adopting strategies ranging from measured expansion to more ambitious scaling plans.
These findings provide the foundation for the CFO priorities for 2027, as finance leaders focus increasingly on capturing opportunities rather than navigating uncertainty. The survey points to a finance function that is focused on growth, but growth alone will not guarantee performance. The CFO agenda must manage it with market volatility, margin pressures and execution challenges while accelerating transformation and extracting greater value from technology investments.
Against this backdrop, several priorities stand out for finance leaders in 2027. They are:
1.
Create the capacity to lead
CFOs face a capacity gap. While 50% identify strategic planning and decision support as finance's most important role, only 23% spend most of their time on it. Operational oversight, reporting and compliance continue to absorb leadership attention.
CFOs continue to bridge gaps across data, processes and functions, often spending time reconciling information and validating data at the expense of strategy and decision-making. CFOs want systems, processes and governance to absorb this operational burden, allowing strategic focus to become the norm rather than a secondary priority.
To close this gap, finance functions must simplify processes, strengthen accountability and reduce dependence on manual intervention. However, only a minority of finance leaders report significant gains from AI and automation. Technology, therefore, should do more than improve efficiency. It should create capacity. The real measure of success is faster decisions, shorter reporting cycles and more time spent driving strategy, partnering with the business and creating value.
2.
Growth with guardrails
Finance leaders enter 2027 with a clear growth agenda. 66% of organisations are prioritising growth, with 37% focused on measured organic expansion and 29% pursuing growth through new markets, products and capabilities.
Delivering on these ambitions will require organisations to align capital and operational capacity with a changing talent model. Finance functions are increasingly relying on technology, skills development and better deployment of existing talent, rather than broad-based recruitment, to support growth.
In this environment, CFOs play a critical role in directing resources towards the opportunities that create the greatest value. Strong forecasting, scenario planning and capital allocation can improve decision quality, while clear investment criteria help organisations balance growth objectives with margin, liquidity and resilience considerations.
The organisations that sustain strong performance will combine growth ambition with execution discipline, ensuring that investment decisions strengthen both near-term momentum and long-term value creation.
3.
Turn AI ambition into measurable returns
Technology and AI are now central to the finance transformation agenda, with 71% of organisations planning to increase technology investment and 75% expecting to devote more time and resources to AI and automation.
Early investments are producing measurable benefits, but value remains largely incremental. While 54% of finance leaders report some impact from AI initiatives, only 8% have achieved significant gains. This points to a gap between growing adoption and the ability to deliver value at scale.
The next phase will require organisations to move beyond isolated use cases and embed AI and automation into core finance processes, including forecasting, reporting, reconciliations, working capital management and controls monitoring. Organisations that generate the greatest value will pair technology investment with strong data foundations, integrated processes and effective governance, enabling faster decisions, greater productivity and higher-quality business insights.
4.
Build capability, not headcount
Finance leaders are reshaping the workforce around insight, analytics and decision support. Investment is flowing towards automation and skills development rather than recruitment, signalling a clear focus on improving capability and productivity without a proportionate increase in headcount. 63% of organisations plan to invest more in skills development, compared with 23% in recruitment.
As AI and automation transform finance activities, digital and analytical capabilities will need to become core skills across the function rather than specialist expertise. Organisations that align capability building with role redesign and new ways of working will strengthen finance's contribution to strategy, decision-making and business performance.
5.
Turn decisions into outcomes
Finance leaders increasingly contribute to the decisions that shape business performance. While healthy debate is widely encouraged, many CFOs are seeking a stronger mandate to challenge assumptions, align leadership thinking and help navigate complex trade-offs.
As the role of finance expands, influence will be measured by the outcomes achieved. CFOs can strengthen their impact by bringing greater clarity to strategic choices, driving accountability and maintaining focus on execution.
Organisations that consistently connect decisions with ownership and follow-through will be better placed to convert strategy into results and confidence into sustained performance.
The next leap for finance
The India Finance Leaders Barometer Survey points to a finance function that is increasingly confident, growth-oriented and strategically influential. The priorities are clear: organisations are investing in growth, accelerating technology adoption, strengthening capabilities and expanding the role of finance in decision-making.
The next phase of finance leadership will focus on converting these priorities into measurable business outcomes. As organisations scale, CFOs will play a central role in directing capital, improving decision quality, accelerating transformation and strengthening organisational performance. This will require finance functions that can combine strategic insight with operational discipline, supported by stronger capabilities, modern technology and effective execution.
Karan Marwah
Partner and CFO Advisory Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat
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About the survey
The India Finance Leaders Barometer 2026 by Grant Thornton Bharat captures the perspectives of CFOs and senior finance leaders on the priorities, challenges and opportunities shaping the finance function.
Drawing on insights from across industries, the survey explores how finance leaders are responding to an increasingly dynamic business environment and where they expect the function to evolve over the coming years.
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Read the full series
India Finance Leaders Barometer 2026: How empowered CFOs shape strategy, governance and growth
Chapter 4Finance leaders want to focus on strategy, but day-to-day demands still take up much of their time.
Can finance leaders turn confidence into growth?
Chapter 2Finance leaders want to focus on strategy, but day-to-day demands still take up much of their time.
What is stopping CFOs from leading at full capacity?
Chapter 1Finance leaders want to focus on strategy, but day-to-day demands still take up much of their time.
