CFOs Forge Ahead: Betting on Tech and Strategy Amid Uncertainty

CHICAGO, IL – January 15, 2026 – In a striking display of confidence, America’s chief financial officers are navigating a landscape of persistent economic volatility not with retreat, but with strategic resolve. A new Q4 2025 survey from Grant Thornton reveals that CFO optimism is holding remarkably steady, with 52% expressing a positive outlook on the U.S. economy. This stability marks a departure from the wild sentiment swings of the previous year and signals a pivotal shift in corporate strategy: from reactive cost-cutting to proactive investment in technology, operations, and talent to fuel long-term growth.

This sentiment of cautious optimism is echoed in other industry reports. Deloitte's Q4 2025 CFO Signals survey, for instance, noted that its own confidence index reached its highest level since late 2021, with nearly 60% of finance chiefs believing now is a good time to take greater risks. The consensus points to a leadership class that has grown accustomed to turbulence and is now focused on building more agile, resilient organizations.

“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 Paul Melville, national managing partner of Accounts and Growth for Advisory Services for Grant Thornton Advisors LLC.

The Pivot to Strategic Spending

The most telling indicator of this new mindset is where CFOs are directing their capital. The era of slashing budgets across the board appears to be waning. According to the Grant Thornton survey, more than half (51%) of finance leaders expect their operations expenses to increase in the coming year, a 20-quarter high. Concurrently, the portion of CFOs planning to cut costs on long-term strategic initiatives has dropped significantly to 28%, down from 36% in the prior quarter.

This spending is being fueled by a combination of factors, including growing impatience with delayed interest rate cuts and the anticipated benefits of new tax legislation. “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,” noted Mike Desmond, Audit & Assurance growth leader for Grant Thornton LLP.

One emerging source for this capital deployment is the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBBA), major tax legislation passed in mid-2025. The act, which extends many provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, permanently reinstates 100% bonus depreciation and allows for the immediate expensing of domestic R&D. The Grant Thornton survey found that 44% of CFOs expect to benefit from the law, which is likely freeing up cash for strategic priorities. However, navigating the law's complexity remains a challenge, with over half of respondents indicating they may need third-party help to maximize its benefits.

The Digital Arms Race: Investment Meets Uncertainty

At the forefront of this investment push is a massive surge into technology. A staggering 67% of CFOs expect their IT and digital transformation expenses to increase, another 20-quarter high. This is consistent with broader market trends, as Gartner forecasts worldwide IT spending to exceed $6 trillion in 2026, largely driven by the enterprise embrace of artificial intelligence.

AI is no longer a futuristic concept but a core component of business strategy. Finance leaders are pouring capital into digital tools and automation to enhance efficiency, unlock growth, and fortify their defenses, with 60% of CFOs also planning to increase cybersecurity spending. However, this enthusiasm is tempered by a dose of reality. Confidence among finance leaders in meeting their technology objectives actually fell to 58% from 66% in the previous quarter.

“CFOs are not always sure which levers they need to pull to get digital transformation right,” added David Sites, national managing partner of the Washington National Tax Office and International Tax Solutions for Grant Thornton Advisors LLC. “That’s where the uncertainty comes from.”

This highlights a critical challenge: ensuring that massive tech spending translates into tangible business value. “For maximum effect, technology investments need to be aligned carefully with business objectives,” Melville emphasized. “Don’t buy the bright, shiny new toy if it doesn’t help you accomplish your strategy.”

To fund these ambitious tech roadmaps, many are turning to outsourcing and shared services. A recent report from SSON and Auxis, a Grant Thornton affiliate, found that 52% of shared services leaders are looking to expand their use of business process outsourcing, driven by cost advantages and access to talent. This allows internal teams to focus on higher-value activities, turning the finance function into a more strategic partner to the business.

The Human Capital Conundrum

As automation and AI permeate the enterprise, the future of the workforce has become a central and complex issue for finance leaders. Workforce management is now a top-three area of focus for 45% of CFOs, up from 35% in the prior quarter. Yet, this focus is fraught with contradiction.

While 43% of CFOs are considering cuts to human capital expenses, the expectation for actual layoffs in the next six months has dropped significantly, from 45% to 32%. This suggests that the strategy is not simply about headcount reduction, but about a fundamental redesign of the workforce. The goal, as reflected in the Deloitte survey, is to automate routine processes to free up employees for higher-value analytical and strategic work.

The challenge is compounded by a persistent talent crunch. More than half (55%) of respondents in the Grant Thornton survey report difficulties in attracting and retaining the right talent. This problem is only being amplified by the very technologies they are implementing. The skills required to manage, leverage, and innovate with AI are in high demand and short supply, forcing companies to rethink their entire human capital strategy, from recruitment to reskilling.

Training budgets are holding steady, but the pace of technological change is accelerating, creating a race to upskill the existing workforce for the jobs of tomorrow. As CFOs balance the drive for efficiency through automation with the critical need for skilled human oversight and innovation, they are walking a tightrope. “The difficulty of attracting and retaining the right talent isn’t going away,” Melville concluded. “In fact, the emergence of AI only makes that more important.”