KPMG report on AI in finance

KPMG released a report based on a survey of 1,013 senior finance leaders across 20 countries and 13 sectors, finding that active AI use in finance has more than doubled from 30% in 2024 to 75% in 2026. The report highlights that AI is becoming a decision-making engine rather than just a cost-cutting tool, with significant improvements in forecasting, decision-making quality, and speed. Agentic AI deployments show stronger performance, with organizations at advanced stages outperforming early planners by 32 percentage points on average. However, KPMG notes that adoption alone does not guarantee value; governance, controls, and assurance readiness are key differentiators. Only 42% of organizations are strongly assurance-ready, and data quality remains a major constraint, with 36% citing it as the greatest opportunity for extracting more value from AI. The report advises finance leaders to direct AI investment towards planning, forecasting, risk assessment, and commercial analysis while embedding governance and human oversight.