--- title: UK finance chiefs are warming to AI, even as they keep... description: Deloitte's latest UK CFO Survey shows 73% of finance chiefs at Britain's largest companies are now optimistic that AI will improve business performance, up... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/uk-finance-chiefs-are-warming-to-ai-even-as-they-keep-spending-in-check-pokxf9452 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: UK finance chiefs are warming to AI, even as they keep spending in check | daily.dev og:description: Deloitte's latest UK CFO Survey shows 73% of finance chiefs at Britain's largest companies are now optimistic that AI will improve business performance, up... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/uk-finance-chiefs-are-warming-to-ai-even-as-they-keep-spending-in-check-pokxf9452 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/PoKxf9452.png og:image:alt: UK finance chiefs are warming to AI, even as they keep spending in check og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # UK finance chiefs are warming to AI, even as they keep spending in check **[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Deloitte's latest UK CFO Survey shows 73% of finance chiefs at Britain's largest companies are now optimistic that AI will improve business performance, up from 39% two years ago. Despite rising sentiment, spending remains cautious — CFOs continue to prioritise cost reduction and cash control, favouring AI applications that cut costs over customer-facing bets. Most expect technology investment to rise over five years but few anticipate near-term productivity gains. The gap between AI conviction and willingness to spend reflects a broader C-suite pattern, with a BCG survey also finding most CEOs think boards are rushing AI transformation. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What percentage of UK CFOs are optimistic about AI improving business performance? 73% of UK finance chiefs expressed optimism that AI will improve business performance, according to Deloitte's quarterly UK CFO Survey conducted among 58 CFOs, mostly from FTSE-listed or large private companies, between July 1 and 13. That figure is up from 59% six months earlier and just 39% two years before, marking one of the few survey measures moving decisively upward while others held flat or declined. _daily.dev helps engineering and finance teams weigh AI investment signals like these CFO sentiment shifts._ ### Are companies actually increasing AI spending despite growing optimism about it? Optimism about AI has not translated into higher near-term spending; UK CFOs remain focused on cost reduction and cash control rather than expansion. An earlier survey edition found 96% expect technology investment to rise over five years and 77% expect it to boost productivity, yet few anticipate gains within the next 12 months, and finance leaders favor cost-cutting AI applications over customer-facing ones. _Teams justifying AI budgets can track how enterprise spending patterns evolve via daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [75% of C-suite bullish on agentic AI, 48% still plan cuts](https://daily.dev/posts/75-of-c-suite-bullish-on-agentic-ai-48-still-plan-cuts-enwdonjag) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Staff, schmaff: Business leaders racing to adopt unproven AI](https://daily.dev/posts/staff-schmaff-business-leaders-racing-to-adopt-unproven-ai-sg4cr2nci) · The Register · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Closing the AI impact gap](https://daily.dev/posts/closing-the-ai-impact-gap-ul2bo3ss2) · TechCentral · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai](https://daily.dev/tags/ai) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/uk-finance-chiefs-are-warming-to-ai-even-as-they-keep-spending-in-check-pokxf9452) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"UK finance chiefs are warming to AI, even as they keep spending in check","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/uk-finance-chiefs-are-warming-to-ai-even-as-they-keep-spending-in-check-pokxf9452","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/uk-finance-chiefs-are-warming-to-ai-even-as-they-keep-spending-in-check-pokxf9452"},"datePublished":"2026-07-20T09:30:14.270Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T20:41:52.627Z","description":"Deloitte's latest UK CFO Survey shows 73% of finance chiefs at Britain's largest companies are now optimistic that AI will improve business performance, up...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/d7e7004aba7d0aaaa3bf1fa0272c4c00?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/d7e7004aba7d0aaaa3bf1fa0272c4c00?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Next Web","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Next Web","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tnw","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/uk-finance-chiefs-are-warming-to-ai-even-as-they-keep-spending-in-check-pokxf9452","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"ai","timeRequired":"PT4M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Next Web","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"UK finance chiefs are warming to AI, even as they keep spending in check"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/uk-finance-chiefs-are-warming-to-ai-even-as-they-keep-spending-in-check-pokxf9452#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What percentage of UK CFOs are optimistic about AI improving business performance?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"73% of UK finance chiefs expressed optimism that AI will improve business performance, according to Deloitte's quarterly UK CFO Survey conducted among 58 CFOs, mostly from FTSE-listed or large private companies, between July 1 and 13. That figure is up from 59% six months earlier and just 39% two years before, marking one of the few survey measures moving decisively upward while others held flat or declined. daily.dev helps engineering and finance teams weigh AI investment signals like these CFO sentiment shifts."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Are companies actually increasing AI spending despite growing optimism about it?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Optimism about AI has not translated into higher near-term spending; UK CFOs remain focused on cost reduction and cash control rather than expansion. An earlier survey edition found 96% expect technology investment to rise over five years and 77% expect it to boost productivity, yet few anticipate gains within the next 12 months, and finance leaders favor cost-cutting AI applications over customer-facing ones. Teams justifying AI budgets can track how enterprise spending patterns evolve via daily.dev."}}]} ```