Finance Strategy: CFO Focus in 2026

As CFOs focus on finance strategies for 2026, success depends on balancing immediate fiscal responsibilities with forward-looking investments. Economic trends suggest the key strategies include matching disciplined cost management with growth-minded investments, harnessing AI and digital talent, and executing with ruthless prioritization.

CFOs must embed cost discipline while seizing first-mover opportunities.

The balance between fiscal prudence and aggressive growth strategies remains a foundational strategic question for finance leaders. A recent Gartner survey involving over 200 CFOs found that 56% identify enterprise-wide cost optimization as a top-five priority — 14% ranked it as the primary concern.1

These CFOs prioritize maximizing cash flow and mitigating risk, and for good reason. Rising costs, competitive pressure and uncertain tariff developments make cost management and pricing strategies pivotal to organizational performance.2 Over the next 12 months, many CFOs will focus on how to reduce expenses, absorb costs or justify higher pricing for customers. At the same time, 47% included capital allocation for new growth opportunities as a top-five priority, and 15% ranked this as their top priority, signaling a return to strategic investment.

While cost optimization was the most common feature across CFOs' top-five priority lists, growth was the single goal most likely to rank first.

This tension stems from the reality that the same volatile market that demands financial efficiency also rewards growth-focused CFOs who seize first-mover advantages. Resilience depends on a careful balance between diligent cost reduction and competitive differentiation. While demonstrating financial discipline through cost optimization is vital, unchecked cost-cutting can raise investor concerns, potentially signaling instability or an unsustainable long-term strategy.

The key to securing investor confidence is to foster a sustainable, cost-conscious culture that insists upon transparency, accountability and acute financial acumen. To achieve equilibrium, leading CFOs prioritize investments that differentiate their companies in the market while trimming expenditures in areas where companies can easily imitate efforts. This approach ensures that resources flow toward unique value creation and sustained competitive momentum.

Future-facing finance teams leverage AI and digital talent.

Despite increased investment across AI and digital transformation initiatives, many CFOs lack confidence in their ability to translate these investments into tangible impact. Gartner's research indicates that only 36% of CFOs feel assured they can achieve meaningful outcomes from AI.3

This lack of confidence is understandable, given the complexities of integrating new technologies, challenges with data quality and governance, and a scarcity of specialized skills. A 2025 McKinsey survey of 102 CFOs found that 44% used generative AI for more than five use cases — a huge leap from the 7% who used AI in 2024. However, almost two-thirds reported their organizations haven't started to scale AI across the business.4 Pilot breakdowns and poor integration were among the commonly cited reasons.

A related challenge emerges in human capital, with only 42% of CFOs expressing confidence in their ability to attract, hire and retain the digital finance talent necessary to drive transformation.5 This uncertainty poses risks for future financial performance but indicates that CFOs who achieve effective technology integration, as well as talent acquisition and retention, have a significant competitive advantage.

While 65% of respondents in McKinsey's survey indicated their organizations will increase generative AI investment, only 35% have fully implemented automation and AI, and just 8% have fully integrated advanced analytics and process mining.6 This gap presents a significant opportunity for forward-thinking CFOs.

A dual-path strategy can help CFOs overcome hurdles in AI integration and digital transformation. The first path involves applying embedded AI capabilities already integrated within existing vendor software solutions to unlock immediate value and build competitive momentum with quick wins that validate the technology's potential. 

The second path, which CFOs can follow concurrently, focuses on building the foundations for broader transformation and sustained value, including:

• Cultivating an adaptive culture.
• Establishing robust governance frameworks.
• Upskilling the existing workforce.
• Enhancing data capabilities to ensure data quality and accessibility for advanced analytics.

Across both paths, digital transformation in finance needs alignment with a talent strategy, the support of agile management and an actionable flight plan with clear targets. It is also important to focus on investments that deliver tangible returns or savings. 

For example, one global biotech company introduced an agentic AI system for invoice-to-contract compliance. This AI ingests contracts and invoices to prevent value leakage from missed terms like advance payment discounts. The review identified a leakage of approximately 4% of total spend, translating to recurring margin improvements.7 Similarly, a European financial institution used large language models and advanced analytics to categorize invoice data from thousands of suppliers, identifying cost reduction opportunities totaling around 10% of a multibillion-euro spend base.

Such examples prove the value of properly aligned digital transformation and AI initiatives.

Ruthless prioritization expands margins.

CFOs need to expand tight margins while contending with constraints from budget limitations to headcount shortages, which are top challenges for 51% of CFOs, according to Gartner.8 These challenges sharpen the tension between short-term cost pressures and long-term growth investments. Finance leaders must then make rigorous decisions about which products, markets and customer segments warrant continued or increased investment and which to deprioritize.

This web of constraints demands that CFOs adopt an activist investor mindset that actively shapes the company's financial future with the same rigor that an external investor would apply. It involves using tools like zero-based budgeting and granular profitability analysis to reallocate resources toward margin expansion and portfolio value growth. CFOs must evaluate all expenditures and investments based on relevant data analytics to allocate capital for the highest returns and closest alignment with the company's long-term vision. 

Give your company the competitive advantages it needs to thrive.

Top-performing CFOs must balance cost management with innovation, integrate technology with talent and execute all initiatives with strategic focus on what matters most. Achieving these priorities requires keen financial insight, but also forward-looking partnerships. 

Synovus offers the banking solutions to power your finance strategy. Our experienced bankers can provide the specialized expertise and tailored solutions your company needs to compete in a demanding market. From optimizing cash flow and enhancing operational efficiency to strategizing for growth and digital transformation, we’ll help support your finance strategies.

To learn more complete a short form and a Synovus Treasury & Payment Solutions Consultant will contact you with more details. You can also stop by one of our local branches.