85% of Indian finance leaders under pressure to prove ROI on AI: Report - Business Standard

2026-07-23 · Source: artifical intelligence via Google News · Field: Finance & Economics — FinTech & Digital Financial Services, Corporate Finance & Treasury · Depth: Fundamental Awareness, quick

Summary

A recent report by tax compliance software company Avalara reveals that nearly 85 percent of finance leaders in India face moderate to significant pressure to demonstrate returns on artificial intelligence (AI) investments. The survey, which included 250 chief financial officers and senior finance leaders from Indian companies with over \$10 million in annual revenues, found that 71 percent prioritize deployment speed for AI agents, while only 8 percent focus on governance. Significant gaps in governance and oversight were highlighted, with 10 percent of leaders lacking confidence in explaining AI actions to regulators or auditors, and nearly one-fourth not having updated internal controls for AI in the past year. Furthermore, 76 percent of finance teams lack dedicated in-house expertise regarding AI agents. Leaders expressed a demand for trusted AI, citing verified data grounding (27%), human review controls (26%), audit trails (22%), and stronger vendor commitments (20%) as factors that would boost confidence in expanding AI use.

Key takeaway

For finance leaders integrating AI into your operations, prioritize establishing robust governance frameworks and developing in-house expertise over mere deployment speed. Your ability to explain AI agent actions to regulators and auditors, coupled with clear accountability for errors, is critical. Implement updated internal controls, human review for high-risk decisions, and audit trails to ensure transparency and build confidence in your AI initiatives, mitigating future compliance risks.

Key insights

Indian finance leaders face significant pressure to prove AI ROI amidst widespread governance gaps and a lack of in-house expertise.

Principles

• AI deployment speed often outpaces governance readiness.
• Transparency and auditability are crucial for AI in regulated financial processes.

In practice

• Prioritize updating internal controls for AI agent decisions.
• Implement human review for high-risk AI-driven actions.
• Demand stronger vendor commitments on AI accuracy and accountability.

Topics

• AI ROI
• AI Governance
• Financial AI
• Compliance
• Risk Management
• Auditability

Best for: CTO, VP of Engineering/Data, Director of AI/ML, Executive, Consultant, AI Product Manager

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by artifical intelligence via Google News.