A new survey from Grant Thornton showed chief financial officers (CFOs) are responding to uncertainty by prioritizing investment in digital tools and automation and strengthening organizational agility to boost efficiency and unlock growth opportunities.
According to Grant Thornton’s Q4/25 CFO survey, which polled over 230 finance leaders, 52% of survey respondents expressed optimism about the U.S. economy. This is nearly identical to the 51% of respondents who were optimistic about the economy last quarter, showing stability that’s radically departed from the dramatic swings in optimism that followed the election a year ago (68%) and the tariff announcements in Q2/25 (39%).
“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,” Paul Melville, national managing partner of accounts and growth for advisory services for Grant Thornton Advisors, said.
Finance leaders’ assessment of many key business fundamentals also stabilized after reaching middle ground in Q3/25. The Q4/25 data closely mirrored the previous quarter’s numbers for respondents’ confidence in meeting goals for supply chain needs (57% in Q4/25 and Q3/25), labor needs (53% in Q4/25, 51% in Q3/25), cost control (53% in Q4/25, 50% in Q3/25) and growth (49% in Q4/25, 46% in Q3/25).
“By now, everybody understands the hand they’ve been dealt,” Mike Desmond, audit and assurance growth leader for Grant Thornton, said. “They’re surrounded by instability and uncertainty, but they’re putting mechanisms in place to deal with that.”
Tech Investments Need Strategic Alignment
How excited are CFOs about technology? A significant majority (67%) expect their IT and digital transformation expenses to increase in the next year, marking a 20-quarter high. Additionally, 60% anticipate higher cybersecurity expenses, a 17-percentage point jump from last quarter.
According to David Sites, national managing partner of the Washington National Tax Office and International Tax Solutions for Grant Thornton Advisors, many CFOs see keeping pace with AI advancements as essential to capitalize on the current economic outlook.
However, despite this enthusiasm, uncertainty remains around which technologies warrant the most attention and investment. That uncertainty is reflected in the survey results: just 58% of finance leaders expressed confidence in meeting their technology objectives, down from 66% in Q3/25.
“CFOs are not always sure which levers they need to pull to get digital transformation right,” Sites said. “That’s where the uncertainty comes from.”
Melville emphasized that success requires deliberate, strategic technology spending. “For maximum effect, technology investments need to be aligned carefully with business objectives,” he said. “Don’t buy the bright, shiny new toy if it doesn’t help you accomplish your strategy. Invest in technology that helps improve the performance of your organization.”
It’s Time for Strategic Spending
Finance leaders have decided that the time for strategic spending is now. More than half (51%) of respondents expect operations expenses to increase over the next year, up from 35% last quarter, marking a 20-quarter high in the survey. Meanwhile, the portion planning to cut costs on long-term strategic initiatives has dwindled to 28%, down from 36% last quarter. Cash and liquidity (down to 30% from 45% in Q3/25) and cost optimization (down to 37% from 48% in Q3/25) fell as the top three areas of focus from last quarter.
This shift likely reflects anticipated savings from new tax legislation and growing impatience with delayed interest rate cuts.
“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,” Desmond said.
Shared services and outsourcing are also gaining traction as finance leaders look for ways to fund additional strategic opportunities.
A recent survey report from the Shared Services & Outsourcing Network (SSON) and Auxis, the new outsourcing and business modernization services arm of Grant Thornton Advisors, found that 52% of shared services leaders are looking to expand their use of business process outsourcing, driven primarily by cost advantages (78%) and the need to expand their access to talent (62%). What’s more, almost half (44%) see outsourcing as a vehicle to absorb future growth, and 44% view it as a means to increase their internal team’s focus on higher-value activities.
“As finance leaders evaluate technology’s potential benefits, they also need to consider the potential advantages that offshore and nearshore outsourcing can deliver as they reimagine their businesses,” Melville said.
Maximize Tax Saving Benefits
One emerging source for this ramp up in spending is anticipated tax savings, as many finance leaders are optimistic about the effects of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) on their businesses.
Almost half (44%) of respondents expect to benefit from the OBBBA, while just 18% predict the law will harm their financial position. At the same time, 18% of respondents (up from 5% in Q3/25) said they will need to outsource all compliance work to a third party to maximize benefits. An additional 33% said they may need to consult a third party for compliance to fully realize the law’s advantages.
“CFOs understand now what needs to be done, but some of them lack confidence in their ability to do it,” Dana Lance, national tax solutions leader for Grant Thornton Advisors, said. “They’re looking carefully at their people and at service providers to see what support they need.”
Although concerns in general about implementation have receded slightly since Q3, 43% expressed concern about understanding eligibility and compliance requirements, and another 43% have concerns about adjusting their tax planning strategies.
Sites believes company leaders are missing out on opportunities to use the OBBBA to lower their international tax exposure. “Companies are well-prepared to take advantage of domestic OBBBA opportunities such as bonus depreciation, R&D and interest expense limitations, but there’s a lot of overlooked potential in the international tax space,” he said.
Automation is Affecting the Workforce
Survey results also reveal a workforce in flux as technology transformation intensifies. Forty-five percent of respondents listed workforce management as a top three area of focus, up from 35% in Q3/25.
Meanwhile, 43% of CFOs are considering cutting human capital expenses related to headcount and compensation, though expectations for layoffs in the next six months dropped to 32% from 45% in Q3/25.
Additionally, 37% expect to reduce costs for insurance and benefits, tying a 14-quarter high, while 34% expect recruiting expenses to increase, up six percentage points from Q3/25.
Training and development budgets remain steady, as 39% expect increases — the same as in Q3/25 — even as the workforce faces growing demands to adapt to rapid technology adoption. Plus, more than half (55%) of respondents also report challenges in attracting and retaining the right talent.
As automation is implemented, CFOs need to constantly evaluate all workforce costs as well as their human capital strategy.
“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.”
