The Deep dive: Finance automation takes lead as tariff worries loom

By Puja Sharma

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One in five finance leaders identified automation as an investment priority over the next 12-18 months

New data from Lucanet, the global provider of end-to-end CFO software solutions, reveals that a lack of automation is now the biggest challenge facing finance leaders today.

The findings, based on a survey of senior finance professionals at Lucanet World 2025 – Lucanet’s flagship summit – show that 32% cite a lack of automation as their top operational challenge, with one in five (22%) identifying it as their leading investment priority over the next 12-18 months. This suggests that in today’s uncertain economic climate, the limitations of manual processes have become increasingly clear – sharpening the focus on automation and AI-driven tools as critical enablers of efficiency, agility, and resilience.

Despite the clear need for agile digital systems to mitigate the impact of uncertainty, over a quarter of finance teams (28%) still rely heavily on manual processes. Likewise, only 10% are fully confident in the accuracy of their financial data – highlighting the need for precise, real-time visibility to effectively model the impact of shifting tariffs and macroeconomic changes on both top- and bottom-line performance.

As a result, it’s unsurprising that scenario planning and forecasting remains a serious challenge for finance teams, with over a third (34%) citing it as their biggest concern when it comes to financial planning and analysis.

Who is under the radar?

Competitive edge

Enabling limitless scalability, the AI-infused Solution Platform offers modular, out-of-the-box functionalities tailored to the individual needs of finance teams, providing easy-to-use interfaces and rapid time-to-value implementations. In addition to this release, the company launched its new data lake, powered by over 300 ETL adapters and serving as the single source of truth for the Solution Platform, enabling finance teams to gain valuable insights crucial for making informed decisions.

“The real challenge isn’t just about adapting to any specific issue, like tariffs, but it’s a lack of timely and accurate information that makes it difficult take corrective actions or to plan with confidence,” said Alistair Gurney, Chief Financial Officer at Lucanet. “Outdated systems, fragmented data, and manual-heavy workflows make it extremely challenging for finance teams to provide valuable insights, so the business is left flying blind, or worse, paralysed by indecision.

We need to be on the front foot when it comes to scenario planning and focus on building agility into our strategies now. That means leveraging technology to access timely data and real-time visibility into our operations and macroeconomic dependencies, so we can model the potential impact on performance.”

Why does it matter now?

Finance professionals overwhelmingly see Artificial Intelligence (AI) as an opportunity rather than a threat. Over two-thirds (68%) do not believe that AI will replace their roles – compared to just 8% who think it will – suggesting that finance teams see AI as a tool to elevate their function, freeing them from manual tasks and enabling them to play a more strategic role in driving business growth.

Gurney added: “While corporates are certainly feeling the pressure of ongoing macro uncertainty, the overall mood is pragmatic rather than panicked. Finance leaders recognise that volatility is expected, and we’re seeing firms take sensible, forward-looking steps to build resilience and future-proof their operations.”