Wolters Kluwer today released new polling insights from finance leaders who attended CCH Tagetik’s Global inTouch 2026 conference, finding that 47% of finance professionals see trusted data as the leading prerequisite and challenge to adopting autonomous agents. Governance and controls, security and permissions, and systems integration follow as the next most cited factors.
The findings also highlight a gap between ambition and readiness, with 58% of respondents describing finance environments that remain manual or siloed.
“Finance leaders need faster scenario response, stronger data foundations, and AI they can trust,” said Atul Dubey, Executive Vice President and General Manager, CCH Tagetik. “The findings show that many organizations are still strengthening those foundations before they can scale AI with confidence.”
Building on its Future Ready CFO research, the results suggest finance is moving beyond whether to modernize, but many teams are still strengthening the data, systems, and processes needed to respond quickly and confidently to change.
Key findings include:
- 47% of respondents cited trusted data as a prerequisite for adopting autonomous agents, followed by governance and controls (36%), security and permissions (34%), and systems integration (28%).
- 58% of respondents said their finance technology remains manual or siloed, split evenly between manual or fragmented systems (29%) and modernized systems where data remains siloed (29%).
- While 22% of respondents expect to adopt AI within 12 months, 30% will do so within 12 to 24 months, and 13% are already scaling AI today. Smaller groups said they are not planning (9%) or are unsure (9%).
- Finance most often leads or has primary responsibility for accounting and financial close (72%) and cash flow and liquidity oversight (61%), followed by capital allocation (49%) and enterprise performance management and strategic planning (49%).
Finance takes on a broader performance orchestration role
The findings point to an expanding role for finance, with teams expected to act as performance orchestrators, balancing speed, accuracy, and governance as they adopt AI.
They also highlight the growing importance of unified platforms and trusted, purpose-built AI embedded directly into finance workflows.
CCH Tagetik Global inTouch 2026 brought together finance leaders, customers, and partners to explore the evolving role of the Office of the CFO and emerging approaches to managing volatility. Wolters Kluwer showcased innovations aligned to these priorities, including Planning Sentinel, an AI-driven solution for real-time scenario analysis, and an Expert AI Readiness Program focused on governed deployment across finance processes.
Polling results are based on responses from approximately 220 finance professionals during CCH Tagetik Global inTouch 2026, held May 19–21 in Lucca, Italy.
About Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer (EURONEXT: WKL) is a global leader in information solutions, software and services for professionals in healthcare; tax and accounting; financial and corporate compliance; legal and regulatory; corporate performance and ESG. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with technology and services.
Wolters Kluwer reported 2025 annual revenues of €6.1 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 21,100 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.
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