CFOs Bullish on GenAI for Cybersecurity and Anti-Fraud

CFOs must keep visionary CEOs and other ambitious executives grounded in financial reality. This means ensuring that any new technology investments produce impacts that justify the price tags, regardless of perceived usefulness. Effective CFOs want to cut through all the buzz around generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and see exactly how the technology is effective in practice, not just hypothetically.

For “Most CFOs See Limited ROI From GenAI, but Boost Its Investment,” PYMNTS Intelligence asked 60 middle-market CFOs about how their companies view and use GenAI, including in the context of cybersecurity, fraud and risk management.

CFOs may not run IT departments, but they approve expenses and watch the bottom line. This gives them direct influence over how their companies approach new technologies and which innovations get a green light.

• CFOs Bet on GenAI to Battle Hackers and Fraudsters
• Early GenAI Adopters Foretell a Seismic Change
• CFOs Rethinking Where GenAI Works Best

CFOs Bet on GenAI to Battle Hackers and Fraudsters

GenAI is rapidly changing how middle-market companies approach cybersecurity and fraud and risk management. The technology has an unprecedented, superhuman ability to monitor and respond to all kinds of threats. Its anti-fraud applications range from mitigating ransomware attacks to targeted, human-driven fraud. Unlike traditional AI that depends on predefined algorithms, these tools can learn and adapt instantly to thwart attacks. Make no mistake, the “bad guys” are using this technology too, and in increasingly sophisticated ways. This means the good guys need GenAI in their arsenal.

Optimism abounds

The “Most CFOs See Limited ROI From GenAI, but Boost Its Investment” report shows that middle-market companies are quickly becoming more bullish about GenAI. Our June survey of CFOs found that 58% think this technology will have a positive impact on anti-fraud and risk management practices in their industries in the next three years. This climbed from 47% in March, highlighting just how rapidly the technology is winning over key corporate decision makers.

We found a similar level of optimism in how CFOs expect GenAI to change the game for data security and privacy. Fifty-five percent now believe it will bring positive impacts in these areas, also an increase from the March survey. In other words, more than half of middle-market CFOs now believe that companies will benefit from incorporating GenAI into key parts of their security strategies.

Early GenAI Adopters Foretell a Seismic Change

The nonstop media frenzy over GenAI tends to focus on blue chip companies and leading platforms such as ChatGPT. The focus rarely turns to middle-market companies and specific areas of business operations. Our latest C(AI)O report helps look past the flashy headlines and zoom in on what mid-sized companies are actually doing with GenAI, today, including in the areas of cybersecurity, fraud prevention and risk management.

Large shares of middle-market companies are already using this technology in two critical areas. Twenty-seven percent of companies surveyed have implemented GenAI to identify fraudulent behavior, errors and other such inconsistencies. The ability of this technology to learn and adapt means it can often excel at this sort of monitoring. Similarly, 28% of respondent companies are using these tools to run automated cybersecurity management. This indicates significant trust in GenAI to handle complex tasks and decisions.

It may be surprising that “only” about one-quarter of middle-market companies have deployed GenAI in these areas. After all, we just noted how more than half of the CFOs believe the technology will have a positive impact in the coming years. However, companies need time to roll out new security innovations, and the results suggest that a seismic industry shift is underway.

CFOs Rethinking Where GenAI Works Best

The “Most CFOs See Limited ROI From GenAI, but Boost Its Investment” report finds an important divergence in how CFOs view its effectiveness in key applications. On one hand, CFOs are growing more convinced that GenAI works well for detecting security anomalies. Half of the CFOs surveyed in June said that GenAI is very or extremely effective at identifying fraudulent behavior and other red flags, up from 25% in March.

On the other hand, the same CFOs became more skeptical about using GenAI to run automatic cybersecurity management systems. In June, just 31% agreed that the technology works well in this context, down from 47% in March. This indicates that middle-market companies are becoming more informed and granular in their approach to GenAI. Going forward, CFOs will increasingly examine whether these solutions prove effective and redirect company resources accordingly.