Stats to support the change
What Autonomous Finance Means for the CFO of an AEC Firm
How Autonomous Finance is Transforming CFO Roles in the AEC Industry
You’re likely feeling the pressure: project delays burn cash, labor and/or material costs swing without warning, and owners expect tighter forecasting and instant visibility. Meanwhile, finance teams are still spending hours on manual reconciliations, closing the books, and preparing static reports – time that could be spent shaping strategy.
Autonomous finance shifts that balance. Automating transactional work, combining data from operations and finance, and using AI for forecasts and risk modeling gives you clarity and speed.
What this enables
- Scenario modeling that anticipates cost overruns and cash flow pinch points.
- Real-time dashboards showing project profitability.
- Compressing close cycles and reducing risks during audits.
- Significant gains in speed, efficiency, and error reduction across financial processes
$3.70
For every $1 invested in generative AI, which autonomous finance relies on, the average ROI is $3.70, with leaders reaching $10x. (IDC’s AI opportunity study)
75%
Generative AI adoption jumped from 55% in 2023 to 75% in 2024. (IDC’s AI opportunity study)
43%
43% say productivity use cases have provided the greatest ROI. (IDC’s AI opportunity study)
64%
64% of CFOs believe autonomous finance will be a reality at their company within the next six years. (SSO Network)
How your role shifts
You move from transaction oversight into high-impact decision making. You’ll need to sponsor systems integration, enforce data quality, and set metrics like forecasting accuracy, cash conversion cycles, and responsiveness to financial risks, not just cost controls.
As your finance function becomes more automated, your team’s work will shift from data entry, reconciliations, and manual reporting to interpreting data, modeling future scenarios, and guiding strategic decisions. They’ll spend less time assembling reports and more time analyzing them. This will elevate the finance team into a strategic partner role, collaborating closely with operations, project leaders, and IT to drive profitability and growth. Done right, the CFO will be enabled to more easily leverage your company’s data to provide visibility into financial and business data to help reduce risk, enhance decision-making, and drive opportunities.
First steps
- Pick 1-2 high-impact pilots like forecasting or project profitability.
- Improve data cleanliness and system integration (ERP, project accounting).
- Build a cross-functional team (Finance, IT, Ops) to evaluate tools and measure ROI.
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Reach out to us to start a conversation about how you can begin your autonomous finance journey with aec360 and Microsoft.
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