82% of SEA CFOs target growth but siloed data slows finance AI rollout

Automating a flawed process with AI accelerates inefficiency and that process redesign must come before any tool adoption.

Southeast Asian chief financial officers are under pressure to turn digital finance plans into execution as 82% prioritise growth in 2026 whilst AI, automation and data quality reshape finance functions.

Anson Mak, Associate Director for Accounting Operations Assurance at Deloitte, said the gap between ambition and execution often comes from scattered technology investments that do not scale. Companies need a clear finance transformation vision and roadmap before adopting tools, he said.

Nikhil Parambath, Enterprise Applications Sales Leader and Regional Vice President for Asia at BlackLine, said the deeper issue is data. Large enterprises often keep information across multiple systems, with historical and unclean data limiting trust in outputs.

“You start with the problem of siloed data, which is not integrated,” Parambath said. “There is a lack of trust.”

Early warning signs include continued manual work, weak real-time visibility and reactive risk management. Mak said many companies also make the mistake of automating poor processes instead of redesigning them first.

“If your process is bad, AI will just make it worse,” Mak said.

Parambath said finance teams should assess whether automation improves visibility, controls and auditability. Without that shift, digital transformation risks making inefficient processes move faster.

Both interviewees said AI-enabled finance requires clean data, governance and change management. Mak said companies need guardrails to limit errors and reduce hallucination risk, with human review built into the process.

Parambath said finance teams also need purpose-built AI rather than generic models. In accounting, AI must understand reconciliations, exceptions and business rules. He added that finance AI must be explainable because auditors need to know what it did and why.

For CFOs, the 2026 test is whether they can build finance functions with trusted data, clear controls and measurable business value.