Latest research from Basware shows majority are investing in technology, but ROI remains elusive
CHARLOTTE, NC, February 10, 2026 – Calls from boards of directors and executive leadership to “do something with AI” are growing louder, and finance is struggling to answer them. According to a new report from Basware, a global leader in Invoice Lifecycle Management, nearly half of CFOs say they feel increased pressure from company leadership to implement AI across their operations. And while many are investing in agentic AI in response, a majority admit they are largely experimenting with the technology and flying blind when it comes to putting it into practice and delivering ROI.
As revealed in AI to ROI: Unlocking Value with AI Agents, a global survey conducted by FT Longitude with support from Basware, 61% of 200 finance leaders across the US, UK, France and Germany say their organizations have rolled out custom-developed AI agents largely as an experiment, simply to see what the technology can do. One in four admit they still don’t fully understand what an AI agent looks like in practice.
It’s a vexing problem, and as they look to the year ahead, CFOs need to focus on solving it.
Two-thirds (66%) of respondents to the Basware survey say there is more hype around agentic AI than any previous technology shift, yet three-quarters are still figuring out the best way to leverage it. And the C-Suite is losing patience.
“We’ve reached a tipping point where boards and CEOs are done with AI experiments and expecting real results,” said Jason Kurtz, CEO, Basware.
And as the Basware research makes clear, agentic AI is the key to delivering them. While overall AI return on investment (ROI) rose from 35% to 67% in the last year, survey data shows agentic AI – and companies using third-party solutions already embedded with AI agents – far outperformed all categories with an average ROI of 80%.
“Finance teams that focus on areas where AI can have immediate impact, such as automating accounts payable (AP), improving compliance, reducing errors, and detecting fraud, can deliver these results," Kurtz adds.
Those polled by FT Longitude confirm this, with 72% saying they see AP —often the most manual and data-heavy part of the finance function—as the most obvious starting point for agentic AI. And it’s an area where Basware can help them deliver quick wins.
At the end of the day, AP is a data problem. and Basware is solving it with AI. Over the last 40 years, the company has built the industry’s largest set of structured, high - quality AP data and processed more than two billion invoices. And it’s applying AI to this data to train its AI agents and deliver context-aware predictions, enabling finance teams to spend less time analyzing and more time deciding and acting. Other areas where finance leaders say they will likely deploy agentic AI:
Organizations that leverage intelligent platforms that are embedded with agentic AI and uniquely designed to drive these processes rather than cobbling together point solutions or attempting to build their own can deliver the results their leadership is expecting with greater speed and cost efficiency.
Take InvoiceAI, a solution delivered on Basware’s Invoice Lifecycle Management that intelligently and securely applies generative and agentic AI, natural language processing and deep learning across the entire invoice lifecycle. Leveraging embedded AI Agents, the solution goes beyond simple automation to autonomously processes invoices and deliver game-changing improvements in speed, accuracy and compliance.
But achieving these results requires clear strategies and governance to drive them. According to the Basware survey, nearly three quarters (71%) of finance teams seeing the weakest returns from AI reported acting under pressure and without direction, compared to 13% of teams achieving strong ROI.
“Our research confirms what we see every day: AI for AI’s sake is a waste,” Kurtz said.
“Agentic AI can deliver transformational results, but only when it is deployed with purpose and discipline. And that means embedding AI directly into finance workflows, grounding agents in trusted data, and governing them like digital employees. This is how AI moves from innovation to impact. And this is what Basware delivers for our customers.”
To learn more about Basware’s Invoice Lifecycle Management platform and the value it is delivering to enterprises around the globe, click here.
Basware
Abs Hassanali
Global Head of PR & Communications
abs.hassanali@basware.com
Basware is how finance leaders in global enterprises can finally automate their complex, labor-intensive invoice processes and stay compliant with regulatory change. Our AP automation and invoicing platform helps you achieve a new level of efficiency – in a matter of months – while reducing errors and risks. We bring a unique combination of true automation, complete coverage, and deeper expertise to make it all just happen for our customers. That’s why the world’s most efficient AP departments at thousands of companies rely on Basware to handle over 220 million invoices per year. Basware. Now it all just happens.™