Deloitte's third quarter CFO Signals survey, a quarterly survey tracking the thinking and actions of CFOs representing many of North America's largest and most influential companies, reveals that companies are making substantial investments in advanced technologies. When asked in which types of analytics has the company invested in, or will invest in substantially, customer analytics and finance/accounting analytics rose to the top. Nearly half of CFOs say they have already made substantial investments in customer analytics and nearly 60 percent say they will make further investments over the next three years. About 45 percent of CFOs say they have already made investments in finance and accounting analytics, and 52 percent say they will invest more in the future. 

"We believe these findings validate our view that there is a rapidly accelerating effort underway to 'digitize finance.'  CFOs now have another knowledge domain they will likely need to master over the next few years to fulfill their roles as a strategist and catalyst within their companies," said Sanford Cockrell III, national managing partner of the U.S. CFO Program, Deloitte LLP.

"Advancements in hardware and software have enabled a wide array of solutions that can enhance companies' ability to recognize, synthesize, respond to, and anticipate a widening array of internal and external trends and events," said Greg Dickinson, managing director, Deloitte LLP, who leads the North American CFO Signals survey. "We wanted to help our clients understand the degree to which some leading technologies are currently being implemented within large companies."

Interestingly, while workforce and talent analytics was near the bottom of the list of past analytics investments, the category is tied for third place with risk and assurance related analytics with regard to future investments, chosen by 40 percent of CFOs.

"Analytics is often discussed as a monolithic category, but these responses show companies are thinking about their analytics investments in terms of priorities and outcomes, and are shifting investment plans to align with potential areas of growth and opportunity," said Steven Ehrenhalt, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and U.S. and global finance transformation leader. 

CFOs were also asked about their current use of select digital technologies. Nearly 80 percent of CFOs say their companies have implemented cloud solutions, with nearly 50 percent saying they use cloud in a few areas, and just over 30 percent saying they use it broadly. Cloud platforms are the only technology implemented by more than half of the companies according to the CFOs surveyed; other technologies on the list include:

• Robotic process automation, already used by slightly more than 30 percent of companies;

• Visualization technologies, which have been implemented by just under 30 percent of companies;

• Cognitive science and artificial intelligence, implemented by about 17 percent of companies; and

• In-memory, used by 10 percent of companies, and blockchain, by 4 percent.

When asked what the top purposes are for their company's analytics investments, exploring customer data is at the top of the list, cited by nearly 55 percent of CFOs. Just under half cite visualizing, aggregating and reporting on business data, and just under 40 percent say aiding complex decisions is a top purpose.

"New data and technologies are interesting in their own right, but it's the business purpose at the core of these technology investments that helps us understand where the value lies right now – and hints at where the value may lie in the future," commented Khalid Kark, managing director, Deloitte LLP, and director of research for Deloitte's CIO Program. "This quarter's survey findings show a strong current focus on understanding customers and making better strategic and operational decisions."