85% of Indian finance leaders under pressure to prove ROI on AI: Report

Nearly 85 per cent of finance leaders in India are under moderate to significant pressure to demonstrate returns on investments in artificial intelligence (AI), according to a recent report published by tax compliance software company Avalara.

 

The report found that 71 per cent of respondents said the pressure around AI agents was primarily focused on deployment speed. In comparison, only 8 per cent said their organisations prioritised governance over speed.

 

The survey was conducted by Censuswide among 250 chief financial officers and senior finance leaders at Indian companies with annual revenues of at least $10 million. More than one in four finance leaders said accountability for significant AI-related errors remains unclear or rests with no one.

 

 

Governance gaps widen

 

The report highlighted gaps in governance and oversight as AI agents become more deeply embedded in finance operations.

 

Around 10 per cent of Indian finance leaders said they were not confident they could clearly explain an AI agent's actions to regulators or auditors.

 

Meanwhile, nearly one-fourth of respondents said their organisations had not updated internal controls in the past year to account for AI agents taking or recommending decisions. Only 28 per cent said AI-related controls had been reviewed by IT or cybersecurity teams, while 34 per cent reported reviews by risk or compliance teams.

 

The survey also found that 76 per cent of finance teams lack dedicated in-house expertise to understand how AI agents work.

 

Demand for trusted AI

 

Finance leaders surveyed for the report said stronger governance mechanisms would boost confidence in expanding AI use. While around 27 per cent of finance leaders said AI outputs grounded in verified tax and financial data would increase their confidence in expanding AI agents, 26 per cent cited human review controls for high-risk actions, 22 per cent pointed to audit trails documenting AI decisions, and 20 per cent favoured stronger vendor commitments on accuracy and accountability.

 

Indian enterprises are increasingly integrating AI agents into tax, compliance and regulatory processes, the report said. Still, it warned that governance and documentation would need to keep pace to ensure automated decisions remain transparent and audit-ready.