CFO Sentiment: Confidence up, uncertainty down

Key takeaways

• Net optimism in own business prospects has improved to 63% - up 14 percentage points from H1 2025 - while the net uncertainty rating has fallen sharply to a seven-year low of 66%.
• Confidence in the economy has held steady and remains firmly in positive territory at 22% while CFO risk appetite has risen by 13 percentage points to 39%.
• The outlook for profit has strengthened, with 46% of CFOs expecting margin improvement over the next 12 months.
• 93% of organisations are now utilising AI compared to 67% just one year ago - with almost all CFOs believing that it will create value across all business functions.

Optimism on the up; uncertainty dips

After a rocky start to 2025, CFOs are entering 2026 with renewed optimism. Sentiment improved in the second half of 2025, with net optimism in respondents' own businesses rising 14 percentage points to 63%.

This rebound recovered most of the lost ground from six months ago, when uncertainty around global tariffs clouded the outlook and had CFOs bracing for economic impact. Since then, conditions have steadied, and CFOs are looking ahead with greater confidence.

Despite improving, risk appetite remains below pre-COVID levels, suggesting CFO confidence is yet to fully turn into commitment. This could be partly attributed to the economy, with net economic optimism sitting at 22% - broadly in line with the last edition.

Notably, both optimism and pessimism in the economic outlook have risen, suggesting that CFOs are increasingly polarised in their views about the direction of the economy.

Resurgent inflation appears to have put the possibility of interest rate hikes back on the CFO risk radar, with the proportion of CFOs identifying interest rate movements as a top risk growing by 21 percentage points to 36%.

Deloitte CFO Program Partner Geoff Lamont said: "It's pleasing to see some genuinely positive signs emerge this half - confidence up, uncertainty down, risk appetite on the rise. While challenges remain, there is definitely an air of optimism in the CFO community."

"The improvement in sentiment is supported by a more stable outlook. CFOs have had some time to see how changes to the global trade environment might impact their business operations, while domestically the Australian economy is starting to show signs of life."

Deloitte Access Economics Partner David Rumbens said: "After a tricky spell, Australia's economic recovery is starting to gain traction. Challenges remain though, with the recent uptick in inflation providing an unwanted early Christmas present for the Reserve Bank."

Efficiency remains key as firms wait on digital reporting

Interest rates aside, CFOs' top risks have not changed significantly over the past six months. The inability to execute strategies remains at the top of the list (57%). Risks around technology, AI and data governance have also increased as the use of technology has become more widespread, bringing these challenges into greater focus.

Cost control and operational efficiency remain front of mind for finance leaders and were identified as a high priority for 8 in 10 CFOs, both across the organisation and within the finance function. To reach these goals, CFOs are doing more than just cutting budgets. Two-thirds of CFOs say their leading strategy involves re-engineering business processes.

This structural change is often driven by digital adoption. Indeed, CFOs identified a range of technological tools that are also helping them optimise their operations. Almost half (49%) of respondents use AI to automate tasks and reduce costs, and 42% use cloud-based solutions to optimise spending.

Outsourcing certain activities is another common approach, with 41% of CFOs delegating specific functional responsibilities and 32% offshoring activities to captive centres. These initiatives are helping CFOs make headway with their organisation's cost management targets. Some 45% of CFOs say that their cost targets have been met, while a further 42% report clear progress.

One initiative yet to be fully embraced by CFOs is digital financial reporting. Lodging company financial and climate reports in structured, machine-readable, globally-standard data formats like XBRL can drive productivity uplifts at the organisational level and across the economy, yet only 5% of CFOs report full adoption.

Despite the Productivity Commission recommending digital financial reporting be made mandatory in line with the policy settings of several other major economies, 54% of CFOs say they are indifferent and just 36% support or strongly support the move.

Lamont said: "CFOs are looking to optimise business performance but know they can't cut their way to profitability. Targeted investment in technology uplifts, including AI integration, and the careful implementation of workforce strategies have been emerging themes across the last few surveys. Now, we see this approach is bearing fruit and delivering cost savings."

"When it comes to digital financial reporting, the results we see today are broadly in line with what we saw when we first asked these questions two years ago. It shows that a stronger case needs to be made around the potential benefits of digital reporting, such as increased access to international capital and the potential efficiency gains from having consistent, machine-readable reporting products."

AI drive continues

CFOs see AI as value driver, not just a way to reduce costs. Unsurprisingly, adoption has skyrocketed from 54% at the start of 2024 to 93% today. In the finance function specifically, AI use has accelerated from 28% to 75%.

Most organisations are progressing in their AI adoption journey, but maturity remains uneven, with only a small minority reaching a fully embedded and optimised state. The majority continue to build capability, particularly across organisational (58%) and data (61%) readiness.

In contrast, culture and process readiness are lagging more noticeably, with most organisations remaining at an early awareness stage. This reflects gaps in workforce preparedness, change management and cross-functional alignment - all of which are critical for scaling AI beyond initial use cases.

Lamont said: "AI adoption continues to accelerate as CFOs see functional use cases create meaningful enterprise value. Most are establishing the tools and frameworks needed to support this - an evolution that's made all the more compelling by the sovereign AI debate."

"CFOs are confident about AI's potential to handle simpler, structured tasks. Perceptions are more moderate when it comes to higher-judgement areas such as management and corporate reporting or strategic planning, budgeting and forecasting.

"This indicates a degree of hesitancy about relying on AI for complex decision-making, where human oversight and strategic nuance remain critical."

About CFO Sentiment
CFO Sentiment is a biannual publication that offers a compelling view of Australia's business landscape through the eyes of its financial leaders. Deloitte has surveyed senior finance executives of major Australian listed companies since 2009. This edition of CFO Sentiment covers the second half of 2025 and took place between 3 and 17 November 2025, with 59 CFOs responding.