Forty-seven per cent of finance teams within corporates will prioritise the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) within the coming 18 months, according to a study by AccessPay.

The firm reported that finance teams across all sectors are placing renewed emphasis on efficiency and cost control.

AccessPay, which provides bank integration solutions for CFOs, published the findings in its Finance Trends 2026 Survey. This was based on 130 respondents from various sectors, including financial services, legal, retail, manufacturing and utilities.

The findings revealed that around a quarter (24%) of firms in the general corporate sectors report that their finance function has a high degree of automation and integration across all back-office systems.

However, AccessPay suggested that firms within the financial services sector are pulling ahead in finance transformation compared to their counterparts in non-financial sectors.

According to the findings, 45% of financial services firms said they were advanced in their finance transformation efforts, where most finance processes are automated. By comparison, 41% of corporates stated finance transformation efforts were progressing, with partial automation and manual workarounds.

Financial services firms are also more likely to have invested in AI for finance operations than general corporates, with 46% of financial services firms having implemented AI enhancements to a high degree, compared to 28% of corporates.

AccessPay said this highlights there are still “many quick wins to be realised in the corporate space” through simple automation.

“The disparities between the financial and non-financial sectors in terms of their attitudes towards technology investment are striking,” AccessPay CEO, Anish Kapoor, commented.

“Longer-term, the underinvestment in general corporates could backfire. In the current macroeconomic environment, finance teams will need to stress-test plans to ensure they can operate at the low end of their scenarios.

“This is why we predict 2026 will be a key year for automation in payment and treasury operations. If finance departments are to operate with reduced headcount or scale without increasing staff, leaders also need to consider how to make up that shortfall with technology.”

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