Lucanet has released new data showing that finance leaders now rank automation as their biggest operational challenge and a leading investment priority over the next 12 to 18 months. The findings, based on a survey of senior finance and tax professionals at Lucanet World 2025, point to growing frustration with manual processes in a time of tariff volatility and economic unpredictability.
According to the results, 32 percent of respondents identified a lack of automation as their top operational obstacle. Meanwhile, 22 percent said automation was their main investment priority in the short to mid-term. Nearly three in ten respondents admitted their teams still rely heavily on manual processes. Only 10 percent said they were fully confident in the accuracy of their financial data.
This gap in real-time visibility has made it difficult for finance teams to effectively forecast and model the impact of external factors such as shifting trade tariffs. Over a third of professionals surveyed cited scenario planning and forecasting as their most pressing concern when handling financial planning and analysis.
Lucanet used the summit to unveil the release of its full portfolio of products on a single platform. The CFO Solution Platform now integrates a broad range of functions, from consolidation and ESG reporting to lease accounting and banking visibility. It includes modules for extended planning and analysis, disclosure management, tax compliance, and more. The modular structure, combined with AI-powered capabilities, allows for scalable deployment across finance departments.
The company also announced the launch of a new data lake, designed to act as a central repository for integrated insights. Powered by over 300 extract-transform-load (ETL) adapters, the lake functions as a unified source of truth for the platform’s users. This infrastructure supports rapid implementation while giving finance teams access to connected, decision-ready data.
Alistair Gurney, Chief Financial Officer at Lucanet, commented, “The real challenge isn’t just about adapting to any specific issue, like tariffs, but it’s a lack of timely and accurate information that makes it difficult to take corrective actions or to plan with confidence. Outdated systems, fragmented data, and manual-heavy workflows make it extremely challenging for finance teams to provide valuable insights, so the business is left flying blind, or worse, paralysed by indecision. We need to be on the front foot when it comes to scenario planning, and focus on building agility into our strategies now. That means leveraging technology to access timely data and real-time visibility into our operations and macroeconomic dependencies, so we can model the potential impact on performance.”
Just 8 percent view AI as a threat
The survey also looked at attitudes toward artificial intelligence. Over two-thirds of respondents said they did not believe AI would replace their roles. Just 8 percent viewed AI as a threat, while the majority said they saw it as a way to free up time for more strategic work.
Gurney said, “While corporates are certainly feeling the pressure of ongoing macro uncertainty, the overall mood is pragmatic rather than panicked. Finance leaders recognise that volatility is expected, and we’re seeing firms take sensible, forward-looking steps to build resilience and future-proof their operations.”
The platform upgrades and survey insights align with Lucanet’s earlier 2025 Finance Leadership Panel Report, which found that two-thirds of CFOs have made digital transformation a top priority.
