⚙️ AI Metrics Are Evolving

Is Your Finance Team Keeping Up?

Author

Vanessa Carter
July 17, 2025

In partnership with

Finally, a powerful CRM—made simple.

Attio is the AI-native CRM built to scale your company from seed stage to category leader. Powerful, flexible, and intuitive to use, Attio is the CRM for the next-generation of teams.

Sync your email and calendar, and Attio instantly builds your CRM—enriching every company, contact, and interaction with actionable insights in seconds.

With Attio, AI isn’t just a feature—it’s the foundation.

  • Instantly find and route leads with research agents

  • Get real-time AI insights during customer conversations

  • Build AI automations for your most complex workflows

  • Join fast growing teams like Flatfile, Replicate, Modal, and more.

Hey there, CFOs! 💼

Welcome to this week’s edition. We’re diving into the complex world of AI value—unpacking why measuring ROI from automation and analytics is so tricky, and sharing CFO-focused strategies to ensure every AI investment delivers real results.

📰 Upcoming in this issue

  • 📊 Cracking the Code: How CFOs Can Measure AI’s True Value

  • 🤖 AI & Automation: The New CFO Imperative

  • 📜 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' Brings Sweeping Tax Changes for CFOs

📊 Cracking the Code: How CFOs Can Measure AI’s True Value

As AI investments surge, CFOs grapple with quantifying their returns. Traditional ROI models often fall short in capturing AI's intangible benefits and evolving nature. Aarif Nakhooda of Keystone.ai offers insights into redefining value assessment for AI initiatives.

Key Takeaways:

  • 📈 Intangible Benefits Challenge Traditional ROI: AI enhances forecasts, decision-making, and customer engagement—benefits that are valuable yet difficult to quantify using standard financial metrics.

  • 🔄 Complex Attribution in Dynamic Environments: Determining AI's direct impact is challenging due to overlapping factors like marketing efforts or seasonal trends, complicating performance assessments.

  • 📉 AI's Nonlinear Value Growth: Unlike depreciating assets, AI systems improve over time through learning, necessitating new models that account for their appreciating value.

  • 🧮 Adopting Innovative Evaluation Frameworks: Forward-thinking CFOs are blending traditional ROI with strategic assessments, incorporating factors like scalability and long-term potential to better capture AI's value.

🤖 AI & Automation: The New CFO Imperative

In 2025, CFOs are at the forefront of integrating AI and automation to enhance efficiency, drive strategic innovation, and navigate complex regulatory landscapes. Embracing these technologies is no longer optional but essential for staying competitive in a rapidly evolving business environment.

Key Takeaways:

  • ⚙️ Optimizing Existing Tech Stacks: CFOs are leveraging AI capabilities embedded within current ERP and finance systems to enhance forecasting accuracy and reduce uncollectable balances, setting the stage for broader AI adoption.

  • 📈 Empowering Finance Teams: Building data literacy among finance professionals is crucial. Skills in data visualization, statistical analysis, and modeling enable teams to effectively interpret AI-generated insights and drive informed decision-making.

  • 🧠 Strategic AI Integration: Beyond automation, AI is being used to re-engineer core financial processes, allowing CFOs to transition from traditional roles to strategic partners in business transformation.

  • 🤝 Strengthening C-Suite Collaboration: As AI reshapes business operations, CFOs are collaborating more closely with other C-suite executives to align technological advancements with overarching organizational goals.

📜 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' Brings Sweeping Tax Changes for CFOs

Signed into law on July 4, 2025, the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' introduces significant supply-side tax reforms, impacting financial reporting and strategic planning for CFOs. Key provisions include the reinstatement of full R&D expensing, expanded interest deductibility, and permanent small-business tax breaks, necessitating immediate attention from finance leaders.

Key Takeaways:

  • 🧪 Full R&D Expensing Reinstated: U.S.-based research and development costs can now be fully expensed immediately, reversing the 2022 change that required amortization over five years. This adjustment may enhance Q3 earnings but requires careful reporting to avoid distortions.

  • 📊 Reassessment of Deferred Tax Assets: Changes in R&D expensing and interest deductibility necessitate a reevaluation of deferred tax assets on balance sheets, with potential adjustments impacting Q3 financial statements.

  • 💳 Expanded Interest Deductibility: Modifications to IRS Section 163(j) allow companies to calculate interest deductions without subtracting depreciation, amortization, or depletion, potentially reducing tax liabilities.

  • 🧾 Permanent Small-Business Tax Breaks: The act solidifies key tax benefits for small businesses, providing long-term planning stability and potential growth opportunities for qualifying enterprises.

Why It Matters

Understanding the real value of AI isn’t just about chasing innovation—it’s about making smarter business decisions. When CFOs and business leaders can clearly measure ROI from automation and analytics, AI stops being a buzzword and starts becoming a true growth engine.

In today’s economic climate, ensuring every AI investment drives real, measurable results isn’t optional—it’s essential.

Vanessa Carter
Editor-in-Chief
CFO Executive Insights

How was today's edition?

Rate this newsletter.

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.