Q&A with Ed Hardy, US Finance Services Leader at Deloitte

Ed Hardy, US Finance Services Leader at Deloitte, explores how AI is being deployed throughout the financial services industry and explains why AI cost governance is so important for organisations across North America. 

At Deloitte, Ed oversees the company’s finance products, services, alliances and tech platforms, delivering smarter and cross-functional finance solutions.

Ed is helping prepare CFOs and finance leaders for industry shifts without overhauling entire company operations, but rather enabling firms to adapt and achieve their strategic ambitions.

In this exclusive Q&A, Ed showcases his deep understanding of the global financial services industry and how emerging technologies like AI are set to completely shift day-to-day operations for companies across North America.

How is AI reshaping the finance industry?

AI is changing finance in two important ways: how the work gets done and the role finance leaders play in shaping broader business strategy. 

We're seeing finance teams look beyond traditional processes and explore how AI can improve efficiency, strengthen decision-making and free up capacity for more strategic work. 

Our Finance Trends 2027 research found that 43% of finance leaders identified embedding AI and advanced technology to automate operations as a top priority through fiscal year 2027. 

Our latest CFO Signals Spotlight article found that nearly 80% of North American CFOs say finance has a formal role in their organisations' AI-related decisions. 

That's a meaningful expansion of finance's responsibilities, with CFOs increasingly involved in evaluating technology investments, overseeing costs and helping determine how AI can create measurable value for the business.

Are North American CFOs responding positively to further AI integration?

While the value of AI is already visible to CFOs, they also increasingly recognise the importance of balancing that enthusiasm with the need to establish firmer guardrails and controls around things like AI cost, returns on investment and trust, as the technology becomes more deeply embedded across the enterprise. 

In our 4Q25 CFO Signals research, 87% of CFOs said they believe AI will be extremely or very important to their finance department’s operations in 2026. 

As adoption accelerates, CFOs are taking on greater responsibility for investment decisions, with 41% serving as required approvers and 38% defining or administering their organisation’s AI evaluation framework, according to the latest CFO Signals Spotlight. 

However, cost governance processes aren’t necessarily keeping pace with adoption. Only 20% of CFOs report using advanced AI-specific cost controls, while 53% say their organisations primarily review AI usage costs retroactively. 

For CFOs to realise the full value of AI investments, they’ll need to strengthen financial oversight and ensure governance practices evolve alongside the scale and complexity of adoption.

Is there anything unique about AI cost-governance for organisations in North America?

Our research uncovers a gap between AI adoption and the maturity of cost governance practices among North American organisations. 

In our latest CFO Signals Spotlight research, 40% of North American CFOs cite a lack of AI cost-governance processes or policies as a leading limitation in monitoring and overseeing spending. 

This is particularly significant, as new AI-related questions continue to rise to the top of the CFO agenda, adding to their continually expanding mandate.  Our 2Q26 CFO Signals report found that 46% of CFOs identified cost uncertainty or transparency as their leading internal AI concern. 

As AI adoption expands, CFOs will need greater visibility into how the technology is being used and more sophisticated controls to manage costs proactively. Stronger governance can help organisations manage these risks while supporting continued investment and innovation. 

If financial organisations don’t embrace AI technologies, how could this impact their business?

The risk isn't simply falling behind on technology. It's falling behind in the speed and quality of decisions a finance team can support. 

Deloitte's Finance Trends 2027 found that 48% of finance leaders identify providing real-time financial data and insights as an area where finance needs to improve responsiveness. 

Without adopting technologies that support faster analysis and more efficient processes, organisations may struggle to keep pace with evolving business demands and make informed decisions.

One-third of finance leaders plan to deploy more dynamic forecasting, scenario analysis and AI insights through 2027, reflecting a broader shift toward using advanced technology to improve financial planning and decision-making. 

Organisations that delay adoption risk missing opportunities to improve financial planning, anticipate market changes and respond more effectively to emerging challenges.

Could AI costs be sustainable in the long term?

AI costs can be sustainable over the long term, but that depends on how effectively organisations manage investments and measure the value they're creating. 

Deloitte's Finance Trends 2027 found that 60% of finance leaders expect AI costs and technical complexity to rise substantially through 2027, prompting the need for more sophisticated cost-management practices. 

As adoption scales, finance leaders will need greater visibility into spending, stronger cost controls and a clearer understanding of how AI investments contribute to business value.

At the same time, 66% of finance leaders report using internally driven, measurement-focused processes to approve large AI and technology investments, including approaches that evaluate ROI, establish business cases and tie additional funding to performance milestones. 

This reinforces the importance of treating AI as a strategic investment that requires ongoing evaluation, rather than an expense justified by adoption alone.

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ServiceNow: Deloitte collaborates with ServiceNow to re-architect organizational work, modernize legacy enterprise processes, and enhance digital operational resilience through connected cloud workflows.
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