Gartner sees finance talent shift towards digital skills

Gartner forecasts that by 2028, 20% of finance organisations will redirect all talent-related investment to advanced digital skills, pointing to a sharper divide in hiring and development across finance teams.

Finance leaders are responding to the growing use of artificial intelligence in the function and a shortage of workers with data and AI expertise. Gartner expects some organisations to stop hiring and developing staff who lack digital literacy, instead focusing spending on employees seen as able to move into more technical roles.

The shift would reshape recruitment, training and career progression in finance departments. Traditional entry-level work is expected to shrink as automation takes over repetitive tasks, while the jobs that remain are likely to demand stronger use of digital tools and greater familiarity with AI.

Emily Connelly, senior director analyst at Gartner, said the change would affect both new hires and existing staff. "The push to adopt more AI solutions in the finance function will disrupt the status quo in finance talent as more basic entry level tasks are automated and the need for advanced digital skills increases," Connelly said.

Gartner expects the change to happen less through large redundancy programmes than through gradual turnover. Many organisations are likely to manage the transition through retirements and natural attrition, while directing development budgets towards workers who show an ability to build stronger digital skills.

Changing roles

Under that model, some longstanding finance jobs would disappear or be rewritten. Digital development could also become part of annual performance targets, with staff expected to adopt AI tools in day-to-day work and build technical knowledge on the job rather than through classroom-style training alone.

Gartner described a finance workforce still weighted towards basic users of technology. By its breakdown, about 50% of finance staff are basic technology users carrying out recurring tasks with the systems provided to them, 35% are digitally literate or advanced technology users, and 15% are digital talent who create or modify digital tools for finance and the wider business.

That mix is no longer aligned with the tasks likely to dominate an AI-led finance function. In that environment, digital skills and business partnering are expected to become at least as important as traditional finance knowledge.

Connelly said finance leaders are already confronting a gap between AI adoption and results. "CFOs at leading finance organizations understand that a lack of data science and AI skills are one of the biggest obstacles to meaningful transformation and return on investments in AI and automation: 59% are already using AI tools for finance use cases but outcomes have been mixed," she said.

The implication is that finance chiefs may have to make harder choices about whom to train. Gartner said it would not be practical for many organisations to upskill every employee, because not all staff will want to make the shift or be suited to it. As a result, management teams are more likely to back workers who are already digitally confident.

Hiring pressure

The forecast also points to broader competition in the labour market. Finance teams are not the only part of a business chasing AI and data skills, and candidates with those backgrounds often have options outside corporate finance.

That could make hiring more difficult for CFOs, especially if digital specialists do not see finance as an obvious career destination. It also raises the stakes for internal development, because companies that cannot attract enough technical talent from outside may have little choice but to build those skills within their own teams.

Gartner warned that technology will replace some roles even if widespread job cuts remain uncommon. Finance leaders will need to manage the employee and public relations risks that come with visible changes to workforce structures and promotion paths.

For employees, the emerging divide may be stark. Those who can adapt to AI-supported work and more advanced digital processes may gain access to training and progression, while those who cannot may find fewer routes forward in the profession.

Experiential learning is expected to play a larger role in that process. Rather than relying mainly on formal courses, finance organisations are likely to push staff to learn by using digital tools in live workflows, on the basis that practical use develops skills more effectively.

The findings suggest a finance function in which technical fluency is becoming a basic requirement rather than a specialist extra. As Connelly put it, "At most organizations, it's not practical to upskill all staff as some will not have the desire or aptitude to make that shift, so targeted investments to already digitally savvy employees will make the most sense in many cases."