American chief financial officers are accelerating IT and digital transformation investments despite a severe drop in economic confidence. Grant Thornton’s Q2 2026 CFO Survey reveals that only 37% of finance leaders are optimistic about the U.S. economy over the next six months, the lowest level in the question's five-year history. Concurrently, 67% plan to increase digital spending.
Macroeconomic pressures drive this defensive posture. Inflation is expected to rise according to 67% of executives, while 66% report that tariffs, energy disruptions, and supply chain constraints will moderately impact operations. Consequently, confidence in meeting cost control goals fell to 42%. To mitigate these risks, 30% of finance leaders are embedding nearshoring in Latin America into their operating models.
Technology upgrades are now a top priority for 48% of finance leaders, up 13 percentage points from last quarter. Artificial intelligence adoption has reached near-ubiquity, with 97% of organizations piloting, scaling, or integrating the technology. While AI improves corporate forecasting, rapid deployment is creating structural vulnerabilities across control, cybersecurity, and compliance functions.
Operational governance remains the primary hurdle to translating these deployments into enterprise value. Sixty percent of finance leaders rank AI transformation among their top priorities, yet many lack disciplined frameworks to scale initiatives. Mike Hennessey, partner at Grant Thornton Advisors LLC, stated that "these investments require disciplined oversight" to confirm return on investment and enforce accountability.
This strict focus on value realization is also dictating corporate M&A. While 42% of finance leaders expect deal activity to increase over the next 12 months, only 11% anticipate significant volume increases. Corporate buyers are maintaining tight discipline, shifting capital away from broad expansion toward targeted acquisitions that inject AI capabilities or optimize efficiency.