The financial sector has become the major proving ground for evaluating whether the AI fever is transforming the day-to-day operations of the business in a tangible way. Yet a new Pleo study reveals that the speed of technology adoption is outpacing companies’ ability to translate innovation into measurable value.
The report shows that 74% of executives in this area in our country have invested in AI projects whose actual ROI remains unknown. Additionally, 45% acknowledge that accumulating isolated tools has triggered an “AI sprawl” within their own departments.
Accumulating AI tools does not equal productivity gains
Despite the rapid arrival of tech solutions in offices, financial departments in Spain remain buried under mountains of reconciliations, spreadsheets, and operational bureaucracy. Everyday tasks such as expense reconciliation, report preparation, chasing approvals, or correcting budget deviations consume an average of 25.6 hours per week per team.
This inefficiency eats into the time that should be devoted to corporate leadership: 59% of financial professionals in Spain admit dedicating more energy to monitoring spending than to participating in the company’s strategy, while 52% describe current spend-control workflows as an excessive burden.
Digital maturity doesn’t solve the problem
The challenge doesn’t disappear as companies gain tech maturity. Among Spanish organizations that identify as advanced AI users, 89% say they achieve tangible ROI at a general level. However, this same group suffers the worst technology sprawl: 63% experience an overaccumulation of AI tools that are not connected to one another and 86% admit continuing to invest in ad hoc initiatives without a clear return.
The data show that the challenge is no longer access to technology, but bringing order to it: taming its proliferation, unifying the data it generates in a coherent way, and measuring its real impact on the business.
Fewer tools, more discernment: AI needs clear limits, not more licenses
Spanish financial leaders are clear that buying more software without control is not the solution. 79% say their teams must be trained to use AI intelligently, and 75% acknowledge that the future of their profession will depend on mastery of this technology. Yet, 62% warn that training, skills, and confidence in using AI are well behind what is necessary.
At the same time, executives set clear operational boundaries. When analyzing common financial processes, 35% would bet on a model led mostly or entirely by AI for fraud detection, 59% prefer that the final approval of payments remain firmly in human hands. The new maturity phase requires redesigning processes based on a deliberate and strategic division of labor between people and technology.
According to Jeppe Rindom, CEO and cofounder of Pleo: “The finance function has become the great thermometer of corporate AI. Adoption has accelerated and the productivity potential is evident, but where results fall short, companies must scrutinize which processes they are automating, whether the data they handle is accessible and reliable, and how the technology integrates into daily work. The question is no longer whether they will use AI, but where and how to achieve maximum impact. If we are not able to demonstrate real operational change in finance, there will be tougher questions about what exactly AI investments are delivering across the rest of the business.“>
Jeppe Rindom adds: “Pleo’s new agentic capabilities reflect a broader shift in spend management toward AI-driven efficiency. As pioneers in this space, we have always focused on shaping the future. Pleo has evolved alongside our customers, moving from expense management to a comprehensive spend-management platform that supports larger, more complex companies. Our brand, recently refreshed, reflects that evolution and the role financial teams play today: simplifying complexity, acting with discernment, and helping companies make better decisions.
