Adoption is uneven.
Reported AI use differs substantially across industries and firm sizes.
01 / THE PUBLICATION
Why this research matters.
Artificial intelligence is increasingly used across business and finance. Yet greater adoption does not necessarily establish that autonomous AI-generated financial models are reliable enough for important decisions.
This Optima Consulting briefing brings together 2025–2026 evidence on adoption, reported business impact, spreadsheet performance and professional modelling standards.
02 / KEY FINDINGS
What the evidence shows.
Productivity is not financial impact.
Individual productivity gains are more widespread than reported positive effects on earnings.
Reliability depends on the task.
Financial-data and spreadsheet benchmarks show significant differences in performance across workflows.
Professional standards remain important.
Useful financial models require coherent structure, transparent assumptions, sound formulas, checks and documentation.
03 / READ ONLINE
The full briefing.
Read the original publication here, or open it in your preferred PDF reader.
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04 / INTERPRETATION
The level of review should fit the decision.
The briefing concludes with Optima's illustrative framework for considering expert involvement in financial modelling, based on decision stakes and model uniqueness.
The framework is a decision aid, not an empirically validated risk score.