Generational tech divides are a ‘pain point’ for finance teams

A survey by finance management platform OneStream found that students were outpacing finance professionals in AI uptake, leading to an intergenerational tech skills gap.

"Finance teams are navigating skills gaps, AI readiness and battling burnout – all while facing more pressure than ever to forecast faster, identify risks sooner, and work smarter," Tom Shea, CEO of OneStream said.

"The next generation of finance professionals are entering the field with optimism and a drive for innovation. They need the right technology to close these gaps and equip their teams with the tools, insights, and confidence to lead strategically in a rapidly evolving environment."

Almost all (89 per cent) finance students believed they had enough experience with AI to use it in their work, the survey found. However, just over half (54 per cent) of finance professionals with 10+ years of experience and 63 per cent of young professionals felt the same.

Over half (57 per cent) of current finance professionals said that the intergenerational technology divide had been a “pain point” within their organisation. While younger generations embraced AI, real-world use cases remained unclear at times, and confidence levels varied within industry.

Respondents believed that the AI skills gap (44 per cent), the pace of technology changes (44 per cent) and attitudes towards AI replacing tasks (40 per cent) were the top contributors to the intergenerational tech skills gap.

There were also strong gender differences in uptake and perceptions of AI, the survey found. Only 12 per cent of female current finance students expected to rely heavily on AI in their careers, compared to 68 per cent of male students.

This has suggested a marked difference in AI enthusiasm between male and female finance students.

“This gap in expectations mirrors a gap in experience: only 65% of female finance students report feeling they have enough experience with AI to use it at work, compared to 93% of male students,” OneStream said in a press release.

The survey also identified gaps between students’ expectations of working in finance and industry realities.

Most (79 per cent) finance students expected to work less than 40 hours a week, only 15 per cent believed that a finance career would involve working long hours, and 16 per cent associated a finance career with burnout.

The industry reality was more sobering, the survey found. Over half (58 per cent) of finance professionals said they worked 40 hours or more per week and 57 per cent had experienced burnout first-hand.

When asked to identify the top reasons for staff turnover, finance workers recalled work-life balance issues (44 per cent) and burnout (35 per cent).

"As the next generation enters the workforce in an era of rapid AI adoption, there's a growing disconnect between what new talent expects and what the job actually demands," Pam McIntyre, SVP, corporate controller at OneStream said.

"If we want to keep great people in Finance, we need to equip them with the right skills to thrive. That means investing in early training programs and adopting modern Finance practices that will free up professionals to focus on strategic decisions that drive the business forward."