AI at the Helm in Redefining Financial Governance: The Role of AI in Shaping Financial Leadership and Strategy

This study investigates the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on financial leadership and governance effectiveness through a quantitative, positivist methodology. A sample of fifty professionals from finance, accounting, and corporate governance, representing diverse organizations, participated in the research. Data collection employed a structured questionnaire covering six domains: financial leadership and governance effectiveness; AI adoption and integration; AI-driven leadership transformation; AI in strategic financial planning; AI and ethical or regulatory compliance; and organizational context. Each domain was assessed using a 5-point Likert scale. Reliability analysis demonstrated strong internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha values exceeding 0.70. Descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlations, and multiple regression analyses were conducted to evaluate relationships among variables. The results show that AI-driven leadership transformation and AI in strategic financial planning are significant positive predictors of financial leadership effectiveness, highlighting their relevance to governance outcomes. Conversely, AI adoption and integration, ethical or regulatory compliance, and organizational context did not exhibit significant direct effects. The regression model exhibited moderate explanatory power (R = .545, R² = .297, Adjusted R² = .217; F = 3.718, p = .007), indicating that AI-related factors explain a substantial, though incomplete, proportion of the variance in financial leadership effectiveness. The findings indicate that leveraging AI in leadership and strategic planning is essential for enhancing financial governance, whereas adoption, compliance, and context may function as enabling factors rather than direct determinants. These results advance the discourse on AI’s role in financial management and underscore the importance of leadership-oriented AI strategies for improving governance effectiveness.