The use of AI tools in investor research means that CFOs are devoting more time to investor relations (IR), according to Gartner, Inc. a business and technology insights company.

“It is going to become increasingly difficult for organisations to control their narrative and influence investors with manual methods alone,” said Dymah Paige, Director Analyst, Research in the Gartner Finance practice.

“To keep pace, CFOs should be considering private AI solutions available on the market today that can help them to spend more of their time and effort on higher impact priorities.”

A Gartner survey of 146 CFOs, conducted from October through December 2025, found that 35% or more of respondents reported an increase in the volume, frequency, and time sensitivity of investor communications and engagements in 2025 when compared to 2024.

CFOs are dealing with more unexpected questions from investors during earnings calls as well, Gartner found.

The rise of AI may be improving investor’s research acumen, but it could also be driving investor curiosity in when they can expect a return on their AI investments.

Organisations are consistently under pressure to show their ROI when it comes to AI adoption; despite investors continuing to shovel billions into the AI bubble, the pressure is transforming the AI boom. Investors are looking at infrastructure and energy, and want to see swift-moving and straightforward revenue streams.

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“Many institutional investors are using or evaluating AI tools in their investment and research processes,” said Paige. “If CFOs want to communicate to the markets effectively, while protecting their organisations against the hallucinations of public AI-powered answer engines, they must adapt their investor communications strategies to AI, as well as humans.”

The good news for CFOs, according to Gartner analysts, is that the same finance AI capabilities that are accelerating investor research processes can be used by finance and IR teams to enhance the depth of intelligence and operational efficiencies in their IR workflows.

“Companies can leverage these tools off the shelf and start to deploy right away, but in private, contained, and traceable environments. Some of the world’s biggest companies are already using these tools in their IR activities,” said Paige.