Across Corporate America, CFOs Are Bracing for AI to Replace Admin Work

AI is expected to first transform routine office roles, reshaping how companies handle administrative tasks.

Mar 25, 2026

Chief financial officers (CFOs) across America are beginning to align on where artificial intelligence is most likely to have its earliest impact, and for many, that points to administrative work.

According to a survey of about 750 CFOs conducted by economists from Duke University and the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Richmond, executives are more likely to see AI reducing roles in routine, clerical, and office support functions than enhancing them. That expectation, however, isn’t translating into immediate job losses.

The study found that AI has had little to no measurable effect on employment so far in 2025, with most companies projecting only modest changes in the near term. Yet the reality remains different as larger firms with 500 or more employees are leaning toward trimming routine roles while keeping technical hiring steady. Smaller companies, though, view AI as a chance to grow, maintaining administrative positions and expanding their teams with skilled technical talent.

John Graham, an economist at Duke University and one of the study’s authors, told the Wall Street Journal that workers in more highly educated or specialized roles could eventually feel the impact of AI, “but probably not in 2026.”