A new global study by Salesforce reveals a fundamental shift in how Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) approach Artificial Intelligence (AI). Once seen as a cautious investment, AI is now a core strategic asset, with financial leaders betting on it for long-term revenue growth, not just cost-cutting.

According to the research, which surveyed 261 global CFOs, the number of financial leaders with a conservative AI strategy has plummeted from 70% in 2020 to just 4% today. This rapid transformation highlights a widespread consensus that AI is no longer an emerging technology, but a crucial engine for enhancing efficiency, optimizing operations, and driving long-term growth.

Redefining ROI and Embracing AI Agents

The study shows that this shift is largely driven by a fundamental rethinking of how CFOs evaluate technology investment returns. Over 61% of CFOs say that AI agents—digital labor capable of performing tasks autonomously—are changing their perspective on ROI. They are moving beyond traditional metrics to encompass a broader range of business outcomes, including revenue generation, productivity gains, and improved decision-making.

“The introduction of digital labor isn’t just a technical upgrade; it represents a decisive and strategic shift for CFOs,” said Robin Washington, President and Chief Operational and Financial Officer at Salesforce. “With AI agents, we’re not merely transforming business models; we’re fundamentally reshaping the entire scope of the CFO function. This demands a new mindset as we expand beyond financial stewards to also become architects of agentic enterprise value.”

The report also found:

• CFOs are dedicating, on average, 25% of their AI budget to AI agents.
• 74% of CFOs believe AI agents will drive revenue, projecting an anticipated increase of nearly 20%.
• Over half (55%) of CFOs believe AI agents will take on more strategic work than routine tasks.
• The top three tasks CFOs are delegating to AI agents are risk assessments (74%), financial forecasting (58%), and expense management (54%).

A New Mindset for a New Era

This new approach requires a mindset shift from valuing short-term savings to recognizing long-term strategic success. The research found that while CFOs faced pressure to accelerate tech investment ROI last year, they now see the value of AI in its ability to deliver long-term business outcomes.

“The ROI of older technology often depends on immediate, measurable results,” said one CFO survey respondent. “While AI’s returns may accrue over the long term through an ongoing process and new business models.”

For African CFOs, this research provides a valuable framework for adoption. According to Linda Saunders, Salesforce Country Manager & Senior Director Solution Engineering for Africa, the report offers a data-driven path to navigate the complexities of AI implementation.

“This research helps African CFOs build a strategic case for AI adoption while addressing concerns around extended ROI timelines,” Saunders said. “It also identifies high-impact areas like risk assessments and financial forecasting, offering a practical starting point with proven success instead of navigating uncharted territory.”

The report also tackles core concerns like security, privacy threats, and the time required to evaluate ROI, encouraging a thoughtful and risk-aware approach to AI implementation.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

An Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup, Refold AI, has completed a $6.5 million round in seed funding to develop a platform that removes API complexity into repeatable, productized software with AI.

Every year, companies pay about $350 billion to big consultancies and systems integrators to ensure API’s work smoothly, but Refold AI is coming to end this tax on business with an AI-native infrastructure.

In a statement shared with Business Post, it was disclosed that this seed funding was led by Eniac Ventures, Tidal Ventures, with participation from Better Capital, Ahead VC, Karman Ventures, Z21 and other notable angels.

The company will use the new capital to expand its engineering team, deepen product integrations, and support its growing enterprise customer base.

Refold AI currently works with over 30 paying enterprise customers, including Incorta and Naehas, has grown 2X in two months, supporting more than 1,500 active users and processing 30+ million API calls per month, with ARR already in the seven figures.

The startup flips the traditional playbook. Instead of hiring teams or middleware to maintain system connections, companies can deploy Refold’s autonomous agents – small AI programs that learn how systems interact, write and maintain integration code, and adapt automatically as software changes.

The platform is already being used to manage ERP-to-CRM syncs, finance automation, and mission-critical supply chain flows across its early customer base.

Refold’s platform is built on three-layered architecture that supports everyone from engineers to end users. At the foundation are Workflow Code Agents, used by solution engineering teams to generate, test, and maintain integration logic without boilerplate. On top of that sits MCP Chains, a natural language interface where business teams can describe outcomes and have agents generate working workflows automatically.

For SaaS product teams, Refold also includes an Embedded Integrations Platform — a plug-and-play toolkit for offering native integrations, complete with prebuilt UI components. Together, these layers let teams turn edge-case service requests into repeatable software products in days, not months.

While legacy iPaaS tools offer templates and global consultancies bill by the hour, Refold turns every edge-case request into a repeatable, productized agent. The platform’s incentives are flipped: it profits not by extending complexity, but by eliminating it. At its core, Refold combines reasoning and reinforcement learning to enable agents that make decisions.

Refold’s agents have already delivered real results. In production, they’ve automated reconciliation in finance workflows, unified inventory and order systems for supply chains, and built real-time data sync pipelines across ERP and CRM stacks. Previously, these were multi-quarter projects. Refold ships them in days and maintains them without tickets.

With a 20-person team across San Mateo and Bangalore and plans to grow to 30 by year-end, Refold is now focused on deepening its enterprise integration catalog and pushing toward zero-friction deployment.

“We were spending more time managing chaos than building software. We started Refold with a simple idea: integrations are repeatable and cumbersome, it should not need humans,” the chief executive and co-founder of Refold AI, Jugal Anchalia, said.

Also, the CPO and co-founder of Refold AI, Abhishek Kumar, noted, “We’re not building another workflow tool. We’re replacing the consultant economy with agents that learn and scale. In the future, integrations should be free, fast, and invisible.”

One of the investors, Hadley Harris from Eniac Ventures, said, “As we enter the agentic era, enterprise integrations stand out as one of the most compelling and valuable use cases.

“For decades, companies have burned billions on brittle, bloated workflows. Refold has rebuilt the stack from the ground up to make integrations seamless and intelligent, and the market is already catching on.”

Another investors, Nicholas Muy from Tidal Ventures, said, “Finally, someone is fixing the most broken part of enterprise software. For decades, we’ve been patching integrations with expensive consultants and manual work. Refold’s AI agents don’t just patch the problem—they eliminate it. This is a fundamental leap forward.”

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

No fewer than 1,000 Nigerian developers are expected to benefit from a training programme put together by Google in collaboration with GOMYCODE.

The initiative is to educate participants on generative artificial intelligence (AI) and it is for 11 weeks, according to a statement made available to Business Post.

This training is under the Build with AI scheme and it is part of efforts to accelerate Nigeria’s participation in the global AI economy.

It was designed to foster a new generation of tech talent capable of building transformative products that are both locally relevant and globally competitive.

The initiative comes at a pivotal moment as industries across Nigeria and Africa increasingly look to technology to solve pressing challenges and drive economic growth.

By providing access to advanced AI tools like Gemini and a curriculum with oversight from Google’s experts, the program is set to bridge the gap between raw talent and the specialized skills required to innovate in the AI era.

This strategic focus is intended to accelerate the development of solutions in key sectors such as fintech, healthtech, and agritech, positioning Nigerian developers at the forefront of the continent’s digital transformation.

The 11-week programme will be delivered through GOMYCODE’s extensive network of hackerspaces, combining in-person instruction with hands-on, mentored lab work. This approach ensures that the training is both accessible and practical, allowing developers to immediately apply their learning to real-world projects.

Developers interested in being part of the AI revolution can apply via bit.ly/BwAIDevTraining. The initiative will culminate in a demo day where top participants will showcase their AI-powered solutions to a team from Google and other industry leaders.

Commenting on the development, the Head of Developer Ecosystem for Google in Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr John Kimani, said, “We are witnessing a technological renaissance in Nigeria, driven by a vibrant community of developers who are eager to solve the challenges around them.

“Our collaboration with GOMYCODE is about more than just training; it’s about empowering this community with the tools and expertise they need to build the future.

“By equipping them with Google’s generative AI, we are helping to unlock a new frontier of innovation that can deliver significant economic and social impact across the continent.”

On his part, the Country Director for GOMYCODE, Mr Babatunde Olaifa, said, “Our role is to provide the critical infrastructure and local expertise needed to nurture Nigeria’s tech talent. Partnering with Google allows us to bring world-class curriculum and technology directly to our developer community.

“We are creating an environment where innovation can thrive, and we are incredibly excited to see the solutions that will emerge from this program, built by Nigerians, for Nigeria and the world.”