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Jitin Diwan, CFO, IndiaMART InterMESH highlights GST 2.0, Wage Code impacts, demand unified financial and ESG planning
As we near the end of 2025 and turn our attention towards 2026, it is an ideal moment to decipher the key shifts, challenges and milestones that dominated this year, and assess how emerging trends will shape the financial landscape in the coming years. Marked by accelerated adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), regulatory resets and economic resilience amid global headwinds, Indian chief financial officers (CFOs) navigated a transformative 2025 and will be sharpening their focus on digital reinvention in the year ahead.
A Glimpse Of What 2025 Looked Like
The 2025 landscape is one of ‘asymmetric opportunity’, where success belongs to those who integrate technology and AI to navigate shifting trade policies and volatile capital markets with extreme agility. For the modern CFO, the goal is no longer just historical reporting but leveraging intelligent automation to turn macroeconomic uncertainty into a resilient competitive edge.
As the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi) Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) Core requirements became mandatory, CFOs became, by default, chief sustainability officers for top-listed companies, including us.
Despite challenges this year, Indian CFOs moved beyond the hype of AI and invested in real use cases, including automation, risk modelling, predictive cash flow modelling and automated tax compliance, thus moving from spreadsheets to data-driven decisions. The transformation was not uniform, as large enterprises deployed sophisticated AI-powered forecasting and scenario-modelling tools, but Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) took their first tentative steps in the AI era.
What 2026 Holds For Us
The upcoming year holds a peculiar mandate for CFOs, where we expect them to fine-tune the rapid expansions of the previous years while bracing for new global dynamics. In India, we expect a ‘tax reset’ Budget 2026, impacts of goods and services tax (GST) 2.0, execution of the Wage Code and introduction of a new Income Tax Bill, which may modernise operations and governance. Thus, the CFO’s 2026 playbook has to be risk-resilient, but still digitally savvy.
Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and robotic process automation (RPA) will further streamline financial operations. In 2026, CFOs expect to increase their software spending on AI-powered finance. This means integration of autonomous systems capable of making routine financial decisions, credit risk assessment and vendor selection, with a human in the loop only to ensure that these processes align with corporate ethics.
The DPDP Enforcement Era
The consent-first architecture of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act will mandate CFOs to realign their strategies to ensure consent is free, specific, informed and unconditional. 2026 will be the first year where major penalties under the DPDP Act are tested. Over 85 per cent of Indian financial leaders have already listed data privacy compliance as a top-three priority for their 2026 technology spend, thus ensuring a privacy-by-design approach within their functions.
Unified Approach To Financial And Sustainability Objectives
India’s push towards net-zero commitments is set to translate into mandatory carbon accounting, sustainability reporting standards and potentially carbon taxation. Thus, integrated planning approaches that blend financial performance metrics and environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals will take centre stage.
AI Governance Added To Existing Risk Strategies
As organisations harness AI-led power in 2026, governance responsibility becomes more important than ever. The necessary controls for AI governance extend far beyond information technology teams. Active participation from the CFO in the evaluation of AI risk frameworks, approval of guardrails and ensuring governance processes are embedded into financial strategy will be critical. In addition, safeguarding financial data becomes even more important in the light of increased technological advancements, raising a clear expectation of finance teams working with information technology and compliance teams and investing in robust cybersecurity frameworks.
Onwards And Upwards
The next year brings a confluence of technological advancements, with evolving expectations from finance to be the strategic leader. 2026 will require CFOs to double down on these trends and take a proactive stance on technological transformation for sustained organisational success.
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