The PYMNTS Intelligence report 'The Cost of Caution: Why CFOs Put Growth Plans on Hold' found in September 2026 that middle-market chief financial officers set a higher bar for investing than retreating. ^[1] EY India suggests that adopting agentic AI can boost treasury forecast accuracy by up to 90%. ^[2] Among companies where certainty deteriorated, half reduced capital spending and only 12% increased it. ^[3] More than half of the surveyed middle-market CFOs said they need a high level of certainty before committing to expansion, yet 91% said only a small or moderate decline in certainty could push their companies into a defensive posture. ^[4] When executives identified the single most consequential source of uncertainty for investment decisions, customer demand took the lead at 27%, ahead of interest rates and financing costs at 22%. ^[5] EY India published a report titled 'An Agentic AI Adoption Playbook for CFOs and Treasurers' on 2026-04-12. ^[6] The report states that treasury functions currently spend 60% to 70% of their bandwidth on manual and low-value activities. ^[7] The report is intended as a strategic playbook for CFOs and Treasurers to guide their AI adoption. ^[8]