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Every leader in almost every sector wants to lead with AI. In finance, we still are unsure of where to start.

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Ask any CFO in London, New York, Dubai, Sydney or Toronto what tops their 2026 agenda, and AI comes up in the first two minutes. But when asked about deployment and actual usage, the conversation turns silent.

“56% of finance leaders now use AI, double the adoption rate seen in 2023. Finance still ranks last among all business functions in AI deployment.”. That sounds like progress but then finance still ranks last among every major business function when it comes to actual deployment. Almost nobody has finished building it.

CFO Connect, State of AI in Finance 2026

1. The Confidence Doesn't Match the Capability

UK CFOs are a useful case study, and not for the reason people expect. Nearly 45% intend to implement AI in treasury and finance operations within the next year, ahead of the 36% global average, and 95% say they feel at least somewhat prepared to do it. On paper, that is a market moving faster than most.

Underneath it, 68% of CFOs admit they’ve been slow to adopt because they don’t know where to start. Preparedness and readiness are not the same thing, and the gap between “we’re thinking about it” and “we’ve done it” is where most finance functions are currently stuck, whether they sit in London, Dubai or Sydney.

2. The Wins So Far Are Smaller Than the Ambition

Where AI has delivered, it’s delivered quietly. Invoice-to-cash and procure-to-pay are where results have been strongest, unglamorous, transactional, easy to measure. Meanwhile, investment attention is already shifting toward FP&A and financial reporting, the higher-stakes ground CFOs actually want AI working on.

That order matters. The finance functions seeing real returns started with the boring problem, then earned the credibility to tackle the harder one. The ones stuck in pilot mode too often tried to skip straight to the exciting use case.

3. Security Concerns Are Doing More Than Slowing Adoption

77% of UK CFOs report major concerns about security and privacy risk in AI: data leaks, accuracy, regulatory exposure. That number should be read as a governance problem, not a technology problem. Most finance leaders are not worried about whether AI works. They’re worried about who is accountable when it doesn’t.

That distinction explains why 45% of finance teams remain stuck in “limited pilot” mode while only 17% are running AI inside core workflows. The blocker is rarely the model. It’s the absence of a finance operating model built to control it properly.

4. Scaling Requires an Operating Model, Not Just a Tool

Of the finance teams that have scaled AI properly, 41% report satisfaction with the outcome, against just 25% still stuck in pilot. The difference between those two groups is not budget or ambition. It’s structure: standardized processes, clear data governance, and a team that already knows how to run compliant finance operations at volume.

That is precisely the environment an outsourced finance function is built to provide. CFOs who route FP&A, reporting and finance operations through a team that already runs AI-enabled processes at scale skip the two-year pilot phase entirely.

FINAL THOUGHT

87% of CFOs now say AI will be extremely or very important to their finance operations in 2026. That number is no longer in dispute anywhere we operate: UK, US, UAE, Australia or Canada. The dispute is entirely about execution.

The CFOs who come out ahead this year will not be the ones who bought the most software. They will be the ones who rebuilt the finance function itself to run AI properly, whether they built that capability in-house or borrowed it from a partner who already has.

Yash Dave, CEO – Unison Direct

 

[email protected] | unisondirect.com

Quotes and References

  • CFO Connect – State of AI in Finance 2026 – cfoconnect.eu/resources/reports/state-of-ai-in-finance-2026
  • Kyriba – CFOs Unveil Key UK Trends in AI Adoption – kyriba.com/blog/cfos-unveil-key-uk-trends-in-ai-adoption
  • Deloitte – CFO Guide to Tech Trends 2026 – deloitte.com/us/en/what-we-do/capabilities/finance-transformation/articles/cfo-guide-to-tech-trends.html
  • Bain & Company – CFOs Funded the AI Revolution. Now They’re Joining It. – bain.com/insights/cfos-funded-ai-revolution-now-they-are-joining-it
About the Author
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Yash leads Unison Direct's global growth strategy, working with finance leaders across the UK, US, UAE, Australia and Canada on outsourced finance, FP&A and AI-enabled finance operations.
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Every Leader Blog only MIPIM 2026

1.8 Million UK Mortgages Expire This Year. Property Businesses Need to Think About What That Means.

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The UK housing market is not in crisis, and it is not booming. It is in something arguably harder to navigate: the middle.

Around 1.8 million fixed-rate mortgages are due to expire in 2026, and gross mortgage lending is expected to reach £300 billion, but with 10,000 fewer property transactions than last year. More money moving through the market, fewer deals getting done. That tension tells you everything about where property finance is right now.

“Gross mortgage lending is forecast to reach £300 billion in 2026, with around 1.8 million fixed-rate deals due to expire during the year.”

UK Finance, Mortgage Market Forecast 2026

1. The Tightening That Headlines Miss

Lending growth is increasingly concentrated among higher-income, lower loan-to-value borrowers. For landlords, SME property investors, and development businesses operating in the mid-market, that means the financing environment is tightening in practice even as headline rates inch down.

The Bank of England’s April 2026 Financial Stability Report found that around 1.3 million more UK households now face higher mortgage payments by the end of 2028 as a result of the conflict in the Middle East and its effect on swap rates, bringing the total affected to 5.2 million, up from 3.9 million projected before the conflict began.

“The total number of UK households facing higher mortgage costs by end-2028 has risen to 5.2 million, up from 3.9 million projected before the Middle East conflict began.”

Bank of England Financial Stability Report, April 2026

2. What This Means for Property Businesses

None of this is catastrophic. But it does mean that the businesses managing property portfolios, running lettings operations, or advising landlords are heading into a period where financial planning matters more, not less.

Tenants under mortgage pressure become less predictable renters. Landlords under rate pressure make faster, sometimes worse, decisions about disposals. Cash flow forecasting inside property businesses needs to account for a market that is moving at multiple speeds simultaneously.

3. A Multi-Speed Market Demands Region-Specific Thinking

2026 is shaping up as a multi-speed market, relatively flat in London and the premium south, with better growth in the Midlands, North, and more affordable regions.

“House price growth in 2026 is expected to be strongest in the North West, Yorkshire, and the East Midlands, while London and the South East remain broadly flat.”

Savills Residential Property Market Forecast, 2026

A property business operating across regions without region-specific financial modelling is flying blind. The same financing pressure lands differently on a portfolio landlord in Manchester versus one in Mayfair. That distinction needs to be built into your planning, not assumed away.

4. The Finance Function Is the Variable That Changes the Outcome

The firms that come through this period well will not be the ones that waited for the market to settle. They will be the ones that sharpened their financial oversight while everyone else was watching interest rate announcements.

That means rolling cash flow forecasts that update as the rate environment shifts. Scenario modelling that shows what a further 50 basis point move does to your portfolio. Management accounts that tell you where your margin is thinning before it becomes a disposal decision.

If your finance function is still running on last year’s assumptions, now is the time to revisit them.

FINAL THOUGHT

The UK property market in 2026 rewards those who understand their numbers with precision. Not the headline rate. Not the national average. Their own numbers, by asset, by region, by tenant profile.

The businesses that will look back on this period as a competitive advantage are the ones building that financial visibility now, not waiting until the renewals land.

Yash Dave, CEO – Unison Direct

[email protected]  |  unisondirect.com/uk

Quotes and References
About the Author
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Yash leads Unison Direct's global growth strategy, working with real estate, hospitality and enterprise clients across the US, UK and UAE on outsourced finance and accounting solutions.
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Every Leader Blog only MIPIM 2026

MIPIM 2026: What the World’s Most Powerful Real Estate Gathering Told Us About the Year Ahead

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Cannes have seen the glitz and the glamour. The French Riviera, Cannes Film Festival and for Real estate sector, MIPIM. For four intense days, the Palais des Festivals becomes the nerve centre of global real estate where the decision makers of finance meet solution makes to define the roadmap of their orgs for the next decade. 

MIPIM 2026 was no different. And yet, in many ways, it felt like a turning point.

The 36th edition drew 20,000 delegates from 90 countries, a powerful signal that the industry’s appetite for connection, collaboration and capital deployment is only growing. Initial concerns that conflict in the Middle East might hold off real estate’s fragile recovery quickly gave way to renewed confidence, as major investment opportunities and a landmark brokerage transaction shifted the mood decisively. 

Having followed this year’s proceedings closely, here are the themes I believe every leader in our sector needs to be thinking about right now.

1. Cautious Optimism Is the New Normal and That's a Good Thing

MIPIM 2026 brought back discipline.

“As Prash Jaitley, CEO of Blue Alpine Partners, put it: “MIPIM 2026 felt more disciplined and more purposeful. For commercial agents, the message was consistent , realistic pricing, accurate data and proper execution are now non-negotiable.” “

PRASH JAITLEY, CEO, BLUE ALPINE PARTNERS

JLL’s Global Real Estate Outlook 2026 set the broader context well, noting that market conditions “strengthened notably” in the second half of 2025, with momentum expected to build through this year. The capital is there. The appetite is there. But investors are being selective, strategic and increasingly data-driven in where they deploy it.

Adam Shah of Blackstone captured the sentiment well: “Despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, sentiment at MIPIM felt more positive than it has been for several years, with signs of new capital becoming available for deployment.” 

2. Data Centres, AI and Automation Have Gone Mainstream and Real Estate Must Keep Up

Perhaps the most significant structural shift signalled at this year’s event was the arrival of data centres as a core real estate asset class. For the first time, MIPIM hosted a dedicated Data Centres Summit, a signal of the sector’s evolution from niche to core infrastructure. 

This is no accident. Industry experts estimate that data centre capacity will need to triple by 2030 to meet growing demand, representing hundreds of billions in potential real estate development. 10Times The intersection of AI, cloud computing and the built environment is no longer a future conversation, it is happening now.

It is time to ask ourselves, how AI and automation ready is our thinking, our infrastructure, and our approach to the assets and spaces we work with?

3. Housing Is Europe's Defining Challenge and an Enormous Opportunity

No theme dominated the corridors of Cannes quite like housing. London’s Deputy Mayor revealed that the city needs 88,000 new housing units per year but only around 4,000 new starts happened last year.  That gap is not just a policy failure; it is a market opportunity of extraordinary scale.

The Housing Matters! summit brought together investors, developers, local authorities and urban experts to discuss not just the problem, but actionable solutions, from modular construction to community land trusts and co-living models that address the needs of younger demographics. 

The message was clear: the housing crisis is real, it is urgent, and the private sector has a central role to play in solving it. Those who show up with genuine solutions, not just capital, will define the next chapter.

4. ESG Has Matured From Values to Value

Sustainability is no longer a badge of intent; it is a financial metric.

Nobel laureate economist Philippe Aghion’s opening keynote crystallised the shift, exploring how innovation and technology can drive sustainable urban development, and the role of public and private capital in accelerating green and digital transitions. 

Investors are asking harder questions: how do you retrofit at scale in occupied buildings? How do you fund capital expenditure in a yield-compressed environment? The answers to these questions will separate the leaders from the laggards.

5. Collaboration - Public and Private -Is the Only Way Forward

If MIPIM 2026 had a single overarching message, it was that the challenges facing the built environment are too complex and too capital-intensive for any one sector to solve alone.

Logistics and residential emerged as major areas of interest, with capital availability improving meaningfully across sectors and geographies.  But building that capital at scale requires partnership between public authorities who hold the planning levers, and private players who bring the execution capability.

The event has grown into a truly global platform, with an ever-increasing presence from the Middle East, the Americas and Asia-Pacific, a reminder that the best opportunities often lie at the intersection of different geographies, different capital sources and different ways of thinking.

FINAL THOUGHT

MIPIM 2026 sent a clear signal: the industry has found its footing again. The questions are no longer whether capital will return, or whether AI will reshape real estate, or whether the housing crisis demands action. The questions are how fast, how boldly, and who will lead.

At Unison Direct , we believe an embedded finance partner is what changing the game. Offshore finance teams, are not only bringing in resources , but automating your entire system to match your aspirations too. We left Cannes hopeful, that the quality of the conversations, the seriousness of purpose, and the sense that the next chapter of real estate is being written right now.

The best seats at the table belong to those who show up with ideas, conviction, and a willingness to build something that lasts.

SOURCES & REFERENCES
About the Author
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Yash leads Unison Direct's global growth strategy, working with real estate, hospitality and enterprise clients across the US, UK and UAE on outsourced finance and accounting solutions.
Key Themes
Related Articles
Finding related posts...
Talk to our real estate finance team
Offshore CFO support, fund accounting, and FP&A tailored for real estate firms in the UK, US and UAE.
Book a Free Consultation

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Monthly insights from our finance leaders, delivered to your
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  • UNISON DIRECT - From the Leadership's Desk

@ 2026 Unison Direct. All rights reserved.