The build vs buy dilemma: why most finance teams are hedging their bets on a hybrid model

Finance leaders increasingly favor hybrid AI strategies that combine vendor platforms with in-house workflow development, with 51% currently using this approach and 57% expected to do so within a year, according to a Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Airwallex. The rationale is that organizations can build proprietary logic for areas such as treasury routing, risk models, and approval processes while purchasing regulated infrastructure, including payment rails, compliance controls, audit trails, and reporting capabilities, whose maintenance can require substantial ongoing investment. Although platform consolidation is occurring, 84% of organizations still rely on manual finance-workflow steps because systems often lack effective connectivity, while auditors’ reliance on manual validation can further slow AI adoption. Vendor selection is therefore increasingly shaped by orchestration and modular architecture, enabling systems and data to work across functions rather than remain isolated point solutions. The effectiveness of this hybrid model also depends on finance talent, as 53% of respondents identify limited experience with AI-enabled processes as a major scaling barrier and relatively few have established structured AI talent programs.

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