North American CFOs are more upbeat about the economy, but bringing in talent with generative AI skills is a concern, according to the CFO Signals report from Deloitte. The survey includes CFOs from the US, Canada and Mexico.

More than half of CFOs, 59%, rate the current North American economy as good or very good. That’s up from 47% in the previous survey done in the fourth quarter. And 54% say they expect conditions in North America to improve in a year.

Talent rose to the top of the list as the biggest concerns impacting generative AI adoption in the finance function. CFOs identified generative AI technical skills, 65%, and generative AI fluency, 53%, as two of the most important skills.

“We are seeing gen AI continue to rise on the agenda of CFOs as they explore ways for this innovative technology to augment value for their organization,” Deloitte US CEO Jason Girzadas said in a press release. “CFOs are at the forefront to guide strategic investments that will upskill both their finance function and the organization at large and recognize that achieving success in today’s business landscape will require digital fluency across all functions of the organization.”

In addition, 93% say bringing talent with generative AI skills into finance over the next few years is important to varying degrees.

CFOs are also looking at how generative AI could be deployed across their businesses, according to the report. When asked which top-five functions their enterprise is exploring for the adoption of generative AI, 64% of CFOs indicated IT, 54% business operations, 50% customer/client services, 49% finance and 38% sales and marketing.

A majority of CFOs, 70%, expect productivity hikes of between 1% and 10% from generative AI.

The survey took place between Feb. 5 and Feb. 20. A total of 116 CFOs participated in this quarter’s survey. Eighty-one percent of survey respondents come from companies with annual revenue of more than $1 billion and 20% from companies with more than $10 billion.