Most small businesses can’t afford a full-time finance chief. So Mastercard is debuting a ‘virtual CFO’ built with AI

Large companies can rely on in-house finance chiefs for strategic guidance. Many small business owners, by contrast, must make CFO-level decisions on their own. Mastercard is betting a new “Virtual C-suite” can help fill that gap.

The new agentic AI offering will eventually span multiple digital “executives,” starting with a virtual CFO that helps owners manage cash flow, working capital, and financial risk.

Why now? “I consistently hear the same thing from small business owners: they’re stretched too thin—acting as CEO, CFO, and COO all at once,” Mark Barnett, global head of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) at Mastercard, told Fortune. Many are “buried in spreadsheets and day‑to‑day decisions, with little time to step back and see what’s really driving the business.” The Virtual C‑Suite has been under active exploration for the past six months, he said.

Barnett describes it as the “next phase of digitization,” using AI agents to continuously analyze what’s happening across the systems small businesses already rely on and turn complexity into clear, timely recommendations. “For years, large enterprises have relied on this kind of always‑on, executive‑level insight,” he said. “We saw a real opportunity to bring these capabilities to small businesses.”

‘Having a dialogue’ with your data

The Virtual CFO will be the first feature to launch this year, delivered through financial institutions, accounting platforms, and software providers. It will specialize in three tasks: proactive cash‑flow risk detection, benchmarking and anomaly detection, and supplier payment optimization—areas that “consistently come up as top‑of‑mind for small business owners, yet are often the hardest to access without dedicated finance teams,” Barnett said.

Mastercard, No. 152 on the Fortune 500, wants the experience to feel less like reading a dashboard and more like talking to a colleague, he said.

“Our Virtual CFO is being built around a conversational experience,” Barnett said. Owners will be able to ask questions in natural language and receive clear explanations and visual outputs, such as charts, within the interfaces they already use.

“The key shift is moving from ‘reading a dashboard’ to ‘having a dialogue’ with your financial data,” he added. The agent doesn’t just report metrics; it interprets them, highlights risks and opportunities, and suggests next‑best actions.

Scenario analysis is a core part of the offering. Users will be able to pose “what if” questions—such as a 10% drop in revenue or a change in payment timing—and have the Virtual CFO simulate different outcomes based on the business’s own data. From there, the agent can present options on how to adjust spending, collections, or payment schedules.

Barnett is careful to frame the Virtual C‑Suite as an augmentation tool rather than a replacement for human finance leaders.

“AI isn’t here to replace human judgment, experience, or leadership,” he said. Instead, it is designed to take on time‑consuming, manual analysis and surface insights faster, freeing finance leaders to focus on higher‑value, strategic decisions, he added.

It gives small business owners, who are already juggling multiple roles, access to cash‑flow visibility, trend spotting, and forward‑looking signals, Barnett said. For those with established finance teams, he added, it acts as an extension of the team, automating data synthesis and translating complexity into actionable guidance.

Increasingly, SMEs are turning to virtual or fractional CFOs to access strategic financial expertise without the cost of a full-time hire. Surveys indicate that over 60% of SMEs now use outsourced CFO services, citing flexibility and cost savings as key drivers, while the global virtual CFO market is projected to grow from $4.7 billion in 2026 to over $10 billion by 2035.

Mastercard’s Virtual C‑Suite launch builds on its offerings of AI features and transaction data. The company processes billions of transactions each year, 175 billion in 2025, and plans to combine those network insights with a business’s own financial activity. 

Barnett notes that over the last decade, small businesses have digitized much of their operations. Digital payments brought richer transaction data and built‑in fraud protections, while accounting and business platforms improved visibility into cash flow, expenses, and performance. But what became clear is that digitization isn’t enough, he said.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com