Unseen Copilot: How AI Will Transform the Finance Function

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the world of finance, presenting CFOs with unprecedented opportunities and challenges. As we progress through the 2020s, the integration of AI technologies in finance departments is accelerating at a dizzying pace, fundamentally altering the role of CFOs in large enterprises.

For CFOs, the merits of embracing AI are both numerous and tangible. AI-powered systems are already automating complex and repetitive tasks, enhancing decision-making through predictive analytics. In practical terms, this translates to significant time and cost savings. AI can process vast amounts of numerical information, far exceeding human capabilities and can identify patterns in financial data that would otherwise remain obscured.

James Glover, Finance AI Leader at Deloitte Consulting, says: “To truly adopt within and outside of finance, the CFO needs to develop a deep understanding of the technology and its possibilities.”

The integration of AI is fundamentally altering the role of the CFO, shifting it from a primarily backward-looking, number-crunching position to a forward-thinking, strategic one. As AI takes over routine tasks, CFOs are increasingly expected to leverage financial data to drive growth, report to key stakeholders, detect risks, forecast future

Despite the transformative power of AI, it’s unlikely to replace CFOs entirely. While AI excels at processing data and identifying patterns, it still lacks the critical thinking and decision-making capabilities that are central to the CFO role. The quality control of AI outputs by humans remains essential and the strategic insights provided by experienced finance leaders cannot be fully replicated by machines.

James says: “Today’s AI technology advancements have not yet translated to solutions and applications that finance can deploy and utilise at scale – the design, build and deployment of these solutions on top of AI models is in itself a complexity to overcome for enterprises to adopt in the CFO’s organisation.”

However, the path to AI integration is not without its hurdles. According to a recent Russell Reynolds Associates report, while 69% of CFOs believe understanding AI is crucial, only 28% feel confident in their ability to implement it.

As we look to the future, it’s clear that AI will continue to reshape the finance function in profound ways. From automating routine tasks to providing deep, real-time insights into financial performance, AI is set to become an indispensable tool in the CFO’s arsenal.

Christian Hecker, CRO for the Office of the CFO portfolio at SAP, explains why AI will transform CFOs from being number crunchers into informed strategic advisors

The real value of AI is that it frees up the CFO to become more strategic. It’s saving the time that would be spent looking through data, looking through spreadsheets, calculating numbers and really just giving CFOs time to think.

And not only the CFO, but the finance team underneath them. Think about being an accounting clerk, closing the books, it’s a cumbersome process — and AI accelerates all that.

Our former Chief Financial Officer Luca Mucic has said that AI will transform the role of the CFO from being a business steward — making sure all business units stay within budget — into a business partner who has a seat at the table making strategic decisions. Being a transformation agent, as he calls it. 

AI will help CFOs to become a strategic advisor — a financial copilot, if you will — helping to reshape the business in order to grow and succeed.

We know the vast majority of CFOs really want to embrace AI, some just don’t know how to do it. My recommendation would be to just get started. Don't do everything at once, but if you're hesitant, start small. Find a business unit internally that is eager to try and then start from there and really expand accordingly. Because I do think we underestimate the power and efficiencies we can create if we free up time for our people to focus on the more value-adding tasks.

Use cases for AI in finance teams

• Forecasting and planning: One of the most promising applications of AI in finance is in forecasting and planning. This enhanced forecasting ability allows finance teams to make more accurate predictions and better prepare for various economic scenarios
• Automating financial processes: AI can automate invoice processing, payment matching and reconciliations, reducing manual effort and errors, while at the same time machine learning (ML) algorithms can streamline the financial close process by automating data collection, reconciliations and report generation
• Risk management: AI is proving invaluable in risk management and fraud detection. In large companies with complex structures and vast amounts of data, AI helps uncover irregularities in financial transactions, contributing to more effective risk management. This capability not only protects the company’s assets but also enhances its reputation and regulatory compliance
• Operational efficiency: AI can analyse financial processes to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies, suggesting improvements to streamline operations. Combined with AI, robotic process automation (RPA) can handle complex, rule-based financial tasks, reducing costs and improving accuracy.

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