Artificial Intelligence – The CFO’s Strategic Ally

Chief Financial Officers have never had it harder. They’re pressured to cut costs, increase revenue and forecast more accurately. Meanwhile, they face the continuing need to deal with economic uncertainty, regulation and scrutiny from investors.

CFOs relish the strategic role their office plays in decision-making. But their workload means they can risk burning out. Working nights, weekends and reduces their workplace efficiency and can be bad for one’s health. That’s why advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are so welcome; promising as they do a means for CFOs to manage their increasing workloads.

The benefits of AI are compelling. First, the technology enables transformational automation, freeing employees from mundane and repetitive tasks. Virtual agents, for example, can simulate financial tasks such as account reconciliation and compliance and operate them on a 24/7 basis; increasing productivity for the department.

By connecting internal data, thirdparty data, open data and unstructured data in the cloud, along with relevant enterprise apps such as HCM, Sales and Marketing, organisations can create a data source that’s second to none. Intelligent algorithms can then analyse this data for hidden insights and present these insights, along with recommendations on the next best action, to CFOs; helping them make the right decisions for the business. This gives businesses the agility to be both responsive and predictive.

This approach improves over time. Every occasion a CFO uses their expertise to accept or change a recommendation made by the AI, the machine learns from that decision and incorporates it into future analysis. In this way, the AI and CFO work together for the smartest and most efficient outcomes.

By breaking down organisational silos through cloud computing, and then deploying AI applications, CFOs can accelerate workflow by creating a more cohesive, responsive and predictive organisation. By discerning long-term patterns in data, AI apps can then provide unprecedented insights into what the future may hold and how likely future scenarios might affect performance and growth. This is important in an era where uncertainty is the new normal. Ultimately, enterprises will future-proof their business and capitalise continuous innovation in enterprise applications.