Can a finance function represent a competitive advantage for its organisation?
This was the final question I posed to the room at Clutch Events’ Melbourne Finance Technology and Transformation Summit in Melbourne.
The answer was a resounding ‘maybe’, with only a small number of hands going up when asked if they considered that they had already reached that level of value.
It’s easy to reason out why few would consider finance to be a competitive advantage. Modesty rules out a lot of potential positives immediately. Then there is also the consideration that many finance functions see themselves as being transaction-processing and record-keeping functions – hardly the place from which to lead an organisation towards its glorious destiny.
But we had spent the preceding six hours hearing stories of how artificial intelligence and related technologies are transforming the work of finance, by taking away much of the human-intensive manual processing work to allow those experts to focus on higher-value tasks.
The fact that so many finance functions are so early in their AI transformation journey means many leaders are yet to see the full potential of what AI might do for them.
When asked where attendees believed AI could bring the most benefits to finance, the strongest response was in automation. While this was borne out by the examples, it suggested two findings.
One – finance professionals are currently fixated on expediting existing processes using AI. They are yet to seriously consider how AI might fundamentally redesign processes to deliver ongoing value.
Second – they are also yet to plan for how that time saved might be reinvested in more valuable tasks – which might also be supported by AI.
Highly effective finance functions are about so much more than processing transactions and keeping records. They are sources of intelligence on business performance and insight into market trends and competitor actions. This puts finance in a strong position to both model possible future options and provide strategic advice on how to achieve them.
Ultimately, this is where AI can bring the most value to finance – not by helping it be better at what it already does, but by enabling it to be so much more.