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Harvard Business Review
5 days ago
- Business
- Harvard Business Review
How Finance Teams Can Succeed with AI
During the past seven years, we've worked closely with CFOs, finance leaders, and business partners across industries to answer one question: What does it take for the finance function to lead, not lag, in the AI era? At the Centre for Financial Leadership and Digital Transformation at Vlerick Business School, we've immersed ourselves in hundreds of executive conversations and research projects. A key milestone in this journey was the publication in 2023 of our digital-maturity diagnostic in MIT Sloan Management Review, which helps finance teams benchmark their readiness for an AI-driven future.
Forbes
6 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Backing Durable AI: What Works When Vetting Emerging Tech
As Vice President at WestBridge Capital, Achal Singi focuses on investment and strategic guidance for emerging technology companies. Every week brings us a new AI platform promising to change the industry. The AI market is learning quickly, but speed alone doesn't translate into returns. Most products are easy to outpace and even easier to imitate. For finance leaders, the goal is to find investments that still make sense in five years' time. The fundamentals haven't changed: Strategic fit, capital discipline, timing and moats still matter. But the filters we use to evaluate those fundamentals need to be sharper. AI's velocity amplifies both opportunity and risk, and that puts more pressure on financial discipline. In my experience, the strongest signals of staying power show up in familiar patterns. This article covers the filters I've learned to trust when evaluating long-term AI investments. Bet on data moats over feature velocity. Too many AI investments are judged on performance benchmarks that don't last as long as investors believe. Faster inference and better LLM scores may look impressive today, but they age out quickly. What lasts longer and creates defensibility is a structural data advantage. This might take the form of customer feedback loops that improve model performance, or industry-specific datasets that are difficult to substitute. A useful test is to strip away access to the firm's unique data: Does the product still hold up, or does it become interchangeable with competitors? If it's the latter, you're probably looking at a vendor dressing up as a platform. Why does this matter? Access to public data is tightening, and regulatory scrutiny over training data is only growing. Going forward, product differentiation in AI will hinge almost entirely on who owns or controls unique data streams. Smart investments deepen a company's proprietary data edge. That might mean backing products that can mine insights from operational exhaust, or capabilities that allow firms to license internal data externally. What's important is defensibility through access. While features can be reverse-engineered or leapfrogged, a data moat, especially one that's reinforced by regulation, compounds over time and is far harder to dislodge. Invest where capabilities are adjacent and compounding. Some of the strongest AI returns come from initiatives that extend what a company already does well. Before asking how much an AI initiative might cost or save, finance leaders should ask: Is this close to something we're already good at? When an AI project builds on existing distribution channels or data infrastructure, integration is faster, and iteration can be cheaper and more predictable. Bank of America's 'Erica,' their virtual financial assistant, started as a front-end customer support tool. As of 2025, it has reduced IT service desk calls by over 50%, and more than 90% of employees use Erica for Employees regularly for internal operations. Because it was built on top of familiar workflows and data flows, each expansion required less incremental lift and created more value over time. These kinds of adjacencies also make capital planning more efficient. Projects that slot into existing operational budgets or pilot programs are easier to pace than those requiring stand-alone capital or GTM overhauls. The former reinforces what already works; the latter introduces execution risk. The takeaway shouldn't be to 'play it safe,' but to build AI initiatives where your cost of iteration is lowest and your distribution advantages are highest. Time investments around regulation. No AI investment grows in a vacuum, least of all in industries such as healthcare, financial services, cybersecurity or critical infrastructure where regulatory pressure is always evolving. In these industries, regulatory inflection points are just as important as product milestones. Getting in early, before a data portability mandate or AI audit requirement kicks in, can unlock temporary advantages and reorder market positions. In those moments, compliance can be a positive market-shaping force. This is particularly relevant when backing early-stage companies. For example, compliance with the EU's AI Act can be the difference between market access and market exclusion. The act governs where a product can be sold, how it can be trained and what data it can access from what parts of the world. To complicate things further, because many of these compliance costs can be written off as R&D or administrative overhead, their true cost can be difficult to trace. A project might look efficient on paper but burn cash on back-end overhead. Finance teams need to dig deeper, and time their entry carefully. Move too early, and you may build to the wrong standard. Move too late, and you'll find yourself overpaying to retrofit compliance. But time it right, and regulatory alignment can create durable tailwinds and, in some sectors, a strong temporary moat. That window might only be open for six months, but in a space this fast-moving, they can define a category. Focus on long-term value creation, rather than novelty. What ties these filters together is structural alignment. Each helps identify investments that reinforce the core engine of value creation, rather than distracting from it. More importantly, they remind us to think more carefully about long-term compounding in an environment that's driven by novelty. The AI market will continue to move fast, and we shouldn't pretend we can forecast where every innovation will land. What we can do is ground our decisions in what holds up over time. AI may feel like a frontier, but the way we evaluate it doesn't have to be. The information provided here is not investment, tax or financial advice. You should consult with a licensed professional for advice concerning your specific situation. Forbes Finance Council is an invitation-only organization for executives in successful accounting, financial planning and wealth management firms. Do I qualify?
Yahoo
02-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AI evolution prompts sense of urgency among CFOs: Oracle
This story was originally published on CFO Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CFO Dive newsletter. As generative artificial intelligence solutions become more commonplace, CFOs are beginning to think differently about implementing them inside of their organizations and inside of the finance function itself. Over the past year, finance leaders have become 'well aware' of the potential of agentic AI solutions in particular — which is creating 'a sense of urgency' when it comes to adoption, said Hari Sankar, group vice president at software provider Oracle. Two years ago, when generative AI solutions were still a relative unknown, CFOs were taking a 'trust but verify' approach to integrating such tools, Sankar previously told CFO Dive. Now, however, that approach is 'yielding to a, 'I need to act now' mindset, Sankar said in an interview. Agentic AI checks and balances As CFOs seek to navigate economic turmoil and changing business needs, they have continued to mull how AI could best benefit their organizations and members of the finance team. 'Many CFOs are starting to spend a significant chunk of their time looking to…'what is the potential of AI?'' Sankar said. 'Where can I invest in agents today so that I can get the benefits of automation?' Agentic AI — tools which are crafted to take over tasks without the input of a human — have captured a widening amount of finance chiefs' interest in recent months. Many companies, for that matter, have moved out of the 'pilot,' or testing phase of such solutions, in favor of production, with about one-third of organizations stating they have moved to full-scale deployment of such tools, according to a recent KPMG survey. As finance chiefs contemplate the integration of tools such as agentic AI, they need to be sure they are considering their long-term impact, especially as for some, the end goal of such tools is to have agentic AI performing tasks without human interaction, Sankar said. 'How can I provide a certain level of checks and balances to ensure that it is doing the right thing and that the numbers coming out of a task performed by agentic AI are as reliable as the numbers performed by my accountant, who's been doing this for 10 years?' he said. Finance chiefs are looking to find the right place for agentic AI solutions as spending on such tools continues to ramp up: according to a recent study by Big Four firm Ernst & Young, 35% of leaders anticipate their organizations will spend more than $10 million on such technologies in the next year, EY found. Nearly three-quarters of senior leaders also believe entire business units will be managed by agentic AI, according to the study. That's not to say agentic AI tools will entirely replace humans: 'I don't think CFOs are in a hurry to get rid of their people, and replace them with agents,' Sankar said, noting the more complex tasks and analysis will always have a human in the loop. But, as the business grows, executives may not be meeting that growth with more headcount, because 'these technologies have the potential to deliver a level of automation where you can do more with the existing people,' he said. Achieving the accounting, tech skill balance AI's continued evolution is occurring at the same time as the role of the CFO continues to change, with CEOs leaning more and more heavily on their finance chiefs to drive strategy as well as keep the finance function running smoothly. The broadening of the finance chief role is 'reflecting in their desire to make investments, their desire to sponsor projects, their desire to hire the right talent or train the existing talent, to become more AI savvy, to become more data savvy,' Sankar said. It's also contributing to a ripple effect throughout the finance department — controllers, for instance, are gaining responsibility not just for providing the numbers, but 'responsibility to provide clean, consolidated, curated data to the rest of the business,' Sankar said. The financial planning and analysis team, meanwhile, is morphing into a group responsible for supporting 'agile decision-making' throughout the organization. As the finance function sees its roles and responsibilities continue to evolve, it will be critical to ensure members of the team have the right mix of both core accounting and finance as well as technical skills. Future financial professionals may not need to become data scientists or AI model experts, Sankar said, but they need to develop a 'sufficient understanding of the technology' so they can properly utilize it to meet the changing needs of their role. 'There'll be a balance between accounting domain knowledge and broader business knowledge and technical savvy,' Sankar said of how finance functions in the future will be structured. Recommended Reading Agentic AI deployment accelerates despite risks: KPMG Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
28-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Accounts receivable: From neglected function to strategic imperative
Accounts receivable (AR) is a business-critical function that ensures organisations get paid, yet it is consistently undervalued and underappreciated. This oversight creates significant risks and missed opportunities for companies, especially in today's uncertain economic climate where visibility of their cashflow management is vital to their survival. AR teams are not just back-office processors – they're at the frontline of payment patterns. They see in real time how quickly customers pay, who is always on time or late, and where broader economic pressures are impacting financial confidence and payment habits. This unique look into payment trends provides businesses with a strategic edge they can and should leverage. However, the challenges facing AR teams are mounting. The critical insight they can offer often remains untapped because the function remains pigeonholed as merely being able to send invoices and chase payments. And pressure on AR professionals has grown steadily, driven significantly by a rapid increase in payment requests as the number of active businesses in the UK hit an all-time high of 5.6 million this year. But despite this growing demand, AR remains low on the list of investment priorities for many finance leaders. The result of decades-long under-investment Many AR teams operate with outdated systems, some installed as far back as the late 1990s to handle the Y2K issue. This manual reality means that the human touch, which is crucial for sensitive customer interactions like negotiating payment plans or chasing overdue invoices, is bogged down by inefficient processes. But the human element in AR is indispensable. Accounts receivable is about relationships, not just transactions. Payment conversations require emotional intelligence, and done right, the AR experience can significantly aid customer satisfaction, loyalty, and recommendation. While AI and machine learning can help flag invoices for follow-up and automate reconciliation, the job will always need a human touch due to the bespoke nature of many processes and the importance of customer relationships. Therefore, simply automating processes won't solve the core issues; businesses must modernise not just their tools but also their approach to how AR is valued and supported. Clinging to legacy systems also carries significant data risks. AR systems house some of the most sensitive data, including customer bank details and billing history. Legacy platforms, often receiving little maintenance, are prime targets for cybercriminals. High-profile incidents, such as those impacting major UK retailers, demonstrate how vulnerabilities in ageing platforms can lead to severe operational disruption and financial losses. The hesitation to migrate this data, while understandable, actually poses a greater risk than a strategic modernisation. Evolving AR from neglected to critical To recognise AR as a strategic business asset, it needs the right tools and investment, whether this is supporting with reconciliation, securing sensitive data through encryption and tokenisation, or ways to offload risk and improve compliance. The invisible cost of not making the most of your AR team is significant. Businesses don't just lose money from inefficient collections; they miss out on the benefits that better forecasting and tighter cash flow control could bring to operations. In an economy that is increasingly fragile and uncertain, businesses that continue to sideline AR run the risk of turning a low-profile operational gap into a critical point of failure. Investing in modernising AR is a strategic necessity, and it's time for business leaders to take this seriously. Leaders must enable AR teams to provide critical insights, enhance security, and drive business resilience, transforming them from an overlooked back-office function into an indispensable strategic asset. Kush Shah is Director Product Management - PTX, Bottomline "Accounts receivable: From neglected function to strategic imperative" was originally created and published by Electronic Payments International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
National Post
24-07-2025
- Business
- National Post
Euna Solutions Releases 2025 State of Public Budgeting Report
Article content Despite growing momentum toward modernization, 39% of public finance teams still rely on spreadsheets to manage budgeting. Although demands for transparency and digital access are rising, 81% of state and local government agencies still rely on PDFs for publishing digital budget books Nearly half of public finance leaders cite budget cuts and shortfalls as their top challenge More than half of public finance teams now use scenario planning to prepare for fiscal cliffs and economic shocks Many agencies still struggle to connect budgets with long-term goals, risking underfunded priorities Article content ATLANTA & TORONTO — Amid ongoing fiscal uncertainty, a new national report from Euna Solutions® reveals how public sector finance teams are adapting to economic pressures, rising demands for transparency, and evolving citizen expectations. The 2025 State of Budgeting Report, based on survey data from 100 public sector finance professionals, offers a snapshot of how agencies are managing tighter budgets, leaner teams, and increasing complexity through the use of modern digital tools. Article content Article content 'Public sector budgeting has never been easy, but today's environment, from inflation to staffing shortages to rising expectations for transparency, makes it even more complex,' said Tom Amburgey, CEO of Euna Solutions. 'Yet what we're seeing isn't stagnation, it's adaptation. Finance leaders are embracing change, adopting smarter tools, and exploring emerging technologies like AI to solve persistent challenges. This transformation isn't just about efficiency, it's about enabling governments to be more responsive, transparent, and strategic in how they serve their communities.' Article content The findings come at a critical time: federal COVID-era support programs are set to sunset, inflation continues to impact operational costs, and many local governments are facing budget cuts or bracing for a fiscal cliff, a sudden drop in government funding that threatens essential services and stability. Yet, the report highlights a wave of resilience and innovation across the sector, driven largely by the adoption of cloud-based budgeting technology and scenario planning tools. Article content Key findings from the report include: Article content Budget Cuts Are the Top Concern: Nearly half (49%) of public finance leaders cite budget cuts and shortfalls as their greatest challenge. With shrinking revenues and rising costs, agencies must stretch their limited resources while maintaining existing services and launching new initiatives, often without additional staff or modernized systems. Strategic Alignment Remains Elusive: Many agencies (37%) struggle to align their budgets with long-term goals, resulting in misallocated resources and underfunded priorities. In today's fast-paced environment, connecting financial planning to broader outcomes is crucial for driving measurable community impact and maintaining public accountability. Technology Is No Longer Optional: The report underscores that digital tools are essential, not optional, for modern budgeting. From scenario planning to digital budget books, technology empowers teams to make smarter decisions, collaborate across departments, and respond quickly to economic uncertainty. Transparency is a Growing Priority: The report highlights a persistent gap between budgeting goals and the tools in use. Despite growing expectations for transparency and efficiency, many finance teams still use spreadsheets (39%) to manage budgets, and a significant amount (81%) still rely on PDF files for sharing financial documents and budget books with the public. This gap presents an opportunity to leverage digital tools to support strategic goals, such as transparency, that make budget data easier to understand, explore, and act upon. Resilience Through Scenario Planning: More than half (55%) of finance teams now use scenario planning to test assumptions and model different outcomes, despite only 15% using purpose-built software and 16% using ERPs to support them. This strategic process reflects a proactive approach to revenue volatility, preparing agencies to sustain operations through potential fiscal cliffs and funding reductions – the adoption of digital tools will enhance the speed, accuracy, and collaboration needed to make scenario planning even more effective. Article content 'This State of Public Budgeting Report isn't just a snapshot of the present – it's a blueprint for the future,' said Amburgey. 'Public finance leaders are rewriting the playbook for how government budgeting works, making it more transparent, agile, and accountable. At Euna, we're proud to power that progress with technology that doesn't just keep up with change, it drives it. The future of public service is smarter, faster, and more connected, and it's already taking shape.' Article content To download the full 2025 State of Budgeting Report or learn more about Euna Budget, visit About Euna Solutions Euna Solutions® is a leading provider of purpose-built, cloud-based software that helps public sector and government organizations streamline procurement, budgeting, payments, grants management, and special education administration. Designed to enhance efficiency, collaboration, and compliance, Euna Solutions supports more than 3,400 organizations across North America in building trust, enabling transparency, and driving community impact. Recognized on Government Technology's GovTech 100 list, Euna Solutions is committed to advancing public sector progress through innovative SaaS solutions. To learn more, visit Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts
