Unit4 has announced findings from an IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by the company, underscoring the pivotal role of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) in the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies within organisations.
The study, titled "The Path to AI Everywhere: Exploring the Human Challenges," identifies key challenges that CFOs face, including achieving decision velocity (26%), managing compliance and risk (24%), and dealing with excessive meetings and monthly reporting (22%). It suggests that AI can effectively address these challenges by demonstrating super use cases where AI works alongside humans, rather than replacing them.
The report emphasises the importance of a human-centric AI approach, which involves engaging users in AI strategy development and providing them with the necessary skills for effective technology adoption.
It advises CFOs to consider the adoption of AI as a strategic change management process to drive business growth and enhance operational models, warning against excessive reliance on AI to avoid losing human interaction and compliance control.
Tom Seal, Senior Research Director of European Enterprise Applications at IDC, stated, "The identification of use cases and, indeed, their prioritization is critical to the successful deployment of AI. Beyond this, however, is the successful identification and deployment of super use cases. These are the ones that will drive efficiencies, provide accurate insight, and generally empower the finance function to be more accurate and more impactful on the business."
The IDC study suggests CFOs should focus AI efforts on areas that can yield noticeable business outcomes, bolster resilience, and enhance the adaptability of organisations. Improved efficiency, better risk management, and adaptability should be key goals. AI can facilitate these objectives by providing finance teams with 'red flag' notifications, automating decisions with real-time insights, streamlining scenario planning, and reducing payment frictions through automated processes.
A critical step involves building a unified, real-time view of organisational data to reduce errors and bias. This development aids in instilling confidence in AI-driven autonomous decision-making.
Michael Lengenfelder, Global Solutions Architect FP&A at Unit4, commented, "At Unit4, we've always believed the future of finance lies in becoming the storytellers of business performance. The arrival of AI will help to accelerate this transition to a more strategic role, as CFOs guide their colleagues in interpreting and understanding the impact of financial information on business forecasts and results."
"Yes, roles will evolve, but finance professionals will be critical to the successful adoption of AI ensuring it is transparent, compliant and delivering value to organizations."
IDC also highlights a vision for a decentralised finance function, where AI Agents operate autonomously yet collaboratively with human employees. For this model to be effective, CFOs need to foster close collaboration with senior executives. AI Agents can support decision-making through real-time insights and analytics, however, CFOs must ensure the integration of AI across functional areas and the implementation of policies that protect data integrity.
