Autonomous Finance
Unlocking the Future of Business with Autonomous Finance
This article outlines the advantages of autonomous finance, as well as the difficulties CFOs encounter while implementing this novel strategy.
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In today’s rapidly evolving business environment, the finance function is undergoing a profound digital transformation. So profound, it might even be keeping CFOs awake at night. Some of the top concerns include the need to identify and implement processes and technology to drive autonomous finance and the need to acquire and retain key talent for the future.
CFOs and Directors of Finance have their work cut out for them as they respond to the impact of economic and geopolitical turbulence on growth. According to Gartner’s Guide for CFOs on Achieving Autonomous Finance, over the past 18 months, economic turbulence led 65% of companies in the S&P 1200 to take action to reduce costs, and 12% announced significant workforce cuts.
The #1 focus for CFOs will be the transformation of finance with 81% of CFOs anticipating increasing technology investment. That investment, which is necessary for survival, will be geared towards autonomous finance.
An autonomous finance function is capable of delivering augmented real-time and predictive insights, effortless compliance and greater flexibility in financial strategy. But it relies on self-learning software agents, and CFOs need a robust technology roadmap and a new mindset to effect this transformation.
According to the Guide, sixty-four percent of CFOs believe autonomous finance will become a reality within the next six years. Through 2025, more than 40% of finance roles will either be new or significantly reshaped by finance technologies, which are quickly evolving from automated processes to autonomous capabilities.
The journey toward autonomous finance requires fundamental changes. The Gartner Guide warns that CFOs will not achieve autonomous finance without first shifting their mindsets to experiment broadly, trust the outputs of autonomous capabilities and lead by example in the transition.
Uli Erxleben, CEO of Hypatos, is keenly aware of the mindset barriers against autonomous finance which include the fear of costly failures with technology investments, fear that teams will not embrace the technology, and fear of losing control.
In a recent interview on SAP BrandVoice on Forbes.com, Erxleben addressed the fears around generative AI in autonomous finance.
“Almost every customer asks how we ensure that AI is not learning the wrong things. They fear not being able to control what AI learns, how it learns and what the outcome of this learning might be.” To alleviate feelings of fear and anxiety, Erxleben says it is important to understand that this new wave of AI relies on generative models that are able to generate new outputs from existing inputs. Third-wave AI recognizes types of activity on its own and then connects the dots for the human user. It perceives, reasons and communicates.”– Dr. Uli Erxleben, CEO & Founder Hypatos.
There is no doubt that AI will affect the next generation’s workforce. A report by the World Economic Forum predicted that 85 million jobs will be replaced by AI by 2025, while AI could potentially generate 97 million new roles.
The smartest advice to financial professionals is to remember that AI is very powerful, but it’s also fun. It doesn’t require a big investment; just think of a use case and get AI to solve it. Finance leaders should take time to learn how the technology can help the company and how it will impact the workforce.
At Hypatos we see this as an opportunity for companies to think about using talent differently. Accounting jobs are undersold - they can be perceived as more attractive if we highlight the exciting use of new technology and the chance to solve problems in a creative way.
“AI should be positioned as the accountant’s assistant,” - Dr. Uli Erxleben, CEO & Founder Hypatos.
Companies set to become transformational leaders in finance embrace concepts such as autonomous finance. They take an active role in assessing current ways of working, looking for processes that are outdated and drive the finance function forward with the latest technologies to support and streamline business.
Adopting autonomous finance functions – think AI Agents – will enable organizations to do insights mining and result in innovative ways to connect business problems with data and inform better decisions. AI Agents not only process the mundane tasks, but also manage complex tasks that require deep domain expertise too, such as accounts payables accounting coding, line-level PO to Invoice Matching, automated bank statement reconciliations, T&E fraud and compliance detection, or ESG Scope classification and energy consumption reporting.
The 2023 Gartner Market Guide where Hypatos was recognized as a ‘Representative Vendor’ for our AI Agents for Accounts Payable Invoice Automation, highlights what type of expertise is needed in the enterprise financial automation and B2B Finance SaaS sectors. Implementing AI Agents brings many benefits and competitive advantages for large organizations:
Enabling AI-driven business operations, while humans make strategic decisions and design innovative solutions is where global businesses are headed and it will be visible in the day-to-day of their finance and accounting teams who will get to receive payments sooner, pay for goods on time, manage and reimburse travel expenses accurately, and avoid ESG and other penalties.
The best time to start your journey to autonomous finance is today. And if you want to learn more about how to effectively transform your finance organization, watch our explainer webinar “Unlocking the Future of Business with Autonomous Finance”.
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