# How finance leaders can strike the balance between human and artificial intelligence
Author:  Pal Sinha, Barnali 
Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali
Published: 2018-06-15
Category: FINANCE
Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/finance
Meta Title: Embracing AI in Finance: Threat or Opportunity?
Meta Description: Discover how AI and automation are reshaping the finance industry, creating strategic opportunities for finance teams to add value and become key business
URL: https://financedigest.com/how-finance-leaders-can-strike-the-balance-between-human-and-artificial-intelligencehtml

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_**Tim Wakeford**, VP for Financial Product Strategy, EMEA at_ [_Workday_](http://www.workday.com)

There are a lot of scary statistics highlighting the potential risks of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation – especially when it comes to the job market. For example, a recent report by [PwC](http://economia.icaew.com/en/news/march-2017/a-third-of-finance-jobs-at-risk-from-automation) predicted that a third of jobs in the financial sector are under threat due to advances in AI and automation. Furthermore, [research by Opimas](http://www.opimas.com/research/210/detail/) estimated that a staggering 230,000 finance jobs could disappear by 2025 as AI continues to automate routine processes.

There is no doubt that the finance industry is in a period of technological transformation. However, instead of viewing these emerging technologies as a threat, it is far more productive to view them as massive opportunity for the finance team to add strategic value to the business as a whole. In fact, forward-thinking finance teams that strive to use the latest tools, applications and workflow processes will have the means at its disposal to be the strategic business partner that every [CEO needs](https://www.financedigest.com/new-uk-pm-will-need-to-take-urgent-action-on-energy-bills-ofgem-ceo.html "New UK PM will need to take urgent action on energy bills – Ofgem CEO").

**The [business case](https://www.financedigest.com/building-a-business-case-for-integrated-payments.html "Building a Business Case for Integrated Payments") for AI in finance**

> Focusing solely on the potential [risks of AI eclipses the massive opportunity it offers finance](https://www.financedigest.com/is-2022-the-year-green-finance-incorporates-climate-risk.html "Is 2022 the year green finance incorporates climate risk?") teams – improving efficiency and reducing the burden of menial tasks.

In fact, an EY study [“Is the future of finance new technology or new people?”](http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY-is-the-future-of-finance-new-technology-or-new-people/%24FILE/EY-the-DNA-of-the-CFO-part-2.pdf) revealed that 65% of finance leaders consider having agile and automated processes to be a significant priority. Additionally, 67% of [finance leaders think that improving the partnership between the finance function and the business as a whole is also a key objective and one of the major drivers fueling investment in AI and automation](https://www.financedigest.com/why-do-modern-finance-functions-strive-for-automation.html "WHY DO MODERN FINANCE FUNCTIONS STRIVE FOR AUTOMATION?").

“Where once \[finance’s\] remit was predominantly that of a [reporting function](https://www.financedigest.com/baby-food-industry-will-turn-to-drive-sales-growth-of-functional-dairy-ingredient-market-fact-mr-report.html "Baby Food Industry Will Turn To Drive Sales Growth Of Functional Dairy Ingredient Market, Fact.MR Report") that focused on balancing the books, it will become a data-driven decision-centre,” concludes the EY study. “Technology will [play an increasingly significant role in executing many traditional finance](https://www.financedigest.com/the-role-embedded-finance-systems-will-play-as-commerce-goes-increasingly-digital.html "The Role Embedded Finance Systems Will Play as Commerce Goes Increasingly Digital") tasks while at the same time generating greater insight. Meanwhile, [finance people](https://www.financedigest.com/people-dont-like-to-be-told-no-when-it-comes-to-finance.html "People don’t like to be told no when it comes to finance") will spend a greater proportion of their time working with colleagues across the organisation to make decisions in support of the strategy.”

**From number crunching** to [business strategy](https://www.financedigest.com/fortified-dairy-products-market-outlook-cover-new-business-strategy-with-upcoming-opportunity-2022-to-2032.html "Fortified Dairy Products Market Outlook Cover New Business Strategy with Upcoming Opportunity 2022 to 2032")

Traditionally, the finance team has spent a large proportion of its time and effort on activities such as transaction processing and [audit and compliance](https://www.financedigest.com/why-the-us-urgently-needs-media-compliance-auditing.html "Why the US urgently needs media compliance auditing"). However, [automation and AI promises to free up finance](https://www.financedigest.com/is-automation-key-to-esg-success-in-the-banking-and-finance-sector.html "Is automation key to ESG success in the banking and finance sector?") professionals from such repetitive work. In turn, this will allow [finance professionals to focus on strategic activities that will drive value](https://www.financedigest.com/how-embedded-insurance-can-drive-growth-and-value-for-the-insurance-and-finance-sectors.html "How Embedded Insurance Can Drive Growth and Value for the Insurance and Finance Sectors") for their organisation.

Making the best use of the various tools, apps and workflow efficiencies that AI and automation offers will mean that the [finance team can shift their focus from number crunching and auditing to financial analytics and data-driven forecasting](https://www.financedigest.com/forecast-based-financing-for-smes.html "Forecast-based financing for SMEs"). Using AI, for instance, can help to accurately model a business’s strategic [risk and resilience and to generally improve overall data-driven financial management](https://www.financedigest.com/risk-management-redefined-navigating-post-covid-disruption.html "Risk Management redefined: navigating post-COVID disruption").

Indeed, it’s easy to argue that spending an inordinate amount of time on these activities is what has prevented finance teams from reaching their full potential as strategic business partners in the past. Investment in and adoption of AI and automation needs to remove the repetitive manual tasks that the finance team has historically spent most of its [time dealing](https://www.financedigest.com/italys-cdp-and-partners-ask-tim-for-more-time-for-network-deal.html "Italy’s CDP and partners ask TIM for more time for network deal") with, and help that same team to become a far more strategic, efficient and skilled element of the entire business.

The [balancing act](https://www.financedigest.com/fintech-and-compliance-managing-the-eternal-balancing-act.html "Fintech and compliance: Managing the eternal balancing act")

AI and automation offers finance professionals the opportunity to process vast amounts of data much faster and at a much [lower cost](https://www.financedigest.com/companies-cost-inflation-is-slowing-but-shoppers-may-wait-for-lower-prices.html "Companies’ cost inflation is slowing but shoppers may wait for lower prices") than ever before. However, there are a few ‘housekeeping jobs’ that [finance leaders](https://www.financedigest.com/now-is-the-time-for-finance-leaders-to-take-on-a-more-strategic-and-valuable-role.html "Now is the time for finance leaders to take on a more strategic and valuable role") need to consider before they rush into adopting the latest technologies, including AI. This is not a simple ‘rip and replace’ task, and there is a far more complex and complicated transition process at play here.

[CFOs will need](https://www.financedigest.com/cfos-need-to-embrace-todays-technology-for-tomorrows-success.html "CFOs need to embrace today’s technology for tomorrow’s success ") to examine where the best opportunities for automation are, identifying which tasks are eating up valuable resources and slowing down operations. Once key processes are automated, finance leaders will then need to [develop structured analytics and centralise all data processes](https://www.financedigest.com/crowdsourcing-of-data-to-drive-the-high-throughput-process-development-market.html "Crowdsourcing of data to drive the High Throughput Process Development Market"), to prepare their finance team for the AI era.

This is exactly where CFOs need to perform a delicate balancing act between using the most-skilled employees alongside the [latest technologies](https://www.financedigest.com/cardiac-valvulotome-market-growth-latest-trends-top-players-competition-technological-advancements-outlook-and-forecast-2028.html "Cardiac Valvulotome Market Growth, Latest Trends, Top Players, Competition, Technological Advancements, Outlook and Forecast 2028") that are most in-line with the longer-term strategic aims of the business.After all, the [success of any technology](https://www.financedigest.com/how-to-establish-a-successful-technology-strategy.html "How to establish a successful technology strategy") largely depends on two things: the quality and reliability of the data you are using, along with the drive and skills of the people that will be using it.

**Looking ahead**

The age of AI is upon us, offering immense opportunities to nurture a far more strategic and valuable [finance function](https://www.financedigest.com/easing-the-burden-of-data-overwhelm-in-finance-functions.html "Easing the burden of data overwhelm in finance functions"). Ensuring the best use of emerging AI [technologies will enable](https://www.financedigest.com/ethical-financial-selling-the-role-of-compliance-technology-and-sales-enablement.html "Ethical Financial Selling: The Role of Compliance Technology and Sales Enablement ") finance to focus on higher-value skills, helping to achieve the longer-term strategic aims of the business as a whole. To succeed in today’s AI era, finance leaders will [need to strike the balance](https://www.financedigest.com/regulators-need-to-strike-the-balance-between-protection-and-strangulation.html "REGULATORS NEED TO STRIKE THE BALANCE BETWEEN PROTECTION AND STRANGULATION") between emerging technologies and an organisation’s most important asset — its people. This is going to be the real key for the [future of finance](https://www.financedigest.com/the-future-of-finance-how-to-defend-against-the-top-threats-to-cloud-security.html "The Future of Finance: How to defend against the top threats to cloud security").


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