The rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has led to increased interest among CFOs in using AI to improve finance processes. A survey found that 92% of CFOs believe AI tools can enhance efficiency, productivity, and profitability. Despite this enthusiasm, many finance leaders are unsure of how to start the journey to AI adoption. Only 21% of CFOs plan to work with their internal technology teams, while 56% plan to collaborate with a mix of internal teams and external vendors.
Creating alignment between CFOs and CTOs is crucial for successful AI adoption. Both CFOs and CTOs are forward-thinking leaders who make decisions based on the current and long-term success of their organizations. They can create alignment by speaking the same language around metrics and key performance indicators. This aligns finance metrics with technology impacts, laying a strong foundation for measuring success.
AI adoption has far-reaching implications on a company’s enterprise application architecture, directly affecting design, coding, processes, and data. Technology teams have deep knowledge of a company’s infrastructure and can identify the best AI applications that work within it. They can also drive efficiency and cost-savings through the implementation of new technologies. CFOs can learn from the experiences of CTOs and technology teams who have already adopted AI, leveraging their insights to inform their own AI adoption strategies.
At Avalara, an intelligent document platform is used to detail the steps needed to create AI models and implementations. This platform is used by engineering teams to easily learn how to implement AI into their projects. Utilizing similar approaches, finance and other non-technical teams can also benefit from AI adoption. The value of AI for finance is expected to grow, as it can streamline manual processes, provide better insights, and enable finance teams to deliver more value to their organizations. However, partnership with technology teams will be crucial for realizing the benefits of AI in finance processes.
In conclusion, AI has the potential to revolutionize finance processes and drive business success. CFOs and CTOs must work together to align their strategies and metrics when adopting AI. By leveraging the expertise and experience of technology teams, finance leaders can ensure a successful AI adoption journey. With the right partnership and collaboration, finance teams can harness the power of AI to optimize processes, improve efficiency, and deliver greater value to their organizations.
