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AI’s sweet spots in the finance function

by Adrian Tay, Jim Rowan, Max Troitsky, Michael Kirk, Larry Rakhlin
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2 minute read 19 November 2020

AI’s sweet spots in the finance function Where CFOs can focus their AI investments

2 minute read 19 November 2020
  • Adrian Tay United States
  • Jim Rowan United States
  • Max Troitsky United States
  • Michael Kirk United States
  • Larry Rakhlin United States
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    • Michael Kirk United States
    • Larry Rakhlin United States
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AI can play a major role in the finance function’s transformation from consolidating and reporting financial metrics to serving as a key strategic business partner.

CFOs are increasingly exploring artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to yield greater business insights, enhance financial accuracy and predictability, and reduce labor-intensive processes in the finance function. But where can AI have the biggest impact? A multinational Deloitte survey of 2,737 IT and line-of-business executives identified the top two benefits they were seeking from AI technologies, shown in the accompanying figure. Based on these findings, CFOs seeking to de-risk and enhance the ROI on their AI investments may wish to focus on using AI to:

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  • Make processes more efficient. AI can increase efficiency by automating manual, FTE-heavy finance processes such as the order-to-cash cycle. It can also help optimize data profiling, remediation, and integration. The result? Cleaner data, greater accuracy, and more opportunities for efficiencies, which can lead to improvements in days sales outstanding, working capital, and margins.
  • Improve decision-making. AI can uncover discrete patterns in complex structured and unstructured data, giving finance managers new insights that can support more meaningful analyses while increasing forecasting and financial planning speed and accuracy.
  • Enhance relationships with clients and customers. By automating customer-facing finance processes such as invoicing, AI can enhance the customer experience, improving customer relationships and brand perception.
  • Increase employee productivity. AI mimics human intelligence to automate activities that nonintelligent technologies cannot, which can free more finance professionals to focus on value-driving activities.

Process efficiency tops the list of benefits achieved with AI

Thanks to benefits like these, AI can play a major role in the finance function’s transformation from consolidating and reporting financial metrics to serving as a key strategic business partner.

To learn more about what CFOs should consider when building their AI strategy and how to get started, check out Why CFOs should have artificial intelligence on their minds.1

Acknowledgments

Cover artwork by: Jagan Mohan

Endnotes
    1. Deloitte, Why CFOs should have artificial intelligence on their minds, September 2020. View in article

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CFOs know finance transformation can be difficult and time-consuming. But they also know it’s an effective way to keep up with the changing needs of the business. Whether it’s technology disruption, business model innovation, or a new industry ecosystem, Deloitte helps finance organizations look ahead to what’s next while keeping the ship on a steady course.

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  • Finance & Enterprise Performance—US finance strategy leader | Principal
  • Deloitte Consulting LLP
  • dhobbs@deloitte.com
  • +1 210 845 6295

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Adrian Tay

Adrian Tay

Managing Director | Finance and Enterprise Performance Operate Leader

Adrian leads the Finance Transformation practice. He consistently innovates and helps his clients produce deeper business insights through the application of analytics and other digital disruptors. Over the course of his 20 years advising clients, he has had the opportunity to serve a multitude of clients ranging from hyper-growth startups to global Fortune 10 companies. Adrian has led complex engagements across the entire spectrum of CFO responsibility areas–from finance strategy to planning/budgeting/forecasting to close optimization to finance merger integration/divestiture to internal and external reporting to general process improvement. Adrian is a Deloitte Consulting LLP managing director, and while Adrian spends most of his time in the Media, High Tech and Consumer Products sectors–he has demonstrated the ability to bring leading practices cross sector to serve clients in Financial Services, Manufacturing and Life Sciences as well.

  • adtay@deloitte.com
  • +1 213 688 3212
Jim Rowan

Jim Rowan

Principal | Deloitte Consulting LLP

Jim is a principal at Deloitte and is currently the Head of AI for Deloitte. He helps clients transform their businesses using data powered analytical and AI solutions that enable better decision making. Over the course of his career, Jim has served clients across the life sciences, healthcare and telecommunications industries. He also has deep knowledge of the finance function in these organizations, having led analytics, planning and forecasting and close projects that enable the finance function to embrace digital transformations. Jim formerly led AI & Data Operations within Deloitte Consulting's Strategy & Analytics practice. Outside of Deloitte, Jim serves on the Board of LEAP for Education, an organization focused on middle school and high school student education and matriculation to college. Jim lives in the Boston area with his wife and 4 children. He enjoys attending his children’s activities, gardening, running and indoor cycling on a Peloton.

  • jimrowan@deloitte.com
  • +1 617 437 3470
Max Troitsky

Max Troitsky

Senior Manager | Deloitte Consulting LLP

Max is a leader in the Finance Transformation practice with a focus on life sciences and health care clients. In his role, he helps design and implement initiatives to drive the strategic priorities of the CFO, including finance operating model redesign, cost reduction, enterprise performance management, digital enablement, and cognitive automation. Max brings 20 years of industry and consulting experience and has led many large-scale, global finance transformation programs, helping clients evolve the role of their finance organizations to drive enterprise value. Max is the also author of several publications focused on FP&A, business partnering, predictive analytics, and machine learning.

  • mtroitsky@deloitte.com
  • +1 215 815 9443
Michael Kirk

Michael Kirk

Senior consultant

Mike Kirk is a senior consultant in Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Finance & Enterprise Performance practice with a focus on business finance in the life sciences industry. With more than six years of industry and consulting experience, Kirk helps clients achieve their finance and digital transformations with an emphasis on end-to-end FP&A process design, including finance strategy, digital enablement, and delivery models.

  • mikirk@deloitte.com
Larry Rakhlin

Larry Rakhlin

Consultant

Larry Rakhlin is a consultant in Deloitte Consulting LLP's Finance & Enterprise Performance practice. In his role, he has helped clients achieve business and finance transformations with a focus on digital strategy, operating model design, and strategic roadmap development. Prior to joining Deloitte, Rakhlin completed a selective Fortune 500 rotational management program, where he gained international experience in financial modeling, process optimization, and strategy across finance and operations functions. Rakhlin graduated from Cornell University with a BA in economics.

  • lrakhlin@deloitte.com

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