Shaping the Future of Finance:
Delivering Real-World Value with AI
Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are radically transforming the finance sector. With ongoing economic pressures and environmental disruptions, leaders are turning to AI as a strategic enabler for sustainable growth. These emerging technologies have provided businesses with new opportunities to streamline operations, enhance decision-making and drive growth – all with speed and efficiency. The journey of digital transformation remains deeply human however, with human-centered responsibilities at the core of delivering real-world business value and impact. To maintain a competitive advantage in the future, finance leaders will need to remain agile in their approaches to technology, if they are to navigate the multitude of complexities that shape AI’s path from adoption to implementation.
As a digital software powerhouse delivering cutting edge solutions for companies worldwide, Oracle in partnership with Connect Media, hosted an executive roundtable to discuss these trends in AI and the future of finance, explore opportunities for innovation and understand how leaders can stay prepared within an evolving financial sector. The conversation was led by Wayne Goodall, Vice President, Cloud Applications Development, Oracle JAPAC, with exclusive insights from Mohammed Khan, Partner, Finance Transformation and Performance Management Practice, Deloitte and Dr Sean Gallagher, Future of Work Evangelist & Founder, Humanova.
This article presents a high-level overview of these discussions and learnings that drove the evening.
The Path to Adoption: Unlocking Productivity & Success
Finance leaders have a unique opportunity to truly revolutionise their business operations with precision and efficiency. The ability to make faster, data-driven decisions is one of AI’s greatest benefits, and can be leveraged to streamline tasks such as budgeting and forecasting processes. When harnessed effectively, businesses are able to process large volumes of data quickly, enabling leaders to generate critical insights that can help refine business strategies and respond proactively to shifting markets.
As highlighted by Mohammed Khan during the roundtable, “It can take weeks to rollover a company’s budget and forecast data. With the power of AI, we can reduce this process to just a few minutes with 85%-90% accuracy.”
These predictive AI engines allow companies to fast-track data insights that would otherwise take weeks to compile, enabling finance leaders to focus on high-impact strategic decisions that matter most.
With so many benefits to these transformative technologies, the path to integration still comes with its challenges – as professionals at all levels of operation grapple with its use and regulation more broadly.
The Path to Integration: Navigating a Culture of AI Uncertainty
As AI’s influence grows across the finance function, questions around job security and workforce displacement have also emerged. This underscores an urgent need for digital upskilling to prepare employees for a new era in finance. Leaders will need to approach AI not just as a digital productivity tool, but as a co-collaborator at scale.
The entry path of AI into business has been unconventional, infiltrating workplaces from the ground up – often without the knowledge of executive leadership. There has been a growing culture of uncertainty around innovation. Some employees are wary of discussing just how much they use AI in their daily work – while others are reluctant to incorporate these innovative tools into workflows all together. To address these staff hesitancies, finance leaders must work to normalise the role of AI in daily business practice.
As Sean Gallenger shared during the roundtable, “The critical questions to consider are how do we as leaders bring AI into the open? How do we standardise it? How do we minimise the fear associated with these emerging technologies? We need to empower our staff to do great work – and this can be done through fully embracing AI.”
By increasing transparency around the role of AI in everyday workflows, leaders can mitigate innovation concerns and begin to empower staff to work alongside these technologies without apprehension.
Conclusion
As economic landscapes continue to evolve, finance leaders must be able to adapt their innovation strategies for the future. Traditional long-term business roadmaps are increasingly challenging to uphold in an environment where economic pressures and tech advancements continue to accelerate. To navigate such disruptions, leaders must begin to consider a more flexible, short-term strategy model that can support both innovation priorities alongside essential business needs.
Looking towards the future, AI has the potential to generate significant value across the finance function. As its capabilities expand, so too does our need to foster a culture of continuous learning and adaptation. By bolstering essential digital skills at every level of business through learning programs, along with normalising the great potential of AI as a co-collaborator in our daily work, finance leaders can reshape the innovation narrative in their organisations. This holistic approach to AI integration is essential if leaders are to transform today’s ambitions into tomorrow’s achievements. The journey from AI adoption to integration will not occur overnight. It will require patience, resilience, fostering open collaboration and cultivating a mindset of continuous improvement. These are the essential actions every finance leader must take to ensure their business is well-prepared to operate in the digital era of finance.
