Free Ebook The Role of AI in Finance 1712162301

The Future  
of Finance:
Exploring the Role of AI

Table of Contents
01 Acknowledgments 2
Executive Summary 3
introduction 4
02 AI - back to basics 6
03 How generative AI helps finance teams 10
04 From data to insights 14
05 Success starts with the right foundation 19
06 Case study - Pigment AI 23
07 Examples and use-cases for CFOs 26
08 Security: Building Trust in AI-Powered Finance 33
09 How to reskill your team to adapt AI 36
10 The finance team’s complete AI glossary 39
11 Sources 41
01
Acknowledgements
Part 01 Acknowledgements
Executive Summary
AI is one of the most important,

but also one of the most divisive
areas of technology.
Its full potential across every industry and business
function is only starting to be glimpsed. What’s more,
Eléonore Crespo  
Co-CEO at Pigment
those glimpses are clouded by media hype that have,
in recent months, verged on hysteria.
It is not always easy to cut through the emotion and

sensationalism that surrounds AI and gain an
objective understanding of its real-world application,
the specific benefits it brings and the challenges that
accompany them. This is what we have set out to do,
examining AI’s role in finance, today and for the future.
After a brief look at some terminology, definitions  

and background, we will examine ways in which AI  
can help finance teams to function better, smarter,
faster, and how it can even make careers in finance
more rewarding.
We will also explore the preconditions needed to

integrate AI seamlessly and effectively, including how  
to go about and prioritise retraining and upskilling.
For years, AI has been presented as a feature of some

possible future. But that future is now. AI is here and its
potential benefits to businesses in general and finance
teams in particular are there for the taking.
The Future of Finance: Exploring the Role of AI 3

Introduction
CFOs and other finance leaders
have plenty on their plates in 2023.
Gone are the days when all they had to worry about
were balance sheets, P&Ls and management reports.
Today’s finance leaders are operating in volatile and
uncertain times. Ankur Agrawal from McKinsey
recently wrote about the blend of opportunity and
challenge that modern CFOs face.
Discussing McKinsey’s famous biennial survey  

of CFOs, he noted that the role and specifically the
responsibilities have broadened in recent years. More
functions and departments report to the CFO than
ever, with more CFOs now taking responsibility for such
areas as procurement, cybersecurity and even talent
acquisition and retention.
Finance leaders are at the forefront of these

conversations, and must not only identify the optimal
tech stack but must also be clear about the return  
on investment.

The time for digitization in finance is now. Many
enterprises are doing fundamental reviews of
their business models, and finance leaders are
exploring how to accelerate the pace of change.”
Today’s data-rich environment means there is more information to be analyzed
than ever - but with their wider roles, there is also less time for finance leaders and
CFOs to do so. This is part of the reason the industry is so excited about AI.
AI tools can analyze vast quantities of data, and have the power to identify trends
that the human eye could easily miss. That means better insights, more accurate
reports and forecasts and better-informed strategic decisions. Also, AI tools can
cut a swathe through routine tasks like report creation and even customer
enquiries, leaving human brains free to focus on more interesting and rewarding
value-adding activities.

02
AI - back  
to basics
Part 02 ai - back to basics
AI - back to basics
Before we dive too deep down the rabbit hole,  
it is as well to be clear what we are talking about
when we discuss Artificial Intelligence.
We think of AI as a disruptive technology, and rightly so, but that does not mean it
is conceptually new. It is simply the speed of development that is liable to catch
businesses napping.
Understanding AI and its uses does not demand in-depth understanding of

coding. A little technical knowledge is useful, but it is not obligatory, just as you
don’t need to understand the technicalities of internal combustion engines and
electric motors to make fleet decisions. The important thing to understand about
AI is that it is just another tool, a means to an end. To start to conceptualize how AI
applications can best be employed, therefore, the first step is to be crystal clear
on the business strategy and challenges that it can be used to address.
Otherwise, it is a classic case of Alice and the Cheshire Cat.
Would you tell me, please, which way I

ought to go from here?
That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
I don’t much care where.
Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.

So what do we mean by AI and how can it help us reach our desired destination or
achieve our strategic goal? In short, any software or program that exhibits what we
would call intellectual quality that we would associate with cognition is an example
of AI. So in other words, this is software that can learn, solve problems, understand
language or exhibit some sort of creativity.
From a business perspective, we can immediately draw out some specific examples
of AI in action:
Automated systems react in certain ways to external information in order to
perform routine tasks more efficiently or quickly or to simply relieve humans
of the task. Autonomous cars are an example.
Machine learning makes decisions or draws conclusions about new data on
the basis of what it “knows” from existing data and past experience.
Natural Language Processing (NLP) processes words from everyday
language and interacts with the data. Software that automatically reads and
processes claim forms or doctors’ notes for insurance claims is a good
example of NLP in action.
In this era of Siri and Alexa, we encounter AI every day. However, the somewhat
scripted responses seem more “A” than “I”, using simple voice-recognition NLP to
select an appropriate resource. We actually encounter far more powerful AI, but in
more subtle ways.
When you browse your social media news feed or Google Discovery over breakfast,
the news stories at the top are all on the topics that interest you. It’s not by
coincidence, AI uses your browsing history to anticipate your needs and interests.

Similarly, navigation apps learn our daily routines so they can recommend the best
time to leave for work and what route to take.
The latter is a particularly pertinent example as it shows how AI can analyze data
and make the best recommendation, saving humans from having to work it out for
themselves. In this case, it is quite a simple process based primarily on the latest
traffic reports on different roads. But this kind of decision-making extends far
beyond the preserve of handy consumer gadgets.
AI can offer both faster and more reliable decision-making. Faster because it can
analyze thousands of data records in a second and more reliable because it can
therefore base its recommendations on a far larger data set. The implications are
significant. Take medicine as an example.
A doctor might spend an hour consulting a dozen similar cases when attempting to
diagnose an unusual case. AI can analyze thousands of cases much faster. Not only
does it mean a quicker and more accurate diagnosis, it frees up an hour of the
doctor’s time that can be spent treating patients.
Key takeaways
Automated systems reduce costs, deliver efficiencies and improve

1 accuracy by helping us work faster and smarter
2 The future is now - AI applications are already all around us
The more information AI has, the better its insights and

3 recommendations - but the converse principle of “garbage in /
garbage out” also applies

03
How generative  
AI helps  
finance teams
Part 03 How generative AI helps finance teams
How generative  
AI helps finance teams
There are more similarities than might be immediately obvious between the doctor
in our previous example and the average CFO or senior finance manager.
We mentioned earlier that finance leaders have a broader remit than ever before.
The right AI tools can take routine tasks from their shoulders, effectively
transforming their day to day activities into more supervisory and strategic roles.
Generative AI describes AI tools that are capable of creating content, be it text,

images or even synthetic data. Such is the power of generative AI that there has
even been talk of the “digital CFO” in the context of a piece of software that can
negate the need for a human CFO altogether, along with the associated salary and
benefits. It is certainly true that generative AI opens up the power of financial
planning to other departments, but as we have seen by now, there is more to the
role of a CFO than crunching numbers.
There might be a limited application for this kind of “digital CFO” for smaller
businesses and tech-savvy startups, but as Kevin Held, the CFO at Hazeltree, said in
early 2023, finance and accounting teams have evolved into key business partners,
overseeing areas such as transparency in cash flow and other strategic needs.
Finance and accounting teams have become

much more of a business partner than just the
‘bean counter’ we were before.”

Generative AI’s contribution to decision-making cannot be overstated. Even in a

static environment, we have seen how it can increase the speed and reliability of
decisions. But today’s business environment is far from static. A survey carried out
by Gartner in 2021 found that two thirds of the business decisions made today are
more complex than they were two years ago. This is either because they involve
more choices, more stakeholders or both.
AI can be used to increase the speed and confidence of decisions in three ways:
Decision automation 
The generative AI system makes the decision on the basis of either
prescriptive analytics or predictive analytics. This sort of decision-making is
being used in insurance technology (insurance tech) to dramatically speed
up the payout process, for example.
Decision augmentation 
This works on the same basis as automation, but the system stops short of
acting on its decision. Instead, it presents a recommended course of action,
or a shortlist of options, to the human user, who can then make the final
decision, backed up by the significant analysis that has been performed by
the AI.
Decision support 
The AI provides data-driven insights and the user considers these alongside
human knowledge, experience and “gut feel” to arrive at a solution.
The complexity of today’s decision-making needs means that standing still is

tantamount to going backwards. In the business environment of the 2020s, some
degree of AI assistance in the decision-making process is essential.

The businesses that can make the best use of the tools at their disposal and
understand which type of automation, augmentation or support is most appropriate
are the ones that will leverage a true competitive advantage.
Finally, when looking at how generative AI helps finance teams, let’s not overlook the
simplest but often most impactful aspect. We talked dismissively of “number
crunching” earlier because it is something software can do so easily. But automating
any task can be hugely beneficial in terms of efficiency, accuracy, and even  
job satisfaction.
A mechanical digger can shift as much earth in an hour as would take a human
worker 40 days, and it would make a tidier job of it. Data preparation is surely the
finance equivalent of shoveling earth, and offloading it onto an automated system is
an innovation against which few would push back. It is just one example of workflow
automation that can deliver major benefits. Companies from Coca Cola to Netflix
have used AI for similar simple but profoundly effective automation tasks such as
analyzing customer feedback or providing new product recommendations.
Key takeaways
1 Generative AI tools can relieve finance teams of routine tasks
AI doesn’t work in a vacuum, but aids decision-making by adding  

2 data-rich insights to human judgement and intuition
AI tools can make finance work more interesting and satisfying  

3 for personnel

04
From data  
to insights
Part 04 From data to insights
From data to insights
The potential capability of AI is almost inconceivable,
and it is easy to understand how some people can
find it overwhelming and even frightening.
One of the most profound aspects of AI is that once it starts down a particular
road, it keeps on learning and improving. Perhaps this is best demonstrated by
the chess computers that caused such a stir in the 1980s and 90s.
Deep Blue is IBM’s famous chess-playing computer that took on human
competition and won. In 1997, it beat Garry Kasparov, the greatest chess player
the world had ever seen. In fact, Deep Blue and Kasparov were quite evenly
matched, but today’s chess computers like Stockfish are vastly superior to both
Deep Blue and any human chess player. In fact, the last time a human beat a
computer at chess was 15 years ago, and it won’t ever happen again. Stockfish
can calculate all possible moves up to 80 ahead, while a human grandmaster
might think 10 to 12 moves ahead. It’s a little like comparing our guy with a shovel
to the mechanical digger.
Of course, a chess computer is a very narrow example. There are more possible
variations in a chess game than there are atoms in the observable universe, but
it is still a finite and bound set that conforms to specific rules. Code those rules
and the AI can just go deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole. Richard Branson
is famous for his sometimes fanciful comparisons between the two, but the truth
is real life is a lot more complicated than a chess game.
In particular, the sheer volume of data that is now at every business’s disposal is
every bit as mind-blowing as the 10111 moves that are possible on a chess board. It
is at this point that you start to appreciate that any apparent similarities between
human and artificial intelligence are an illusion. AI is completely reliant on the
quality and relevance of the data that it receives.

If you feed garbage in, you will get garbage out, and you would do as well to ask
your cat or your lucky 8-ball to make the decision.
We will explore that angle further in just a moment, but the point to understand
right now is there is a big gulf between raw data and insights. It is interesting to
note that technopedia defines big data not as a noun, but as a process by which
“a massive quantity of data can be converted into useful information.” Not only is
this data vast in quantity, it is also of a whole new type compared to that which
analysts have used in years gone by.
Companies have tons and tons of data, but

success isn’t about data collection, it’s about
data management and insight.”
Businesses are accustomed to dealing with structured data, of a kind that can
easily be tabulated in a spreadsheet or a text file. Much of the data that is
generated today, however, is unstructured. For example, emails, social media
shout outs or comments, Google reviews, audio or video files, they all contain
data that can be immensely valuable.

Then there are diverse data sources to consider. The Internet of Things has
dramatically expanded the potential here. Smart phones, wearables, even data
from vehicles and smart road networks can all come into play, depending on the
type of business.
All of these demand effective big data processing capabilities if they are to be of
any value in delivering useful and actionable insights. Otherwise, there is a risk of
expending vast efforts and resources into what turns out to be nothing more than a
resource drain.
We could talk for hours on the topic of data processing and analytics. For our
present purposes, the point is that it is one thing to conceptualize how the data
needs to be processed and analyzed. But to put the concept into action demands
the power of AI. Again, we are back to the earth moving equipment carrying out a
task that someone with a shovel can only imagine.
AI software simulates human intelligence processes in as much as it takes training

data, learns from it by making correlations and identifying patterns and then
applies these to live data to draw conclusions and deliver those all-important
insights. Like the chess computers, or poker playing computers that have similarly
been hitting the headlines recently, the more data the AI is exposed to, the better it
gets and the more accurate its insights.

Unlike the human brain, AI is not affected by personal bias. It does not forget things
or get distracted or have an off day. Before AI, there was an upper limit to the
quantity of data that could efficiently be processed by the human brain. Going
deeper or bigger became so resource-intensive that the return was simply not
worth the investment. With an AI-based system, the sky is the limit. In fact, as we
have already discovered, the more data it is exposed to, the more insightful  
the results.
Best of all, once AI is up and running and aligned to our objectives, it can handle its
own fine tuning. In the past, performing traditional manual data analysis
demanded a whole new set of code every time there was a change to the
parameters or requirements. AI can perform whatever adjustments are needed
independently, essentially working on a constant basis of self-improvement.
Key takeaways
1 The more AI learns, the better it gets
2 AI can handle both structured and unstructured data
3 There is no upper limit to AI’s capability

05
Success starts  
with the right
foundation
Part 5 Success starts with the right foundation
Success starts with  

the right foundation
AI can do great things with data, things greater almost than the human mind can
conceive. That’s well and good, but we will return now to a point we raised earlier.
Computer scientists love the phrase garbage in, garbage out, perhaps because it is
so broadly applicable across our business and personal lives.
You can have all of the fancy tools, but if your data
quality is not good, you're nowhere.”
It sounds tongue in cheek, but the concept is deadly serious. When investing in AI to
analyze data, you need to be absolutely certain you are giving it the best possible
data to analyze. It sounds obvious, but as we have already discovered, life and
business are more complex than a game of chess.
One thing businesses are great at in the 21st century is coming up with fantastic
solutions and then desperately looking for problems they might be able to solve.
That’s a trap that is so easy to step into in data analytics. The mere existence of
data is often deemed sufficient reason to feed it into big data then sit back and wait
for the lightning insights to rain down.

Sad to say, it doesn’t work that way. Grant Thornton developed a useful
framework that helps you identify what data is useful by allocating it to one of
four possible categories:
Stakeholder management
Improving stakeholder
understanding and usage  
of data and insights
Value creation
Delivering strategic
initiatives to 
create additional
Operational
shareholder value
delivery
Improving efficiency  
and accuracy in
operational delivery
Business protection
Protecting your
organization from risks
and potential losses
If data provides insights in one of these four areas, then it is data that is worth
looking at. The model also provides an opportunity to identify data that could be
of future value and can be placed on the back burner if it serves an area that is
not within your current focus.

Once you are clear about what you are collecting, the next area to address is how
you are collecting it. Today, most businesses use data pools for this purpose. Put
simply, a data pool is a centralized repository where data is housed from diverse
sources. Don’t confuse a data pool with a data warehouse. The latter stores
historical data that can be interrogated for statistical and analytical purposes. The
former is a living and breathing thing that houses real time data, or at least as
close to real time as is practically possible.
Data pools are invaluable in dynamic business environments where decisions need
to be made on the hoof and based on the latest market information. As well as
providing the basis for which AI can operate, they also serve to foster and enhance
cross-team collaboration within an organization by providing a single and
accepted source of truth. For years, teams and business units have operated within
their own siloes. Having this sort of information shared and accessible to all helps
humans to make better decisions and operate more efficiently as well as AI.
Key takeaways
The value that AI can deliver depends on the quality of data  

1 provided to it
Quality is about more than accuracy.  

2 The data must also have relevance and add value
Data pools improve accuracy and communication  

3 by providing company-wise access to shared data

06
Case study
Pigment AI
Part 06 Case study Pigment AI
Pigment AI
The foregoing all makes plenty of sense in theory,
from the single data pools shared across the
business to the AI software with an insatiable hunger
to learn. But how does it all look in practice in a real
world business? Pigment AI was recently announced,
giving finance teams a glimpse of the future.
The people at Pigment set out to deliver a solution that adds genuine value while
avoiding the need to reinvent any wheels. The enterprise-grade platform
integrates with a business’s existing tech stack to provide a single data pool for all
the company’s data. The AI component opens up a world of new reports,
information, trends and insights. It’s fast, it’s comprehensive, and it includes a user
interface that makes it simple to use. It is also highly flexible to meet the diverse
needs of different clients.
Pigment AI does not set out to obviate the need for decision making by placing it in
the hands of computer software. On the contrary, it describes AI as a “trusted co-
pilot” that can provide the insights that enhance both decision-making and
productivity. It does this by providing instant answers to the right questions that
allow CFOs, finance heads and other decision-makers to focus on those activities
that have genuine strategic benefit and ultimately add value to the business.
The specific deliverables of Pigment AI will, of course, vary from one use case to the
next. However, they can be summarized in the following terms:

Part 06 Case study Pigment AI
Better collective intelligence
1
Employees across three business can onboard and get working with
their own models to get value out of the software without delay
Enhanced reports providing the information you need
2
Pigment has all the information that’s needed for AI to deliver the
insights that are of genuine benefit to stakeholders, and it does so  
in a format that is easy to grasp and digest. It will even write a concise
summary of the analysis to make it easy to present and share.
Imagineer the future with scenario planning
3
Pigment doesn’t quite come with its own crystal ball, but it can use the
data that is already in a company’s possession to play out different
scenarios. It’s a great tool for mitigating both conventional and
opportunity risks and grasping first-mover advantage in rapidly
evolving markets. It makes a compelling alternative to A/B testing, or
at least serves as an indicator as to whether such testing is an
appropriate next step.
Putting decisions into action
4
Delivering actionable insights is one thing. Delivering action is another.
But Pigment AI can even help here, providing summaries, milestones
and action points and sharing these across the workforce so that
everyone is involved in collaborating towards meeting shared
strategic goals.

07
Examples and
use-cases for CFOs

Part 07 Examples and use-cases for CFOs
Examples and
use-cases for CFOs
In the mini case study above, we touched on some
specific deliverables in a specific case. This only
scratches the surface of how CFOs and finance
leaders can use generative AI. Before we return to a
couple of last details on the theoretical side, let’s
explore a few more real-world practicalities. Here is
some food for thought for any CFO asking “what can
AI do for me?”

Virtual earth moving in

the finance team
That mechanical digger keeps coming back to haunt us. Cut it and slice it as you
wish, one guy with a shovel working for 40 days or eight people working from
Monday morning to Friday evening, the digger can get the same amount of earth
moved in an hour. Likewise, AI can handle monotonous tasks like data
reconciliation and report preparation in a matter of seconds. That’s thousands
saved in terms of overhead costs and human hours.

More rewarding work for humans

The potential issue with the first point is, of course, what happens to the office
juniors and trainee accountants who traditionally spend their days gradually losing
the will to live doing these tasks? We could ask the same about the people with the
shovels and the answer there is they are busy learning to drive mechanical diggers
so the company can shift exponentially more earth. That might sound flippant, but
research by Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania found that
companies are more likely to lay off staff when they fail to adapt, as they lose their
competitive edge. Those that adopt AI tend to see improved profitability and are
more likely to be hiring than laying off staff.
What’s more, the phrase “losing the will to live” was used advisedly. Every CFO was
once a part-qualified trainee and will know that those repetitive tasks added
nothing to the employee experience. Today’s starters can avoid that particular rite
of passage and instead get involved in more rewarding activities sooner.

Eliminating human error

We are only human. We mentioned earlier that the mechanical digger won’t just do
the job faster, it will do it more neatly, too. That parallel certainly extends to AI.
Boredom and tiredness never affect its output, it never makes typos or mentally
adds eight and four to get 14 because its mind is elsewhere.
Even the greatest humans make mistakes all the time, so we can’t be surprised if a
data admin clerk on a minimum wage working overtime slips up occasionally. In
2019, the State of Pennsylvania overpaid a school district by half a million dollars
due to a typo on a spreadsheet. Not only can AI be trusted not to blunder, it is also
highly adept at spotting any outliers from human errors at the granular level - an
example of garbage in not necessarily leading to garbage out.

Automating budget approvals

It’s not just long, time-consuming number-crunching that AI can take off human
hands. It is capable of other routine tasks, and the budget approval process is an
intriguing example. It doesn’t just reduce the workload from the finance team
allowing them to focus on more interesting and impactful activities. It also reduces
the likelihood of emotions running high over budgets and adjustments being
approved or rejected.

Fostering greater diversity  

in the finance department
Today’s businesses are right to be focused on diversity and equality of
opportunities for all. Traditionally, that has sometimes been easier said than done
in finance, as the work demands specific skills, qualifications and experience that
take years to acquire. While anyone from any background can take a sideways
step into line management at any age, that has never been the case in finance,
where an accountancy qualification was always a minimum requirement at all but
the most junior levels.
The changing nature of the finance role that AI is making possible offers up new
scenarios. Suddenly, employees from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds
or completely different areas of the business have the chance to to enter or
advance within the finance function without having to dedicate five or six years to
night school or an elearning degree - unless they want to, of course. It provides
enriching opportunities that work both ways.

08
Security: Building
Trust in AI-Powered
Finance
Part 08 Security: Building Trust in AI-Powered Finance
Security: Building Trust  

in AI-Powered Finance
We have already touched on the fact that there is a degree of suspicion and
mistrust surrounding AI. Some of it is justified, this is new technology and its potential
power is awesome in the literal sense of the word. A larger part of the suspicion,
however, is the result of opinions being influenced by media hysteria and half a
century of science fiction.
Building trust in AI is important, and especially when it is related to finance, an area

in which reliability, transparency and security are absolute cornerstones. However,
as Christopher Woolard of the FCA pointed out at a 2019 conference at the Alan
Turing Institute, the finance sector has had what might be called a few trust issues
with the general public itself over recent years.
Technology relies on public trust and a

willingness to use it. The public needs to see the
value data can create for them.”
Paradoxically, while both AI and the finance sector face a degree of suspicion in the
public eye, their coming together could be exactly the catalyst that is needed to
restore trust. It all comes down to AI being used for the public good, and just as
importantly for it to be seen to do so.

Part 08 Security: Building Trust in AI-Powered Finance
We have seen in the preceding pages that leveraging the power of AI can certainly
change financial services for the better, benefiting businesses, their stakeholders
and finance managers themselves. But those benefits also extend to customers
and consumers in B2C businesses. AI can make businesses more responsive and
can tackle fraud and financial crime, which ultimately benefits everyone except  
the criminals.
AI certainly has the power to restore trust in financial services where it is currently
lacking. But only if it can be trusted and accepted in itself. Where that is concerned,
it is partly down to businesses and specifically finance teams to use AI tools to add
value for customers and bring opportunities to personnel.
Transparency is always vital for gaining trust. People have a natural suspicion of
change, and that applies to middle-management accountants as much as it does
to consumers who entrust their personal and financial data to businesses. In both
cases, it is vital to clearly articulate what the new tech is, what it isn’t and what
benefits it delivers. If its value is not clear, then it begs the question of why it is being
introduced in the first place, so this process provides a valuable sense-check, too.
Key takeaways
1 AI can help businesses to maintain or restore trust
Businesses must be transparent in how they use AI and the  

2 benefits it delivers
This transparency is as important internally as it is externally to

3 customers and stakeholders

09
How to reskill your
team to adapt AI
Part 09 How to reskill your team to adapt AI
How to reskill your team  

to adapt AI
As we suggested above, AI tools can bring genuine
benefits, but contrary to some media speculation,
they are just tools. Without employee buy-in,
training and reskilling, they are worthless.
Technology is advancing at such a pace that the skills gap can be unnerving.
According to projections from Microsoft, two thirds of today’s students will be
going into job roles that do not even exist today. Investing in a digital talent
pipeline is one thing, but businesses also need to reskill existing employees to
remain relevant in this fast-changing world.
Traditionally, people have learned in education

and then entered the workplace. AI will
significantly change this as the pace of
development means we must constantly adapt
and learn throughout our lives.”

Part 09 How to reskill your team to adapt AI
Yes, AI is a tool, but it is a fundamentally important one that will touch everyone. A
little like the broader IT revolution of the 1990s, this is a journey that everyone needs
to take, not just those in IT or finance. Businesses tend to focus reskilling on the
highest performing employees, when really they need to think first about those who
are most at risk - one last reminder of our friends with the shovels.
Research by the WEF shows that those with the greatest need for reskilling are
commonly the least likely to get it. Don’t let your business fall into this trap.
Key takeaways
1 Investing in reskilling is more important than ever
2 Prioritise those who are most at risk, not just the top performers
3 Ultimately, AI touches everyone in the organization

10
The finance team’s
complete AI
glossary
Part 10 The finance team’s complete AI glossary
The finance team’s
complete AI glossary
Artificial intelligence (AI): Applies logic and analytics to enable computers  
to interpret information and make decisions like humans do.
Big data: Process by which a massive quantity of data can be converted  
into useful information
Data pool: A repository of data, of various types, both structured and
unstructured, that is constantly updated in real time or as close thereto  
as possible.
Data science: Any field of research that involves processing large amounts  
of data to provide insights into real-world problems.
Data warehouse: A repository of structured historical data that can be
interrogated for statistical and analytical purposes.
Generative AI: A type of AI technology that is capable of producing various
types  
of content, including text, imagery, audio and synthetic data.
Machine learning (ML): Allows computers to learn from a set of data points  
and then make decisions without human intervention.
Natural language processing (NLP): Allows virtual assistants, chatbots and
other AI software to understand human speech, including contextualized
sentences and requests.
Synthetic data: Information that's artificially generated for modeling purposes
rather than produced by real-world events.
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11
Sources
Part 11 SOURCES
Sources
mckinsey.com 
In conversation: The new CFO mandate
sage.com 
AI in finance: What ChatGPT and generative AI means for CFOs
gartner.com 
How to Make Better Business Decisions
freepctech.com 
What Now for Humans As Computers Get the Upper Hand At Sport
flowster.com 
AI Workflow Automation: How it Can Improve Your Business Processes
liverpoolmuseums.org.uk 
Which is greater? The number of atoms in the universe or the number of
chess moves?
influencermarketinghub.com 
Using AI in Data Analysis – How to Make Sense of Big Data
grantthorn.co.uk.com 
Data quality: how to avoid 'garbage in-garbage out'
eu.poconorecord.com 
State overpaid Sburg $500K
fca.org.uk 
The future of regulation: AI for consumer good
techtarget.com 
What is generative AI? Everything you need to know

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The Future

Exploring the Role of AI

03 How generative AI helps finance teams 10

04 From data to insights 14

05 Success starts with the right foundation 19

06 Case study - Pigment AI 23

07 Examples and use-cases for CFOs 26

08 Security: Building Trust in AI-Powered Finance 33

09 How to reskill your team to adapt AI 36

10 The finance team’s complete AI glossary 39

AI is one of the most important,

It is not always easy to cut through the emotion and

After a brief look at some terminology, definitions

We will also explore the preconditions needed to

For years, AI has been presented as a feature of some

The Future of Finance: Exploring the Role of AI 3

Discussing McKinsey’s famous biennial survey

Finance leaders are at the forefront of these

The Future of Finance: Exploring the Role of AI 4

The time for digitization in finance is now. Many

enterprises are doing fundamental reviews of

their business models, and finance leaders are

exploring how to accelerate the pace of change.”

Today’s data-rich environment means there is more information to be analyzed

The Future of Finance: Exploring the Role of AI 5

Understanding AI and its uses does not demand in-depth understanding of

Would you tell me, please, which way I

That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.

I don’t much care where.

Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.

The Future of Finance: Exploring the Role of AI 7

language or exhibit some sort of creativity.

Automated systems react in certain ways to external information in order to

perform routine tasks more efficiently or quickly or to simply relieve humans

of the task. Autonomous cars are an example.

Machine learning makes decisions or draws conclusions about new data on

Natural Language Processing (NLP) processes words from everyday

processes claim forms or doctors’ notes for insurance claims is a good

example of NLP in action.

more subtle ways.

The Future of Finance: Exploring the Role of AI 8

Automated systems reduce costs, deliver efficiencies and improve

2 The future is now - AI applications are already all around us

The more information AI has, the better its insights and

The Future of Finance: Exploring the Role of AI 9

Generative AI describes AI tools that are capable of creating content, be it text,

Finance and accounting teams have become

The Future of Finance: Exploring the Role of AI 11

Generative AI’s contribution to decision-making cannot be overstated. Even in a

The complexity of today’s decision-making needs means that standing still is

The Future of Finance: Exploring the Role of AI 12

1 Generative AI tools can relieve finance teams of routine tasks

AI doesn’t work in a vacuum, but aids decision-making by adding

AI tools can make finance work more interesting and satisfying

The Future of Finance: Exploring the Role of AI 13

From data to insights

The potential capability of AI is almost inconceivable,

and it is easy to understand how some people can

find it overwhelming and even frightening.

road, it keeps on learning and improving. Perhaps this is best demonstrated by

Deep Blue is IBM’s famous chess-playing computer that took on human

can calculate all possible moves up to 80 ahead, while a human grandmaster

to the mechanical digger.

The Future  

After a brief look at some terminology, definitions  

Discussing McKinsey’s famous biennial survey  

AI doesn’t work in a vacuum, but aids decision-making by adding  

AI tools can make finance work more interesting and satisfying  

Success starts with  

understanding and usage  

The value that AI can deliver depends on the quality of data  

Quality is about more than accuracy.  

Data pools improve accuracy and communication  

insights that are of genuine benefit to stakeholders, and it does so  

Fostering greater diversity  

Security: Building Trust  

Businesses must be transparent in how they use AI and the  

How to reskill your team  