Gartner Group is one industry analyst who’s keeping a sharp eye on the artificial intelligence revolution.
The company has already estimated that 80% of senior executives believe AI may be applied to any business decision.
“The survey has shown that enterprises are shifting away from a purely tactical approach to AI and beginning to apply AI more strategically,” said Gartner analyst Erick Brethenoux. “For example, a third of organizations are applying AI across several business units, creating a stronger competitive differentiator by supporting decisions across business processes.”
Now Gartner is taking the next step in evaluating how AI is (and will) impact the C-level suite while stressing the need for CFOs to work closely with company technology executives to maximize AI investments.
“We’re seeing a profound shift in how finance teams work based on the accelerating use of AI to help them handle the increased complexity of their daily activities and become more productive,” said Mark D. McDonald, senior director analyst in the Gartner Finance Practice at a recent Gartner CFO & Finance Executive Conference. “Just like any disruptive technology throughout history, AI will inevitably displace and replace some roles and skills, but new roles, skills, and opportunities will also emerge.”
Leading finance teams will learn to position AI-driven tools and solutions as co-workers that help them do their jobs better, McDonald added. “Using AI as a co-worker instead of a replacement also ensures that finance leaders avoid delegating responsibility to machines that should be owned by a person,” he says.
A Hybrid Experience
Gartner says the finance and technology suites are starting to morph into a single corporate management entity. Finance leaders “should begin introducing aspects of this paradigm shift into their teams. There are three roles that will play an integral role in finance teams in the future,” the company stated.
• Citizen Data Scientists – These are current finance and accounting staff who will learn basic data science skills to help them automate tasks and make better decisions. “Citizen data scientists will not have the expertise to build complex solutions that extend beyond their immediate scope of work,” Gartner notes. “They will need help building professional-grade solutions.”
• Center of Excellence – These are roles new to an organization and are comprised of technical professionals who can build and maintain technically-solid AI solutions. “These include professional data scientists, software engineers, data engineers, statisticians, and other non-traditional finance roles,” the company added. “A center of excellence often starts with a single professional data scientist and grows with demand.”
• Company Leadership – Building teams of the future requires leaders “to balance the challenges of introducing new skills and processes while making sure that the organization continues to support daily business operations,” Garner states.
In leveraging “the complementary strengths” of people and AI technology, finance teams can go forward to create a collaborative partnership in a human-machine learning loop where each relies on the other.
“The loop formalizes what each is responsible for so that leaders don’t over-rely on machines or delegate human responsibilities to machines. The loop ensures human feedback and judgment remains front and center,” McDonald says.
McDonald offers a word of caution to CFOs looking to merge finance teams into the technology sphere.
“Be cautious about allowing machines to take actions based on their own advice,” he says. “By leveraging the strengths of both people and their new machine counterparts, organizations can reach new levels of productivity and value without big risks.”
Brian O’Connell, a former Wall Street bond trader and best-selling author, is a prominent figure in the finance industry. With a substantial background as an ex-Wall Street trader, he has authored two best-selling books: ‘The 401k Millionaire’ and ‘CNBC’s Creating Wealth’, demonstrating his profound knowledge of finance and investing.
Brian is also a finance and business writer for esteemed national platforms and publications, including CNN, TheStreet.com, CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, and Fox News.
