“The role of the finance function is evolving and increasingly, it is expected that it will not only dedicate itself to reporting, but also to influence the company’s strategy, since it has the information and vision of all components of the the company,” he said this morning Almudena Pérez-Villamil, partner of Technology and Transformation at Deloitte in his opening talk of the business day “The role of the CFO as a strategic partner of the company”, organized by elEconomista.es.
Furthermore, he commented in his presentation entitled “The role of AI in the financial function” that, in the last two years, the growing application of artificial intelligence in the financial field has been observed, something that actually dates back to the 1940s and allows large volumes of data to be analyzed and processed. According to Pérez-Villamil, The recent boom in the use of AI is due to its greater accessibility.
At Deloitte, the strategy has focused on analyzing each function of the organization, recognizing that “each function has different needs,” the consulting firm states. Regarding the use of artificial intelligence, the directive explained that each entity is in a different phase of implementation: “Within this AI journey, each entity is at a different step,” he pointed out. While some companies are just beginning to investigate the possibilities of AI, others are already applying it in specific uses and even have success stories.
Within the financial function, Deloitte has identified different areas in which AI can have a significant impact, such as tax, regulatory, profitability, planning and budgeting, investor relations, internal audit, accounting and transactional finance, as well as financial consolidation.. “For certain processes, AI allows us automation that has a lower cost and is also more agile,” he explained, highlighting that time savings have an impact on cost optimization.
Pérez-Villamil highlighted the ability of AI to improve efficiency by automating tasks and interactions, which reduces costs and time in processes. He also highlighted the benefits in decision making, pointing out that technology allows us to detect patterns, connect correlated events and predict results, thus improving the general understanding of business.
Additionally, Deloitte observes a transformation in the way teams interact with systems, thanks to intelligent text, image and audio generation tools. This, according to the firm, not only facilitates daily operations, but also opens doors to innovation by inspiring new ideas, products, and business opportunities. They also consider that AI can contribute to the reduction of risks associated with fraud, cybersecurity and data protection, protecting organizations in the current digital environment.
When addressing the use of generative artificial intelligence, Pérez-Villamil explained that it is based on “work with language models”. However, he clarified that these general models must be enriched with different types of information: “with public data that enhances market knowledge,” along with the client’s own information that allows a more precise adaptation to their needs. Furthermore, he highlighted the importance of know-how that Deloitte has accumulated after years of experience in the financial fieldwhich allows the value of these models to be optimized.
Pérez-Villamil emphasized that one of Deloitte’s main focuses is to carefully define the use cases where AI is necessary: ”We are looking for something that is implementable and of reasonable cost, so that we can see a return on investment and a relevant benefit “he noted. The bet, he stated, is always strategic, since AI can have a significant impact in key areas of the financial function.such as the review and generation of memories or the ability to interact more directly with data.
“Talk to your data,” he suggested as an example of how AI allows financial queries to be made in natural language, thus facilitating access to information for users. However, he acknowledged that integrating these tools is a challenge for the financial function, given that it is not about replacing current systems, but rather about implementing “more efficient and reliable” solutions. With this, the final objective is to help both the CEO and the business in general to identify new opportunities and accompany companies in the challenges of the coming years.
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