Beyond figures, towards a value-creating Finance
After 3 decades at the heart of Finance departments, including more than 10 years of managing and promoting artificial intelligence (AI) integration into financial processes, I’m convinced that corporate Finance is at a historic turning point.
Our vision, shaped by experience
This is not a theoretical projection, but an observation from the field. With my teams, we had been working on AI solutions applied to Finance long before they became trendy, such as intelligent prediction or intelligent voice/text reporting automation.
This experience, combined with the ongoing spectacular developments in generative AI, allows me to say with certainty that the Finance of tomorrow will no longer be a simple cost center, guardian of figures and producer of reports. It is transforming into a strategic engine of the company, capable of not only documenting the past, but above all informing the future and catalyzing value creation.
What we leave behind us
The limitations of the traditional approach as observed, in a nutshell:
- Finance as a control and reporting function, producing data, figures and analyses that are not or only rarely used.
- Time-consuming manual processes that mobilize entire teams for repetitive and low added value tasks.
- Decisions based on partial or outdated data, often available too late to act.
- The isolation of the Finance function, speaking a different language from the rest of the organization.
- The prevalence of subjectivity or intuition over factual analysis, even in addressing critical issues.
Our vision of modern Finance
My hands-on experience has convinced me that the future lies in 5 fundamental pillars:
- Augmented Finance
AI is there to strengthen and sublimate people. Our first experiences have enabled Finance teams to benefit from the capacity for calculation and data processing in infinitely short times, to focus on strategic analysis. This human-machine synergy is now technically mature and ready to transform Finance.
- Real-time Finance
Monthly and quarterly cycles are now outdated. Reporting times are being shortened to 15 days, then to a few hours or even minutes, allowing for almost instantaneous adjustments. This responsiveness is no longer a luxury but a necessity in a changing economic environment.
- Predictive Finance
The first predictive models we developed demonstrated greater reliability compared with traditional methods. Anticipation is gradually replacing retrospection, making it possible to simulate in a very short time different possible futures before committing the company.
- Collaborative Finance
I saw remarkable transformations when we broke down silos in Finance, even before the integration of AI. Finance people integrated as business partnersin operations have radically improved the quality of decisions. This collaborative approach is now essential.
- Human Finance
Unexpectedly, smart automation reinforces the importance of the human factor. And this is not a coincidence, it is a firm commitment. In a more technological world, we reaffirm the essential role of human intelligence, ethics and creativity in data interpretation and decision-making.
Our commitment
With this concrete experience, at Beyond Horizons New Finance, we are committed to supporting this transformation that we have experienced on the ground.
This development benefits everyone:
- Leaders: decision-making informed by reliable and constantly fresh information
- Finance teams: a shift built gradually towards higher value-added roles
- The entire organization: a Finance that becomes a genuine strategic partner fully participant in the value creation process
- Society: companies that are more resilient technically and humanly, and ready to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
An invitation to change
I have seen too many successful pilot projects go unanswered; too many promising innovations come up against organizational inertia or the lack of vision of the leaders. The technology is ready; the methodologies are proven – the main obstacle remains cultural.
We invite executives, CFOs and their teams to accelerate their transformation and avoid to undergo changes imposed by the outside. The road is mapped out; the benefits are obvious. Together, let’s make “Augmented Finance” a reality for your organization.
“Finance of the future” is no longer a distant vision as we had less than ten years ago. It’s time to deploy the experience on a large scale.
