In this article, I share with you some thoughts following my participation in the Digital Accountancy Show in London, bringing together about 3,000 peers from the financial and accounting spheres, for two days in London in April 2024 (you can already check out the 2025’s show !).
This is an opportunity to participate in round tables, sessions and discussions with companies offering Artificial Intelligence (AI) based solutions for financial and accounting departments.
After a few days of digesting all the information collected and discussions on the spot, I am ready to give you my thoughts, focusing on AI technologies:
1️⃣ AI players. The number of companies and startups developing solutions to simplify and automate repetitive tasks, forecasts, compliance ... is growing. Many of them raise funds to finance themselves.
Their message and their marketing make sense in the solutions they offer. In the medium and long term, is their economic model sustainable to ensure the maintenance of their technology in the organizations that use them?
2️⃣"Early birds" VS. "Wait and See". Through my discussions at this event, it would be difficult for me to give you an accurate breakdown between these two categories.
Although many people are open to the topic and inquire. As mentioned above, there are more and more solutions on the market, so would the best strategy be to first observe and learn, instead of investing too quickly in a solution that we might regret later?
3️⃣ AI the savior ? "I will implement artificial intelligence in my processes, so all my problems will be solved". This is what I could hear during discussions with some of my peers on site. The answer of course is no.
For instance, with OpenAPI, it is possible to easily connect to technologies like an ERP. However, if the data coming from an ERP is not clean and reliable, AI will not do much about it.
Another example, if you are looking for a solution to enrich your data for analyses or forecasts, there will also be upstream work to qualify your data that comes from a financial system. If you work in a medium or large company, it can quickly be a bit of work.
4️⃣ Revolution or evolution ? Do you enjoy, perhaps like me, to understand how a technology works, its logic, how everything is modeled? I am not a technician, however if you have already been in contact with developers for a few years, you can understand the technical logic.
By talking with companies who develop AI solutions, I see that for many tasks, the technical logic behind is understandable for anyone who is interested in technology and knows the fundamentals in accounting and finance.
From the beginning of my professional activities (early 2010s), and through the implementation of many digital initiatives, several projects using automation and robotization already offered technical solutions that did very good things. Of course, much more technical means were needed. AI makes their implementation faster, more accessible and less expensive. Personally, I am talking more about an evolution of technologies, rather than a major revolution.
Finally, when I asked companies about more complex accounting and financial scenarios, I understand from them (in April 2024), that there is still a long way to go to assess how AI will address complexity, case by case, in large companies. Case to follow.
And you, what is your current feeling towards AI?
I invite you to share this article with people in your network interested in AI in finance and accounting.
Thank you for reading.
Yannick for Digital and Finance
