By John Gronen, CFO at Yooz
With the increased use of AI in the finance function, CFOs are juggling an ever-increasing corporate remit.
You can’t open a newspaper (or website) without reading about the latest AI advancement and how it can be used to defend against and prevent cyberattacks. Does the exponential advancement of AI mean that finance leaders and decision-makers now have to become experts in cyber security? No, of course not. It does however mean that they must take a level of responsibility for implementing secure tools and processes throughout the finance department.
With the interest in AI having risen sharply across all industries over the past 12 months, it is perhaps unsurprising that UK finance leaders are embracing AI. After all, implementing Artificial Intelligence technologies provides plenty of benefits, including improved productivity, efficiency and accuracy, as well as increased visibility and analysis of real-time data.
But as the ways in which we can use AI to our advantage increase, so does the risk of it being used for fraudulent purposes. According to Microsoft, 87% of UK organisations are vulnerable to cyberattacks in the age of AI.
What’s more, UK government statistics show that over 50% of businesses reported experiencing some form of cyber security breach or attack over the last 12 months, demonstrating that the risks are real and need to be taken seriously by UK finance decision-makers, especially as they embrace AI to support the finance function.
AI can be a force for good
As trusted custodians of businesses’ financial data, CFOs are on the front line in the fight against cybercrime. When it comes to Accounts Payable, an AP automation solution ensures that the necessary secure tools and processes are in place. For the most advanced offerings, this includes AI-based technologies that can:
- Detect whether information on an invoice (such as bank account details) has been tampered with or whether the document itself has been duplicated
- Create and maintain precise audit trails to track every action undertaken on a document
- Provide digital document archiving with probative value
These types of features ensure that any suspicion of fraud is immediately flagged and enable all stakeholders involved to keep track of invoices or documents throughout the entire P2P workflow.
Despite all this, some finance leaders might still have apprehensions about the use of AI within AP and the finance function as a whole. It is arguably now time to shift the narrative away from negative news stories that dominate headlines and admit that the transformative potential of AI remains unparalleled.
There is no doubt that the role of a finance leader has evolved beyond traditional money management towards delivering a wider, more strategic value to the business. This is an expanding corporate remit and one that demands excellent, end-to-end financial control and visibility. In order to rise to this challenge, finance leaders are now embracing technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, particularly when it comes to fraud prevention. As we look ahead to where new technology will take us over the next 12 months, the push for better information to support decision-making stands out as paramount.
