Summary
The Corporate Finance function is largely driven by standard policies and procedures. Many companies conduct finance operations manually and use extensive paperwork, facing the risk of documentation errors and delays in processing. Bringing in technologies and processes to address a plethora of mundane tasks, can potentially increase accuracy and speed while freeing up time for finance professionals to focus on more value added work for the organization. However, finance leaders must look beyond the usually quoted clichés of appending a value to the business and existing operating models. Instead, it’s vital they consider innovative ways of producing better performance, contributing to more diverse and rewarding communication and enhancing resilience with cognitive technologies. In this paper, we proffer a hypothesis and examine the possible future of the Corporate Finance through Automation, that harnesses the power of cognitive technologies.
What is in it for you?
The rise of automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and other cognitive technologies is helping create new opportunities for automation in finance functions. Cognitive technologies such as AI and machine learning are not new concepts. In fact, AI has been around as an educational discipline since the 1950s. Today, technological innovation is essentially transforming the tasks and role of the finance function. What’s also changed is that we are on the cusp of something new, where computer performance, through machine learning and cognitive technology, can outpace human performance.