What does the use of ChatGPT and generative artificial intelligence (AI) mean for the CFO? With the rapid pace of progress of this technology and the surprisingly quick absorption of AI into our daily working lives, the change brings with it the question of the impact of AI in leadership. With these questions in mind, George Weston explores the future of the finance team…

“As more and more artificial intelligence is entering into the world, more and more emotional intelligence must enter into leadership.”­ – Amit Ray, AI Scientist & Author

It seems at every turn the potential impact of AI, both negative and positive, is a topic of debate. The last two CFO dinners I have attended both had speakers addressing this very theme. The opening quote of this article from Amit Ray really struck a chord for me. Amit is an author, who is famous for his teachings on peace, compassion and meditation – and is the pioneer of the compassionate AI movement.

Understanding the impact of AI

The pace of technological change and digitisation continues to accelerate, which in turn is transforming the role of the CFO and the finance team, and greatly affecting the impact they can have on the business, cost control, risk management and decision making. Increasingly traditional finance tasks are becoming automated and financial reporting is evolving to become more focused on data-driven insight. This will only continue and for the CFO to take advantage of these innovations, they will need to have a strong understanding of AI and data analytics.

Reimagining the finance team

But CFOs will also need to redefine the finance team to ensure that it has the right people, with the right skills, to be able to utilise and get the best out of the technology. The CFO will have to reimagine how the finance teams interacts with the business; becoming much more forward looking, taking these insights into the business to challenge strategy, manage risk and better support decision making.

Perhaps due to the time available at these recent dinners, the conversations didn’t explore in depth how AI can result in job displacement as certain roles become redundant, and what leadership teams will need to do to address this people challenge. This is certainly a question the finance community should be exploring and looking to address as a priority.

Further reading:

• Compassionate AI Lab of Amit Ray
• Sage – AI in finance: What ChatGPT and generative AI means for CFOs
• Gartner – CFOs: Here Are 4 Actions to Ensure You Implement AI — The Right Way

If you have questions regarding your executive career advancement or would like to find out more about taking the next step towards becoming a CFO, get in touch with a member of CMA’s Executive team to see how we can support you with your goals.