Automation, agility, and AI: 3 priorities for finance in 2023

Prophix Apr 3, 2023, 2:26:00 AM

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Finance departments are in a strong position for 2023. There are challenges ahead: inflation, a recession, rising energy costs, and talent shortages. But finance leaders are confident, and their budget for the year suggests the C-suite is too.  

The 2023 Finance Leaders Survey asked 700 finance leaders across North America and Europe to weigh in on their experience with, and future goals for, automation, agility, and investments in technology. The result? They show a finance function on the move as a strategic and agile leader in the business. 

In our last blog post, we touched on the three leadership approaches that finance leaders identified with. Now, it’s time to dive into the actionable steps that Visionaries, Innovators, and Realists are taking to guide their finance functions to new heights. 

1. Automation is the future

Automation is the key to the future of finance.  

35% of finance leaders told us that their primary focus within their organization is providing strategic guidance to leadership while transforming their department. 

In the survey, we asked finance leaders what their main barrier was to implementing automation. The first barrier to automation is training employees. Funding for automation comes in second place, and time to implement and learn is third.  

Here are some quick automation facts: 

• 35% of finance leaders said their main focus within their organization is to provide strategic guidance – and the insights available with automation is a key player in that 
• 27% of finance leaders said more than half of their business processes are already automated – but finance leaders want more! 
• 65% of finance leaders are planning to automate more than half of their processes by the end of this year  

Here’s a look at how each leadership approach can support automation as a strategic advisor:  

• Visionaries can outline their plans for best-in-class automation and challenge the team to reach beyond their current capabilities. 
• Innovators can seek new opportunities and technologies that can automate processes. 
• Realists can help in implementation, onboarding, and change management.

2. Leaders want to be more agile

The findings in our survey show that finance leaders want to be more agile, including more frequent and accurate forecasting, scenario planning and modeling, and having the tools – and confidence – to pivot quickly.  

How do you build an agile finance function? It should combine automation and artificial intelligence (AI) with a team that knows how to use the technology to enhance their existing processes. 

Here are some quick facts on agility: 

• 96% of finance leaders agree – agility is important 
• We’re seeing agility in action! 84% said they are ‘very’ or ‘quite’ agile.  

But how can the three leadership approaches foster an agile finance function? 

• Visionaries can keep the energy up, reminding everyone what they’re working towards and what the outcomes mean. 
• Innovators can seek out new opportunities to be agile, helping to continuously improve how finance teams operate. 
• Realists can champion regular updates to forecasts so everyone can anticipate and react to change in real time. 

3. Investments in technology this year and beyond

Finance technology budgets are expected to increase this year: 52% of finance leaders said they expect a slight increase, while 24% expect a significant one. A small percentage of finance leaders expect no increase in their budgets at all.  

What does this mean? Budget increases means there is support outside of the finance function to make investments in technology that expand capabilities across the entire organization.  

Here are some quick facts on where investments are being made: 

• Cybersecurity 
• Planning, budgeting, and forecasting solutions 
• Risk management  

We also can’t forget about artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.  

15% of finance leaders said AI is a top area of investment this year – and the survey data shows that it continues to grow into 2024 and beyond.  

Why are finance teams prioritizing AI and machine learning? Intelligent automation frees up time so finance teams can focus on high value tasks. The benefits don’t stop there: intelligent analytics provide useful insights that you can use to continue to spark change in your organization.  

All three leadership approaches can benefit from technology that reduces errors, increases efficiency, supports collaboration, and provides greater insight from analytics: 

• Visionaries can use intelligent analytics to surface insights to develop and support the future of the organization. 
• Innovators see an opportunity to put AI and machine learning to use in new ways to further increase accuracy and speed. 
• Realists know how to leverage short-term efficiency gains to address pressing concerns and build consensus for long-term planning. 

Discover more insights from finance leaders 

Discover how finance leaders are planning for the immediate future and working towards their vision of an elevated finance function with an increase in efficiency and capabilities.

Get all the insights in the 2023 Finance Leaders Survey.  

Prophix

Ambitious finance leaders engage with Prophix to drive progress and do their best work. Leveraging Prophix One, a Financial Performance Platform, to improve the speed and accuracy of decision-making within a harmonized user experience, global finance teams are empowered to step into the next generation of finance with no reservation. 

 Crush complexity, reduce uncertainty, and illuminate data with access to best-in-class automated insights and planning, budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and consolidation functionalities. Prophix is a private company, backed by Hg Capital, a leading investor in software and services businesses. More than 3,000 active customers across the globe rely on Prophix to achieve organizational success.

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