'Turning finance upside down:' Companies expect to reap dividends optimizing AI in their finance functions

financialpost.com:

Most of corporate Canada is still exploring the potential of artificial intelligence across their operations, but finance is one area where the technology is already proving its worth.

Canadian executives say 82 per cent of their companies are using AI in finance, compared to 71 per cent globally, according to a survey by KPMG International Ltd. for its report on AI in finance released in December. Accounting is another business area where Canadian adoption of AI is the highest, with 43 per cent saying their organizations have adopted AI and another 34 per cent are piloting it, versus 36 per cent and 28 per cent, respectively, on a global basis.

Given AI’s ability to handle repetitive tasks and analyze large amounts of data at super speeds, it’s not surprising that the technology is gaining favour in accounting and financial reporting. KPMG’s report said most AI leaders are also using the technology in financial planning, treasury management, tax operations, risk management and cybersecurity.

“It’s really turning finance upside down,” Chris Moore, a partner at KPMG Canada who leads the Finance Transformation practice, said.

Rather than spending time on number crunching and reconciliation, finance professionals can put their skillsets to better use and do predictive analysis and take on a “finance business partner role,” he said.

But even with growing excitement around AI’s potential in finance and the strong usage cases proving its effectiveness in driving efficiencies, Moore said organizations need to create the infrastructure necessary to maintain and evolve AI models as businesses grow. He points out that earlier iterations of generative AI with robotic process automation (such as bots used to automate repetitive