The skills conundrum

Have we misunderstood the value of AI and other tools?

It would appear that finance departments are not experiencing the strategic value of tools like AI. For example:

Our respondents believe the top benefits of AI are improving data quality (33%) and saving time (32%),

whereas only a quarter say the technology would help colleagues make decisions faster,

and only 24% believe it would deliver actionable insights for decision-making.

So, for finance professionals wanting to play a more strategic role, they will need to use AI in more sophisticated ways.

More technical knowledge may be helpful, but the survey shows a surprising lack of emphasis on strategic leadership skills: only a quarter say interpersonal and influencing will be essential for future finance professionals. And only 21% think storytelling will be important.

Legacy thinking

Are finance teams simply falling into old trains of thought? Being proactive by training people to manage newer, more high-tech systems, as they have done previously with legacy systems, and not buying into or understanding the benefits?

The reality is complex. With organizations making such significant investments in training staff / employees / workforce, etc., it’s more likely they are convinced of the need for these tools without fully recognizing the benefits or how they work. It appears there’s an expectation, that modern tools will require a level of expertise and maintenance, similar to past legacy systems. And that this responsibility falls on them.

But that shouldn’t be the case.

Modern intelligent finance tools live off-site in the cloud, update themselves, and are supported by the developers. The companies who use them, just use them to get the job done.

So, where should organizations investing in these tools focus their efforts for up-skilling their finance professionals, and why?