3 ways AI will change your life
Will artificial intelligence (AI) change your life in budgeting, forecasting and planning? The answer is a resounding yes, but you will need to invest time and a lot of data.
When AI was first used in online map services, there were some high-profile hitches. Apparently Google Map misfires caused a demolition company in Texas to tear down the wrong house, tourists in Rio de Janeiro were misdirected into a notorious slum and a terrifying hail of bullets, and Costa Rica-Nicaragua border wars were only narrowly avoided thanks to international diplomacy.
The reason for early mistakes is that AI-based systems need to learn. Computers are given real-world examples of data to learn from and later they apply what they’ve learnt to new situations.
The old adage “garbage in, garbage out” applies. Put in the wrong data or fail to identify the correct value drivers and you’ll get useless results. But fortunately AI-based systems get smarter and smarter over time. Here are three important ways in which AI can help in financial planning and analysis (FP&A).
1. Improve your output
One small spreadsheet mistake can grow like crazy, impacting financials across the organization within hours. So it’s best to stop them at source. An AI-based system can automatically identify errors as you enter them – little pop-ups on your screen that are impossible to ignore. And the system can do far more than this; it becomes a sort of “omniscient partner” that you can choose to interact with. I find it’s like chatting with a colleague as we work together to complete each financial task. I may not fully understand what’s happening under the hood but I like the smart support.
2. Predict the future
AI can show where you’re going and what you should do about it. Our AI-based FP&A solution uses data that’s both granular and aggregated to predict patterns in operational data and pre-populate values in your budgets and forecasts. It can pull information from external sources including social media. Just imagine it warning you not to rely on future payments from a customer caught in a Twitter storm and heading towards bankruptcy.
3. Be more strategic
All of the above gets rid of your repetitive and boring tasks! Automation frees you to work only on exceptions and event-based triggers. That means that you can focus on more strategic aspects of your role, and by spending your time doing more meaningful work, you will have the opportunity to add more value to your organization – every day.
Would you like to improve your output, predict the future and do more meaningful work? Please get in touch. We hope to change your life with AI.
