Artificial Intelligence’s (AI) advanced capabilities have not only redefined how businesses and industries operate but have become a necessary addition to maintaining one’s competitive advantage and evergreen practices.
In the finance industry, AI has had the same effect. Automating routine tasks and providing advanced analytics to finance teams has allowed companies to become more knowledgeable of what their finances can do for them in terms of maximizing profit and diversifying assets. Having this insight allows their finances to work for them when navigating uncertain periods.
However, AI integration is not as simple as it sounds. While one can easily say that it is a must to integrate AI into your company’s finance management strategy and accounting processes, how you integrate it matters. Despite the ready roster of accounting software and various technologies that allow you to integrate AI into your already existing processes, there must first be ample preparation done to your infrastructure, people, and internal controls.
When building an AI-ready and AI-capable company, you must first build an AI-ready finance team. For CFOs, it becomes their responsibility to effectively train and prepare their teams for the transition to AI integrated software through training, continuous learning, and providing the right support.
According to industry research, more than 80% of finance leaders plan to increase their investment in AI and machine learning tools within the next three years. However, without proper preparation, these investments can fail to deliver full value. Success depends on people—how well they understand AI tools, how effectively they use them, and how ready they are to adapt.
AI’s primary benefit is the machine or algorithm’s ability to learn real-time and adapt as needed – mimicking human capability to analyze at a fraction of the time it takes for an accounting team to yield the same results. In the finance industry where data analytics plays a central role in a company’s financial management efforts, AI helps reshape finance and accounting into a proactive discipline, one that is able to forecast trends and changes that can affect a company’s finances and provide mitigation strategies as needed.
For instance, machine learning --- a subset of AI --- allows systems to identify trends in real-time, such as dips in the stock market or a market ceiling fluctuation of a certain product. This forecast allows a company in a relevant industry to adjust their pricing as needed with greater accuracy. At the back end, this capability gives your CFO the ability to manage the company’s risks, properly plan and optimize capital allocation, which results in being able to maximize both profitability and value-creation.
In the next few years, AI will become further normalized within the finance industry as it empowers finance and accounting professionals to redefine their roles. It’s also expected to add value to the company and reposition their finances from a function that supports organizational goals to a function that has the capability to transform company operations. For this to be successful, however, your company requires a finance team that’s trained, adaptable, and capable of leveraging new technologies with confidence.
Before we go into how AI will further revolutionize the accounting industry and require CFOs and their accounting teams to pivot and prepare for further integration, let us first tackle AI’s earliest adoptions for the modern CFO.
AI-powered data analytics for CFOs started around 2023 when Deloitte launched AI Advantage for CFOs and remains to be one of the most-powerful tools for a CFO as it allows them to create growth strategies that align company goals with the many possibilities the company faces in market and economic trends. With its predictive capabilities, AI-powered data analytics has been able to:
The outcome? CFOs and companies in general have been able to make smarter, faster, and more informed financial decisions that contribute to the company’s longevity.
Now, while AI-powered data analytics has transformed a CFO’s role and responsibilities, AI’s capability to automate a company’s financial processes fully and bring about digital transformation now requires the collaboration of the CFO, the finance team and the entire company to become successful.
As a CFO, preparing your team for AI integration means preparing your team for digital transformation. Regardless of your company’s current policy on digital tools and software, AI will require your processes and your team’s daily workload to be fully digital – in order to ensure full AI integration.
To do this, automation will always be the first step. Automation in the context of finance and accounting is the process of using software, algorithms, and machine learning to perform manual accounting processes that were previously the tasks of your accounting team. This allows your employees to focus on active financial planning, such as forecast projection and financial data analysis.
Automation tools, enhanced by AI-powered CFO services and a team that is proficient in utilizing the said tools, can handle everything from invoice processing to compliance monitoring. But, in order to ensure that automating your processes would be a success, CFOs must ensure that systems integrate seamlessly with existing processes and platforms.
Integrating AI into a finance function doesn’t mean replacing legacy or outdated systems overnight. Instead, CFOs should adopt a phased approach:
The bottom-line: Successful integration requires not just technical upgrades, but cultural alignment and leadership commitment.
Likewise, digital transformation in finance is not just about adopting AI accounting tools and software and using it to do functions that were previously assigned to your finance team. Instead, it is about creating a future-ready finance function. To do this, CFOs must lead this transformation by aligning digital strategies with organizational objectives.
Key Components of Digital Transformation
CFOs play a central role in ensuring digital initiatives support the company’s overall mission and organizational direction. Creating a clear roadmap for management to adhere to – that is backed by metrics, historical data, case studies and strong communication within the testing team - helps maintain alignment when deciding which functions of the company’s processes to automate first and integrate AI with.
During this stage, it is important that the CFO ensures that prioritization of AI integration initiatives aligns with the company's strategy. Invest first in functions which would benefit the company most if it were optimized through AI in finance.
With your AI adoption strategy aligned with company initiatives, your next priority as a CFO is to orient your team with the relevant changes.
This is where change management comes in. Change management in finance pertains to the CFO and management capability to successfully implement change on an organizational level – relying heavily on an effective change management framework. To do this, your framework must make it clear to your team why AI adoption matters and how it will improve their work. Clear communication reduces resistance and helps employees see AI as a tool for empowerment, not replacement – which is a factor for AI resistance in the workplace.
Strategies for Effective Change Implementation
The most successful CFOs understand that technology is only as powerful as the people using it. Building an AI-ready finance team means focusing on talent development and continuous learning.
Conduct an internal audit to identify where your team’s skill gaps lie—whether in data analysis, automation tools, or strategic use of AI insights. This assessment will guide your training investments and ensure resources are used effectively.
Upskilling should focus on three key areas:
Partnering with outsourced CFO support providers that specialize in AI in finance can also help bridge skill gaps, especially during the early stages of transformation.
Predictive analytics is one of the most practical and high-impact applications of AI for CFOs. It enables teams to forecast revenue, identify risks, and make data-backed decisions with greater accuracy.
Use Cases for Predictive Analytics
Measuring Success and ROI
Track the effectiveness of your AI initiatives through key performance indicators such as:
These metrics will demonstrate the tangible impact of your AI readiness strategy.
Even with an AI-ready team, it is important to know that AI integration doesn’t end there. Instead, successful AI integration extends into how your company is able to implement it at an organizational level. To do this, a structured approach wherein the management, your CFO and your IT team closely monitor integration at every stage can help long-term sustainability of your AI adoption initiatives.
Before rolling out any AI tools, CFOs must ensure that their teams fully understand the purpose, scope, and benefits of using them. Training programs must first be launched before implementation where resources on how to navigate and operate AI-powered tools will be provided as well as walkthroughs done by either the finance team or IT team.
This would allow teams to know how the AI systems work before even operating them, allowing for easier familiarity and proficiency and overall minimizing the disruption that the integration can have on their day-to-day roles.
Launching AI solutions across the entire finance function can be risky. Instead, start with a pilot group or testing pool. Ideally, the testing pool must consist of representatives from all departments and levels involved in AI integration. This allows your team to test the integration initiative across all the functions and roles of your employees in the company.
A testing pool acts as your proof of concept – providing you with valuable data on usability, accuracy, and integration efficiency to help you refine or develop your AI integration strategy. Once initial results show success with minimal to no problems, you can then begin to gradually expand to other teams or processes.
AI integration is not a one-time project but a continuous improvement journey. Encourage feedback from your team at every stage – ask them what’s working well, what needs adjustment, and where additional training may be needed. This feedback loop helps refine processes and ensures that everyone’s concerns are addressed at every stage of the testing process.
Don’t advance to the next implementation phase until the current one is fully optimized. Each successful stage builds momentum and confidence across the organization. With every iteration, your finance team becomes more proficient, your data ecosystem stronger, and your operations are more AI-driven.
By following this methodical, people-first approach, CFOs can ensure that AI integration not only enhances financial performance but also fosters a culture of innovation and adaptability.
For CFOs, there is no other time to invest in AI-driven transformation but now. However, leading this transformation is more than just being able to adapt to AI technology. As a CFO, it is your responsibility to first build an AI-ready workforce who can navigate AI technology and software and adopt a culture of continuous learning, building a finance team and a company that is ready for the future of AI in finance.
With the right strategy and support, AI can help finance leaders move beyond traditional reporting roles to become true strategic partners in driving growth, innovation, and resilience.
Consider D&V Philippines. We are a reliable outsourcing firm specializing in finance, accounting, and data analytics. Schedule a free consultation with us today to learn more about how we can help you integrate AI into your business.
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