Artificial intelligence - The CFO's strategic ally

CHIEF financial officers have never had it harder. They're pressured to cut costs, increase revenue and forecast more accurately. Meanwhile, they face the continuing need to deal with economic uncertainty, regulation and scrutiny from investors.

It's little wonder that, according to research from recruiter Robert Half, three out of four CFOs say their stress levels will increase over the next two years. It's also probably why, as Deloitte suggests, CFO turnover is on the rise. CFOs relish the strategic role their office plays in decision making. But their workload means they can risk burning out. Working nights and weekends reduces their workplace efficiency and can be bad for one's health. That's why advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are so welcome, promising as they do a means for CFOs to manage their increasing workloads.

In fact, spending on cognitive and AI in this region will grow a five-year CAGR of 69.8 per cent to US$5 billion in 2021, according to IDC. CFOs in particular are looking to AI to free them up to provide forward guidance to the business, by automating routine transaction processing, eliminating manual tasks and reducing the likelihood of errors.