Will AI Replace Finance Jobs? The Future of Finance Professionals (2024)

Traditionally, finance has been transactional and process oriented. Activities that involve repetitive daily tasks have been a natural place to start a digital transformation. With workflow automation, formerly time-intensive activities such as budget approvals, managing employee and customer data, and invoice processing occur efficiently with minimal human intervention.

According to Shannon Cole, senior director analyst, research in the Gartner Finance practice, “Automation will reshape transaction processing functions such as procure to pay (P2P) and order to cash (O2C). Armies of staff in these processes will be replaced by small teams of specialists focused on process excellence, data governance and application management.”

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Many AI tools use machine learning, a subset of AI, that trains computer systems to accept and process information automatically. It enables AI to learn to recognize patterns and trends and make decisions with little human involvement. AI systems will mirror human biases if they are present in the data supplied to them. Careful review of AI output can verify that the results are accurate and being used ethically.

Using AI is used to make lending decisions is one example of how ethical issues arise. Systems trained on actual mortgage data influences AI-based decision-making in a way that can put low-income and minority groups at a disadvantage. The difference in the approval rate is not just due to bias but also because minority and low-income groups tend to have less data in their credit histories. To compensate for this, mortgage lenders are working with indicators that usually aren't considered in a typical credit score, such as a borrower’s income level, job opportunities in their field, and earning potential.

Corporate finance expert Nicolas Boucher, who spoke at a recent DocuWare webinar, How finance teams boost efficiency with AI and automation, defines three common reactions to the expanding role of AI. People who ignore AI are in the first category. Boucher compares them to those who were reluctant to learn Microsoft Excel and chose to rely on their calculators instead. From his point of view, someone who wants to do their job as they’ve always done it is certainly at risk of being replaced.

A second type of person uses AI passively. They may copy and paste a question into ChatGPT and use the information it provides as written. They don’t take ownership and instead incorporate AI output into their own work without reviewing it. There’s a significant risk of making a mistake with this half-hearted approach. These finance professionals aren’t adding value by bringing their own point of view to the table.