AI-Driven Finance: Capitalizing on Agentic AI for Streamlining Financial Operations
AI-Driven Finance: Capitalizing on Agentic AI for Streamlining Financial Operations
L GuruMoorthy -
21 min read, February 3rd, 2025
L GuruMoorthy 4 min read, Monday, February 3rd, 2025
Agentic AI in finance is all set to revolutionize financial operations. While advances in agentic AI have already begun to reshape how people and machines collaborate, these changes are just the tip of the iceberg. The integration of automation and AI across their workstreams will be widespread, transforming the roles of both people and machines and how they interact.
Agentic AI-powered automation tools can handle everything from month-end closing to real-time expense categorization across global subsidiaries to automating repetitive actions. Let’s look at how Agentic AI in finance transforms the functions of finance leaders.
What is Agentic AI?
Agentic AI refers to AI systems that can learn, make decisions, and act autonomously within specified guidelines. Key characteristics include:
Self-Execution: These systems can initiate actions based on learned information and user objectives.
Integration with Other Applications: They seamlessly connect with various software tools to enhance functionality
Enhanced Decision-Making: By analyzing large data sets, Agentic AI supports informed decision-making across industries like healthcare and finance
“According to Gartner, by 2028, 33% of enterprise applications will feature Agentic AI, a significant leap from less than 1% in 2024.”
What’s the difference between agentic AI and generative AI?
Both technologies have their strengths and applications. GenAI as we all know is excellent at creating new content across various formats from text to visuals to codes. It needs input from humans and can’t learn in real time on its own.
Agentic AI, on the other hand, is action-oriented and capable of independent decision-making. With little assistance from humans, these systems can assess circumstances, create plans of action, and carry out actions to accomplish particular objectives. They are made to function on their own, adjusting to shifting conditions and picking up knowledge from their experiences.
What CFOs can expect from Agentic AI?
As CFO managing complex finance functions across global operations, they need real-time data and insights for smooth workflow. You need innovative solutions to streamline and process large volumes of data without losing time to act on the opportunity at hand. Agentic AI is the need of the hour. By integrating it in your workflow process you can expect streamlined operations, improved efficiency, and reduced manual errors.
Agentic AI-powered agent enables CFOs with timely independent decision-making, promotes collaboration, and benefit you from the automation of financial reporting. It enhances risk assessments by continuously monitoring transactions and identifying anomalies. This proactive approach helps CFOs manage credit risk more effectively and make better lending decisions, ultimately contributing to financial stability.
Fast Processing
Finance close processes need data in real-time to make informed decisions, but often due to legacy systems in place, this takes weeks to happen. But in the meantime, opportunity is lost. With Agentic AI-powered automation tools, CFOs can execute them in just a few hours and improve the finance close process. Whether you’re aiming to reconcile a large number of transactions across multiple currencies or categorizing them in real-time, Agentic AI ensures seamless processing. What more? You can generate comprehensive financial reports at just the push of a button.
Adaptive Learning
Agentic AI will be smarter than GenAI as it will be able to comprehend and learn in real time. With every completed cycle, the accuracy of reconciliation will be improved and repetitive tasks will be automated; resulting in fewer errors. Agentic AI is smart and adaptive to evolving compliance requirements and accounting standards, thus keeping you up to date without the need for manual adjustments. Its predictive capabilities allow your forecasting models to become sharper with each cycle, resulting in more accurate projections.
Predictive Analytics
Agentic AI will be able to identify and analyze patterns thus keeping you on the competitive edge. It can model multiple scenarios for strategic planning, assess cash flow variations across business units, spot emerging trends by analyzing customer payment behaviors, and predict budget overruns before they happen, saving you from last-minute chaos. As a CFO you get to make proactive data-driven decisions keeping your objectives and goals on track.
Risk Management
Managing risk has always been on top priority, especially with the technology revolution. Agentic AI-powered automation tools can monitor compliance requirements across multiple jurisdictions, and ensure that you stay ahead of regulatory changes. With its real-time alert capability, it will notify you of potential violations, carry out an advanced risk assessment, evaluate credit, currency exchange, and supply chain risks, and give you the foresight to take action before these risks materialize.
Financial Intelligence Network
Agentic AI can consolidate data from multiple ERPs and financial systems, and transform complex datasets into actionable insights. You can benefit from the automated variance analysis and easy-to-understand explanations of financial discrepancies saving you from errors. AI-powered real-time dashboards can facilitate stakeholders’ decisions and keep them ahead of the competitors with respect to the latest market trends. With AI’s financial intelligence, you gain a holistic view of your organization’s financial scenario, empowering you to make data-backed decisions.
What are the risks and challenges involved with Agentic AI’s adoption?
When implementing agentic AI in finance, there are several key considerations to keep in mind:
Autonomy and Oversight
While the autonomy of agentic AI brings benefits, it’s essential to manage the balance between AI’s decision-making power and human oversight. It should be ensured that AI-driven actions align with ethical, legal, and organizational standards to prevent unintended consequences.
Transparency and Trust
The complex decision-making processes of agentic AI can often be opaque, making it difficult for users and stakeholders to understand the rationale behind certain decisions. This lack of transparency can undermine trust and raise concerns about the fairness and reliability of AI-generated outcomes.
Security and Privacy
Agentic AI’s integration with enterprise systems needs compliance and security measures due to the sensitive financial data. The more interconnected and autonomous these systems become, the greater the risk of data breaches and cyberattacks. Compliance and security policies should be robust and must be monitored regularly.
Embracing the future with Agentic AI
The possibilities of integrating Agentic AI in various industries are endless, and the future of the finance industry looks quite promising with the increasing AI-powered capabilities. As this technology continues to evolve, it holds a promising scenario in the world of work and the roles of humans and machines in the world.