The financial industry stands at a technological crossroads, with artificial intelligence rapidly transforming workflows that once seemed immune to automation. Despite this shift, many finance departments remain hesitant to embrace AI tools. Dave Sackett brings years of experience working with AI, blockchain, and e-commerce solutions and offers practical guidance for financial professionals navigating this changing landscape. His approach focuses on strategic adoption rather than wholesale replacement of human expertise.
Overcoming Skepticism
Most finance professionals approach AI with a healthy dose of caution. Who can blame them? When your career revolves around accuracy and accountability, a “black box” technology raises red flags. “CFOs are skeptical by nature,” Dave explains. “They have this preconception that there’s risk when you try to rely on AI.” This skepticism makes sense. Finance teams can’t afford to be wrong. But Dave suggests this hesitation is becoming increasingly risky itself. “This is where you need to educate yourself as a finance professional and learn about AI,” he argues. “Even if it’s not a choice you’re going to make, at least be aware of it and know how to use it to stay relevant.”
Dave frames AI not as exotic technology but as the next evolution of tools finance has always used. “Finance people use Excel, calculators, and pen and paper. AI is another tool that can be utilized to make their job more efficient and accurate and to support them in their role.” While technology changes, human judgment remains crucial. “One key thing that humans have over AI is accountability. You need a human to be accountable for what AI does,” Dave points out. “AI can be trained to do good things; it can be trained to do bad things. Finance needs to know how to use AI to support what you do for the company.”
Starting with Simple Applications
For finance leaders feeling overwhelmed, Dave recommends finding a straightforward entry point rather than tackling complex systems immediately. “Adopt AI in a spot that’s most natural for finance. My example is automating accounts payable. It’s a data entry job. It’s very rules-based, and it’s very strict. AI is perfect for this application.” Success builds confidence. Dave suggests finance teams should “do something easy, a quick win, something that can be verified, something that you can show a quick return on investment.”
Dave immediately mentions cash flow management when asked what applications he’s most interested in. “One of my biggest headaches as a CFO was cash flow. I worked for a Japanese company that had a super complex cash flow prediction algorithm and spreadsheet that would take me tons of time. AI is going to streamline that and link different databases. You can run cash flow models based on scenario analysis.” The possibilities extend well beyond basic automation. “There’s anything that finance does that can be leveraged with AI. Some people think it only does fundamental things. It gets more and more advanced as we speak.” Dave describes capabilities that sound straight out of science fiction: “You can have a finance chatbot that you can use as an assistant to say, ‘Hey, go run me this report, give me this analysis, do X, Y, and Z.'”
Exploring AI’s Future in Finance
Dave also sees fascinating connections between AI and other emerging technologies. Blockchain, for instance, has natural synergies with finance. “Blockchain is a fantastic technology that hasn’t been widely adopted yet. In terms of blockchain and finance, it’s a ledger technology. AI can now analyze blockchain transactions like in an ERP or an Excel spreadsheet.” While developing, these technologies offer powerful potential for financial teams willing to learn and experiment.
As we wrapped up our conversation, Dave offered this final piece of advice: “Really educate yourself, have a variety of perspectives, and keep an open mind when it comes to AI. It won’t be the solution for everything, but there may be some key things that AI can do to help solve issues.”
Connect with Dave Sackett on LinkedIn to stay updated on AI’s role in finance.
