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Financial leaders, in the past years, have accepted the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the improvement of productivity in business as well as how the decision making process is carried out. Investigations concluded by Playtech Equals Money confirm that 95% of financial decision-makers in the UK use AI or think about applying it at their workplace. Hence, the increasing use of AI in decision-making processes among financial institutions indicates the rising idea of Artificial Intelligence`s capability to optimize tasks and improve productivity in the financial sector.

AI Automation revolutionizes financial processes

There is great adoption and ambitousness in the AI experience space. The majority, 77% of surveyed financial decision-makers, are actively testing the new technology on the market. 

Hence, an extra 18% plan to use AI, thereby looking forward to automated systems that will help them to credit their operations and overall performance results. 

The incentive for this automation drive is that it guarantees huge time savings. The employees from the UK spend an average of 65 minutes a day on tasks that can be automated, which has saved approximately 38 days per year.

Financial processes are the primary target for the debate, and in fact, nearly half of companies are already automating tasks like payment receipt (59%), payment issuance (52%), and invoice generation (57%). 

The underlying characteristics of finance, primarily reconciliation processes, can suit AI’s rule-following proficiency, consequently paving the way for smooth automation of such tasks. The team finance will be able to venture into analytical pursuits that are of high value to an organization.

Handling AI integration

While there is a clearly understood positive effect, AI tool integration has not been void of difficulties. Whereas 85% of companies say that workload becomes positive, most job security issues are still considered, with a significant 39% saying that some job profiles could be eliminated because of digitalization. 

Not a single one of us should forget that AI cannot replace our human experts. So, the proper approach is a balance in AI adoption, which makes the technology simply a complement to human intelligence.

Artificial intelligence introduces several possibilities; however, there are barriers to the wide use of AI in financial processes. The most common reasons given for not trusting automation cite the loss of job opportunities (33%), budget required for investments (42%), doubts about safety (48%), possibility of mistakes (41%), and lack of knowledge (36%). 

Such apprehensions symbolize the complexities and unpredictability involved in implementing AI technologies, which, they assert, require great thoughtfulness and well-thought-out strategies.

Financial leaders strive for harmony

Despite the unsettling fact that many job sectors have accepted automation, there are still some parts of work processes in which AI cannot be integrated. The chairman of financial areas blames the fact that they will lose such tasks as answering customer calls (34%), promoting relationships with suppliers and customers (34%), booking travel and accommodation (31%), handling foreign currency conversions (30%), and managing human resource services (27%). 

These functions involve the human sense of touch and the ability to practice intuition perfectly, and they are influenced by AI’s inability to replicate quality performance perfectly. While financial institutions adjust to increasing automation as an AI effect, they should consider implementing an optimum balance between automation and human factors. 

Along with AI advances comes an immense ability to enhance productivity and efficiency. However, a thorough assessment of potential impacts—both the ones that could worry job insecurities and the ones that involve protecting human-oriented processes—should also be part of the decision-making process. 

AI can be used strategically and in collaboration with human resources to create new opportunities that will benefit from these capabilities in the long term, mitigating the risks that AI might bring.