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When Gartner first released their point of view regarding Autonomous Finance in 2022, many companies were skeptical. The idea of turning over control of their finance operations to automation and AI was disconcerting. Today, adoption of AI in finance has surpassed 58% or higher depending on the study. The question is not whether to begin the move to autonomous finance but how to do it safely, using trusted information with human oversight. This is where the recent announcements of SAP Business Suite, SAP Business Data Cloud and Enterprise Automation underpinned by SAP Business Technology Platform come into the picture. The tight integration of the applications, processes and data provides the “trusted” path to Autonomous Finance.
First and foremost, can you trust the data? If you are using inaccurate data no matter what type of AI you are leveraging, you will get inaccurate results. An FP&A Trends survey found 48% of the finance professional's time is spent in collecting and validating data, for autonomous finance to work, you need trusted semantically rich data. Your analyst should not have to jump into ERP to compare the numbers, they should simply be right.
Another important aspect to consider is relevancy. Not just data from one system but all pertinent data generated by the cross-departmental processes. For example, the “Lead to Cash” process starts with the customer engagement, is fulfilled by supply chain, and is invoiced by finance. Looking at data from one of these departments will only give you part of the story. Finance executives are evolving to becoming strategic advisors. They require insight from all aspects of the corporation to be an effective leader.
At the core of AI is the concept of learning. Continuous improvement is derived from analysis of the latest data. Model accuracy is constantly tested and adjusted to achieve the highest combination of accuracy and repeatability. Data is often referred to as the lifeblood of AI. If you need AI you can trust, invest in your data.
Before we dive into the Autonomous Finance framework, let me share a few proof points where AI can help your finance team. Business AI for Finance
Working capital – Clients improve efficiency with the SAP Cash Application to match invoices to payments. This enabled Accenture to increase automated cash processing by 80%. You can also determine the probability of open invoices being paid late and the best action to collect sooner.
Advanced Financial Close – Pfizer was able to manage and automate over 2800 tasks which shortened their closing process
Financial Planning and Analysis – Customers have found that automation has improved forecast accuracy by as much as 7%. Predictive analytics can provide identification of outliers. By generating insights enables you to have a conversation with your data. Images and suggested analysis can help identify areas for professionals to focus in minutes in what used to take hours. Generative AI for planning and analysis
Connecting departments is the first step on the trusted path to autonomous finance. This is executed at two levels – SAP Integration Suite is used to connect the systems of the various departments. A good example of this is Avaya. They realized that the business transformation comes from optimization of processes across sales, ordering, financials. and third parties. Combining SAP Integration Suite, SAP Build Process Automation and SAP Signavio, in what is now called Enterprise Automation, which brought Avaya’s book closing efficiency to over 90%.
SAP Business Data Cloud provides harmonized data that provides accurate, reliable AI results. Both solutions provide the trusted data that helps you sleep better at night.
Evonik industries, a leading specialty chemicals company implemented SAP Integration Suite to connect SAP Document and Reporting Compliance, to their existing e-invoicing and ERP solutions. This seamless integration enabled Evonik to meet autonomous community requirements of three provinces in the Basue Country located in Spain.
Now that you have data from all departments, harmonized with relevant business semantics tied to the source systems, you can analyze past results to establish your baseline. This information will be used to create an integrated, collaborative plan, generated by all departments leveraging trusted financials in your ERP transactions. The financial plan is the roadmap to guide all divisions and business units to success.
Many organizations analyze the current processes with SAP Signavio. Understanding the current effectiveness will set the stage for future optimization of processes. Including process mining, which enhances confidence of your ERP transformation.
Automation of the optimized processes is at the heart of Autonomous Finance. Take Blue Diamond Growers , a cooperative of almond growers in California, for example. They used SAP Signavio Process Intelligence, SAP Integration Suite and process automation included in SAP Build to identify innovation opportunities and process improvements. Evonik, mentioned earlier, also leveraged automation capabilities included in Build and SAP Financial Management solutions. (video, summary)
Business AI is another key capability in Autonomous Finance. SAP has been supporting a broad range of AI for many years. Capabilities include machine learning, automated forecasting, traditional AI and most recently generative AI. These are delivered in various fashions from embedded AI in the business applications as well as inherent capabilities in SAP Business Data Cloud. These are supplemented with Joule agents that understand your business processes right out of the box.
Bosch took advantage of the trusted, harmonized customer experience and finance data in SAP Business Data Cloud to execute AI agents that saved them thousands of hours a year while improving customer satisfaction. Customers also leverage AI embedded in the SAP Build portfolio to tailor applications along with the automated processes.
A crucial stage of the Autonomous Finance process is measuring the progress and aligning teams. It is a constant, iterative process that can be delivered with the analytics capabilities of SAP Business Data Cloud, SAP Financial Management solutions as well as SAP Build to deliver digital workspaces. Watco, a leading cargo, supply chain and logistics service provider, was able to reduce their delivery of metrics from three days to on demand. They attribute this capability as a key enabler to allow them to quickly align teams and adjust immediately.
An innovative approach to adding automation to the billing process was implemented by a healthcare company using WalkMe. They needed to train and ensure proper billing by their associates located throughout the United States and internationally. By delivering real-time, in-app guidance, WalkMe allows busy healthcare professionals to learn while working—and not have to take time out for training.
A similar approach was used by Nestle to help with AI adoption. WalkMe helped them to redirect employees using the public version of Chat GPT to the internal compliant version of Nestle GPT. They also leveraged WalkMe to educate by providing prompting guidelines. This has helped to ensure secure, responsible engagement and maintain compliance.
To learn more please come to my session at Sapphire or visit the autonomous finance page on SAP.com
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