The surge in popularity of ChatGPT in late 2022 has put AI in the spotlight for its potential to streamline work processes in every business, including the finance sector. How do organisations perceive and leverage AI to optimise their processes and what is the role of the finance professional in this landscape?
This is what we attempted to explore in our latest research, entitled “The future of credit management: AI and the role of the finance professional”, deriving input from 30 interim professionals. In the dynamic credit management world, interims bring valuable knowledge gained from working with various business professionals across different industries.
What are the main areas for improvement with AI in credit management?
Order-to-cash automation, automated workflows, and real-time automation are only a few of the benefits associated with the integration of AI in credit management. This justifies why almost half of the respondents (45%) see AI as the technology with the greatest impact on financial processes.
Meanwhile, more than half (51,8%) find AI adoption in credit management as leading to significantly better decision-making. However, the practical application of AI in credit management requires a solid understanding of existing processes, explains Igor Wortel, CEO & Founder, Phalanxes.
| “While AI can enhance complex processes, the key is to focus on practical, incremental improvements. This requires a set of conditions: 1. Your process knowledge before you start and answers to simple questions like ‘What is really happening in my operational processes ?’ 2. What area or AI subfield do I want to explore? For example, do I understand what is meant by ‘expert systems are a subfield of AI’? 3. Can I follow them in real-time on the lowest transactional level available (nonconsolidated)?” -Igor Wortel CEO & Founder, Phalanxes. |
AI in credit management: Hype or reality?
The strong popularity of AI has created discussions regarding its real potential to meet expectations in the finance sector. Indeed, a significant proportion of the respondents in the study (18.5%) see AI as a “hype rather than reality”, while two-thirds of the respondents (66,7%) see the current impact of AI as being in its early stages.
AI and the credit manager of the future
Despite AI presence in the current work routine, experts seem to agree that the need for technology oversight and maintaining customer relationships makes human involvement always relevant. For example, over half of the respondents (55,5%) expect the role of the credit manager to focus more on strategic advice and less on operational tasks in the coming years.
“For now, simpler solutions often yield better results, but as AI continues to evolve, we may see a significant shift in its application and impact on credit management. An exciting journey no one should miss or at least try to understand their fast development,”
…concludes Igor.
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