Finance 2035 – a vision for the future

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How will the finance function be ten years from now compared to today? If the past ten years should serve as a benchmark, many would argue that the function of finance won’t be radically different. However, with AI entering the stage, we believe there’s a potential for the finance function in 2035 to differ from today radically. 

Ten years back, no one talked about artificial intelligence as a real option for the finance function or even businesses. It wasn’t that the capabilities weren’t technically available. However, they weren’t scalable and too expensive to use. 

One reference point that stuck with me is from 2018 when I attended a small executive conference. One of the organizers referred me to a leading AI developer, who said: 

“If I had six billion dollars, I could run the whole finance function of a major oil and gas company on artificial intelligence.” 

This is a compelling opportunity; however, no finance function, not even in the world’s largest companies, costs anywhere near that amount. However, with the constantly diminishing cost of technology, it’s safe to say that this six-billion-dollar price point has moved significantly down since 2018. For artificial intelligence, the inflection point is certainly drawing nearer if we haven’t already reached it. Here, Generative AI was likely the tipping point. Don’t take it from us; take it from a renowned computer scientist and professor at Standford University, Fei-Fei Li. She said, “This moment in AI is an inflection point” in November 2023. 

Yet, AI doesn’t play a significant role in most finance functions today. In a recent poll on LinkedIn, 71% said they hadn’t started to use artificial intelligence in their finance function yet. This is where the opportunity lies, and while it’s probably fair to say that Finance is rarely an innovator or early adopter, we should expect Finance to be a part of the majority. That means we should expect artificial intelligence to be a central component of finance visions moving forward. In this blog, we will aim to define a vision for the future finance function centered around AI and a clear ambition for what role humans should play. 

A vision for the finance function in 2035 

You might think that such a vision is centered around artificial intelligence taking over the finance function as envisioned by the AI developer referenced earlier. AI will indeed play a much more prominent role and certainly perform many tasks humans used to do. However, the general idea is also that this sets humans free to do what they do best. Based on this, we would formulate a vision for the future as follows: 

“Think AI-first to realize the people potential of your finance function.”

Let’s break down this vision into its components and discuss what we mean in further detail.

• Think AI-first: For any task you perform in the finance function, old or new, you should consider how AI can solve this task.

1) Don’t abandon the idea that AI can solve it because AI can; however, once you understand how, you can consciously choose whether the benefits outweigh the implementation cost.

2) Establish an AI board that continuously reviews and challenges previous assessments as the field evolves so fast that yesterday’s choices may not be tomorrow’s solutions.

3) Reverse the burden of proof from AI to humans, meaning you must prove why humans should perform a specific task rather than AI.

• Realize people potential: Once you have proved which tasks humans should do, you need to upskill them to do them successfully.

1) Describe the intended outcomes of human tasks and what skills are needed to perform them.

2) Continuously assess the current team to understand their gaps and build and continuously develop a plan to close them.

3) Broaden the finance talent pool as you will likely find the needed capabilities in adjacent or completely different professions.

• Finance function: The definition of a finance function hasn’t changed, but it now encompasses human and AI workers.

1) Humans remain in charge and must be able to oversee the performance of AI-driven processes and implement new ways of working when internal or outside changes call for it

2) There’s a strong focus on the collaboration of humans and AI to ensure maximum use of the AI capabilities available.

3) While focusing on the finance function, it must be interconnected with all other functions and the overall company purpose and direction.

There’s no change to the core responsibilities of the finance function either. Finance still must ensure compliance with rules and regulations, perform the necessary level of control to ensure high-quality data and accountability across the company, and act as advisors to business leaders on making the best possible decisions. 

The change in the coming ten years is the continuous redistribution of work between humans and AI and our ambition level for performing each of these roles. Let’s give some examples. 

• Compliance: Today, we advise the finance function to meet only the minimum compliance requirements. Going above and beyond creates no value. However, in the future, AI could drive a much higher level of compliance at the same cost, provide anomaly detection, and provide automated improvement recommendations.
• Control: Today, most companies spend months budgeting and forecasting every year. This doesn’t count the management reporting needed to follow up on the agreed numbers. In the future, AI can facilitate a much smoother budgeting process, on-demand forecasting, and quicker management analysis and reporting.
• Advisory: Today, there’s too little time to provide insights and advisory, and our insights are often too shallow and arrive too late in the decision-making process. In the future, powered by Generative AI, these insights can come in minutes through a few well-directed prompts.

All finance and accounting professionals should be comforted that we shouldn’t expect a revolution in the definition of a finance function. This doesn’t mean things won’t change significantly, but the function will still be recognizable. Senior finance leaders must support their teams through this transition. 

The vision for humans in the finance function 

Whether you’re excited about this future or fear it, probably comes down to personal preference. We should recognize that going through this change will be tricky. Hence, we must describe in a lively, practical, and pragmatic way how humans will work in the future finance function. When we say we should realize human potential, we, to a large degree, talk about learning new skills. To seize the challenge, we could consider what skills will be in the highest demand in 2035. Here, we have taken reference from AARP.

1. Technology use and development

2. Technology design and programming

3. Resilience and stress management

4. Complex problem solving

5. Leadership and social influence

6. Critical thinking

7. Creativity, originality, and innovation

8. Active learning

9. Analytical thinking

10. Reasoning and ideation

It’s relatively easy to see why these skills will be in high demand as they relate to creating and deploying new technology or skills that AI cannot (yet) mimic. This presents a clear roadmap for finance professionals in the future. 

A. Develop and deploy new technologies in the finance function

B. Develop skills that AI cannot (yet) 

We have different personal preferences, so we cannot say which path is right for you. However, we know for sure that you must make a choice. Both paths require training and the “Active learning” skill, which you likely need support from current and future employers to develop. 

A lot will change in the finance function towards 2035, and if you’re a senior finance leader, now is the time to start formulating your vision and action plan. Consider adopting an “AI-first” approach today and challenge your existing working methods. It may still be too expensive to bet heavily on AI, but it would be surprising if you couldn’t identify at least a few relevant use cases. Use these to experiment and gather intelligence for developing your 2035 vision. 

Are you using AI in your finance function today? Do you think the “AI-first” approach is the right one for the future of the finance function? Finally, where would you predict the finance function to be in 2035? Share your thoughts below.

This was the second article in our new series, "Finance 2035 - what Finance will look like a decade from now". Find the previous one(s) below. Remember to subscribe to be notified when we publish future articles.

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Anders Liu-Lindberg is the co-founder and a partner at Business Partnering Institute and the owner of the largest group dedicated to Finance Business Partnering on LinkedIn, which has more than 12,000 members. I have ten years of experience as a business partner at the global transport and logistics company Maersk. I am the co-author of the book “Create Value as a Finance Business Partner”, a long-time Finance Blogger, a LinkedIn Learning instructor, and a Top Voice on LinkedIn with 350,000+ followers.