Financial Leadership in the AI Era: A Journey of Discovery
Welcome to my new blog series where I’ll be documenting my learning journey as a finance manager navigating the evolving landscape of AI in finance.
Why This Series?
I recently stepped into a new role as a finance manager. Like many professionals in finance today, I’m facing a rapidly changing environment where artificial intelligence is no longer just a buzzword but an increasingly important part of our toolkit. Rather than pretending to have all the answers, I’ve decided to learn in public and bring you along for the journey.
This series isn’t about presenting myself as an AI expert; quite the opposite. It’s about being transparent about the challenges, discoveries, and practical insights I gain as I navigate the intersection of financial leadership and artificial intelligence. By sharing my learning process, I hope to create a resource that feels authentic and accessible to other finance professionals who may be on similar paths.
What to Expect
Over the coming months, I’ll be publishing regular posts covering everything from separating AI hype from reality to building AI literacy in finance teams, ethical considerations, practical applications in forecasting and operations, change management, ROI analysis, and the evolving skill requirements for finance leaders.
Each post will combine:
- My firsthand experiences implementing or evaluating AI solutions
- Research and insights from trusted sources
- Practical frameworks and approaches you can apply
- Honest reflections on successes and failures
I believe in the power of learning through doing, so I’ll be sharing real examples from my own work (anonymised where necessary) and concrete steps you can take to advance your own journey with AI in finance.
My Approach
My approach to AI isn’t about replacing human judgment or chasing every new technology. Instead, I’m focused on finding the practical, high-value applications that genuinely enhance our work as finance professionals. I believe the most successful AI implementations in finance will be those that augment rather than replace our expertise, freeing us to focus on the strategic work that requires human creativity and judgment.
Join the Conversation
This isn’t meant to be a one-way broadcast. I invite you to share your own experiences, challenge my assumptions, suggest topics for future posts, and contribute to building a community of finance professionals who are thoughtfully navigating the AI revolution.
Whether you’re a finance leader looking to enhance your team’s capabilities, an individual contributor wanting to future-proof your career, or simply curious about how AI is reshaping financial management, I hope you’ll find value in this series.
Next time, I’ll publish the first full post in the series: “AI in Finance: Separating Hype from Reality,” where we’ll explore the current state of AI in finance departments and develop a framework for evaluating AI claims from vendors.