Insights
Learn how CFOs use AI to cut close times, improve forecasting, and drive growth across the enterprise.
“What are important qualities to be successful? The most important quality is courage.” The truth is that technology is only valuable if it helps you run your organization better.” I like to say it’s an attitude of not just thinking outside the box but not even seeing the box.”
Safra Catz, CEO Oracle
Finance functions across Australasia and beyond are undergoing a seismic transformation. What was once a cost-focused, transactional department is rapidly becoming the strategic heartbeat of modern enterprise—powered by agentic artificial intelligence.
This isn’t just about automating spreadsheets or saving time. It’s a complete redefinition how CFOs are "taking care of business" —and a wake-up call for boards and executive teams.
“Productivity growth in Australia is just 0.9%—a 20-year low. Traditional cost-cutting has hit a wall. Agentic AI isn’t optional—it’s now the only scalable lever to unlock insight, resilience, and growth.”
Australia's productivity performance - Productivity Commission
From manual tasks to intelligent workflows
Despite years of ERP modernisation, many finance teams remain stuck in time-consuming, manual processes—bank reconciliations, journal postings, expense audits, variance analysis, and data wrangling from disconnected systems.
Agentic AI systems offer a new model.
Unlike older bots that automate one task at a time, embedded AI agents now work together to orchestrate entire workflows—correcting mismatches, escalating issues, automating close tasks, and delivering real-time insights. Oracle, for example, now embeds over 50 AI agents in its finance cloud stack to deliver "touchless" finance capabilities (Oracle).
Microsoft: AI at scale in finance
At Microsoft, this transformation is playing out internally. Its finance team, with over 5,000 professionals globally, is already leveraging AI agents across procurement, forecasting, close processes, and audit.
“AI is driving so much change at the company … saving us thousands upon thousands of hours as well as millions of dollars,” says Cory Hrncirik, Microsoft’s Modern Finance Lead (CFO Dive).
Microsoft’s use of embedded agents led to:
A 97% reduction in tax file preparation time.
A 50% reduction in reconciliation effort.
A 70% drop-in finance support requests.
“These innovations are pushing each of us to think differently, work differently,” CFO Amy Hood shared in a company-wide memo (Business Insider).
NetSuite & Oracle: embedded finance intelligence
NetSuite has also stepped forward with purpose-built AI capabilities for finance leaders: automated billing, intelligent exception detection, dynamic forecasting, and close management. Their customers report:
95% automation of reconciliations,
Significant reduction in month-end cycles,
Improved forecasting precision, especially in industries with seasonal demand (Stacks.ai).
Oracle’s AI Agent Studio empowers finance teams to build their own multi-agent workflows—extending automation into budgeting, procurement, and even ESG reporting (Oracle Newsroom).
“These agents augment—not replace—finance talent. The goal is faster decisions, not fewer people,” says one Oracle product VP.
Real-world case studies
FMCG Company (Global): Deployed dual forecasting—human-led vs. AI-driven. The AI outperformed consistently, resulting in fewer stockouts and lower waste.
Manufacturer (NSW): Used AI agents to automate early-payment discounting across 20,000+ suppliers, optimising working capital and supplier terms.
Microsoft Procurement: An AI sourcing assistant saved $10M annually and returned 15,000+ hours to the business (CFO Dive).
These aren’t future scenarios—they’re happening now.
What this means for boards and CEOs
The implications for leadership are clear:
Agentic AI in finance is a board-level priority, not a back-office initiative.
CFOs are becoming enterprise co-pilots, driving strategy, managing digital risk, and shaping resilience.
The pace of adoption determines competitive advantage.
According to IBM’s research, organisations that embed AI in finance experience:
24% better forecasting accuracy
29% faster days sales outstanding (DSO)
23% higher close process automation (IBM)
Microsoft’s internal results echo this: over $25 million in AI-related productivity gains and a sharp improvement in enterprise responsiveness (Microsoft Modern Finance).
“Finance is no longer a support function,” says Skinner. “It is the engine room of decision-making, forecasting, and value creation.”
A playbook for leaders: how to start
Start small, but now Identify a high-frequency, rule-based task. Automate it with an AI agent and measure the outcome.
Bring your people with you As Microsoft and Oracle both note, success requires trust and transparency. Train, support, and empower teams.
Tie outcomes to business KPIs Whether it's cash flow, compliance, or speed to decision—show how AI supports the enterprise strategy.
Empower your CFO Support their elevation from number-keeper to transformation leader. Boards should view finance as a pipeline for future CEOs.
The strategic CFO: from transactional to transformative
Across the board, leading firms are realising that the CFO’s mandate has expanded.
“CFOs are no longer just reporting on the past,” Skinner explains. “They are using AI to shape what happens next.”
The CFO is now a:
Forecaster of business resilience
Guardian of working capital
Champion of cross-functional AI adoption
Advisor to the CEO and board
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has described AI agents as “co-pilots for every role, in every function, across every process”—and finance is leading that charge (Investopedia).
Final Word: act now, learn fast, scale wisely
If your finance team is still operating manually—reconciling by hand, forecasting with spreadsheets, reacting to decisions instead of driving them—you’re behind.
“We’re not just automating processes,” Skinner concludes. “We’re redefining what’s possible for finance—and for the business as a whole.”
The future of finance is real-time, insight-driven, and orchestrated by intelligent agents. Your CFO isn’t just ready for that future—they’re already building it.
16 Sept 2025
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