Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already having a significant impact on not only the treasury sector, but the financial world.

Everyone from banks and building societies to insurance companies and pension providers are using AI to improve efficiency and in turn, boost productivity.

In fact, a recent study by Citigroup showed that the financial services industry is the second biggest spender on AI services, behind only technology.

And that investment is showing no signs of slowing down.

Put simply, AI is transforming the world of treasury management by identifying flaws in processes and resolving them – not only saving time, but money too.

But more importantly, it has also sped up processes.

Specially designed AI algorithms can analyse huge volumes of data at speed, often detecting unusual patterns and helping treasurers make more informed decisions.

It’s no secret jobs such as managing risk and implementing controls can be labour intensive.

They require staff to spend a great deal of time manually performing predictable and/or routine processes.

Using AI can reduce the margin for error and the time taken to complete these tasks.

That’s why many treasury management employees have shifted these to machines and freed up their time to concentrate on higher-value analytical work instead.

In addition, AI technology such as advanced process automation (APA) can be used to help reduce exposure to threats and increase the amount of protection for assets.

Machine learning in treasury

Coding and machine learning is certainly a useful skill to have to be a treasurer, but you don’t have to be an expert.

You don’t even need to be able to code – simply understanding IT and being able to apply it will suffice.

For example, if you understand the ins and outs of a treasury management system, that’s going to be reflected in your balance sheet.

Recently we saw a junior treasury professional who studied Python bring it into the company he was working for.

He was able to use this training and knowledge to drastically simplify their cash management and cash forecasting, which is a huge benefit to any company.

How will AI impact the future of treasury management?

Quite simply, AI is the future of treasury management.

Many companies have already made the shift to AI working and those who are yet to do so are expected to follow suit soon.

AI will help treasurers to stay ahead of the competition by helping identify and monitor risk as well as managing it effectively.

Elements of AI like machine learning and data mining can also be used for predictive analysis, which treasurers can then use to inform decisions and forecasting.

The ability of AI to predict future financial results based on trends and market data will also fundamentally change our industry.

It allows treasury professionals to look at current inefficiencies and try to establish both their direct and indirect costs.

From that analysis, we can then determine where AI technology can enhance or improve them.

So, there you have it. AI isn’t something to be afraid of. It is something we need to embrace.

It will never replace humans completely, but instead, save treasury professionals time and make processes more efficient and reduce the margin for error.

And that, I think we will all agree, can only be a good thing.

“Treasurers will not be replaced by robots”

Related interview: Our CEO and founder, Mike Richards has sat down with Arturo from Kantox, to discuss how treasury jobs are changing, whether automation will replace treasurers and more…

Check it out

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