From sceptic to believer: My AI journey as a CFO

I'll be honest with you. Until October 2024, I was a paid sceptic when it came to AI in finance.

Sure, I'd read the headlines and sat through the presentations. But like many CFOs, I wondered whether the hype matched reality. Then came the moment that changed everything. It was during a mundane monthly performance review at my previous role at Aviv. I was staring at spreadsheets, manually writing variance comments for what felt like the hundredth time. On a whim, I tried using GPT to pre-fill the analysis.

Ten seconds. That's all it took to do what usually consumed hours of my time, or got delegated to a junior analyst, or became yet another task I'd tackle late at night after everyone else had gone home.

That's when I realised AI won't replace us. It will transform how we work.

When I started exploring my next opportunity, Spendesk's commitment to AI stood out immediately. They weren't just talking about it. They were building it into their product and their culture. As someone who'd just had my own AI awakening, I knew this was where I needed to be.

The gap between optimism and action

Here's the paradox. Whilst 85% of CFOs are optimistic about AI, 61% haven't implemented anything. I get the hesitation. I had it too.

The concerns are real. ROI uncertainty, skills gaps, trust issues. Meanwhile, our colleagues in sales, marketing, and HR are already experimenting. Finance, traditionally the function that drives transformation across the business, is sitting on the sidelines.

But the momentum is undeniable. UK companies' AI spend has increased sixfold in two years, with 32 times more companies now investing. The question has shifted from "Is this worth it?" to "How do I make this work?"

At Spendesk, we're not just users of AI. We're building AI-powered solutions for finance teams. I'm implementing these tools internally whilst seeing firsthand how they transform operations for our customers.

What I've learnt so far

The key is to start small and focus on genuine pain points. Our month-end close is 30-40% more efficient. Manual tasks that used to eat up days now take hours. Reconciliation is increasingly automated. Forecast preparation has shifted from data gathering to actual analysis, the work that genuinely requires human judgement.

The team's response has been fascinating. Initial scepticism gave way to cautious testing, which has now evolved into genuine enthusiasm. Why? Because AI isn't replacing their judgement. It's removing the grunt work so they can actually use their judgement.

What surprised me most? The ROI in finance is actually stronger than in most other functions. And the learning curve isn't as steep as we feared. Remember when Excel felt revolutionary in the 1980s? This is similar. Once you start, it quickly becomes indispensable.

Being at Spendesk gives me a dual perspective that's invaluable. I'm both implementing these tools internally and watching how they transform operations for thousands of finance teams.

Why this matters now

We're at an inflection point. Finance has always been about transformation, from paper ledgers to spreadsheets, from spreadsheets to cloud systems, and now to AI-augmented operations.

This isn't just about efficiency. It's about repositioning finance from operational to strategic. Moving from reporting the past to shaping the future. The advantage isn't in being first. It's in being deliberate.

What's next

I'll admit, we're still early in this journey. But I'm focused on scaling what works, building AI fluency across the entire team, and measuring real impact beyond efficiency gains.

Over the coming months, I'll be sharing content designed to help other CFOs start their AI journey with their teams. Think checklists that cut through the noise, workflows based on real implementation, and practical guides that address the challenges you're actually facing.

Whether you're sceptical or already experimenting, let's figure this out together.