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Looking at the next 12 months, responding executives say that cash flow forecasting (23.7%) presents the biggest opportunity for Generative AI within their organization's finance and accounting function, followed closely by scenario planning (21.1%), expense reporting (18.1%) and financial controls management (14.1%).

"Just as in any industry, there are areas within accounting and finance that could be ripe for Generative AI experimentation," said Court Watson, a Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory, Deloitte & Touche LLP, who specializes in AI use within controllership functions. "Processes that depend on estimations for which organizations have robust, algorithm-ready data sets - such as cash flow forecasting and scenario planning - might be ideal areas for finance and accounting teams to begin testing Generative AI use."

Data, which is the main input for Generative AI models, is the single greatest pain point according to respondents. Nearly one-quarter (24.4%) of polled executives say that enhancements to data quality would improve their trust levels in Generative AI tools.

"Across the board, we continue to hear from organizations that the lack of clean, model-ready data is a significant challenge to incorporating Generative AI into finance and accounting workstreams. Implementing a robust data strategy and process to prepare finance and accounting data for use within Generative AI models - as well as with automation and other technologies - is a crucial first step to help organizations truly reach actionable insights and outcomes," said Watson.

As interest in Generative AI solutions within finance and accounting grows, so are considerations concerning the technology's implications on governance strategies. More than one-third of polled leaders (38.7%) say that their organization already has or will have a Generative AI strategy - protocols to guide its adoption and use - in place for finance and accounting within the next 12 months. Yet, a similar number (39%) report no future plans to develop a strategy.

Dave Stahler, a Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory partner and controllership digital finance leader, Deloitte & Touche LLP, added, "Generative AI is expected to transform finance and accounting processes, inclusive of actual financials, making governance a significant piece of the puzzle. Treating AI governance like any other finance transformation effort will be key to bringing the technology safely into an organization's finance operations. For many, that will mean taking an enterprise-wide approach that includes a well-governed data strategy, accuracy and reliability safeguards, alignment with financial regulations and standards, close strategic collaboration across business functions and - critically - management support."

About the online poll
Over 1,430 C-suite and other executives were polled during a Deloitte Center for Controllership webcast, titled "A new frontier: Exploring artificial intelligence in finance," on October 26, 2023. Answer rates differed by question.

About Deloitte
Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500® and more than 8,500 U.S.-based private companies.

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