For decades, finance functions and treasury teams stared down tedious, manual and repetitive workflows.
But today’s financial landscape is in constant motion. Rising regulatory pressures, unpredictable global economic conditions and evolving business models mean finance teams face new, more complex challenges. Traditional tools and manual processes are quickly and increasingly proving insufficient to keep up with the demands of real-time reporting, fraud prevention and strategic decision-making.
Enter artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain: two technologies that are rapidly evolving, and in blockchain’s sense maturing, to meet the growing demands of finance teams and treasury functions across industries.
For finance teams, AI is more than just a buzzword — it’s an operational game-changer. By enabling automation and data-driven insights, AI systems and applications within accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) workflows helps allow CFOs and treasurers to focus on high-level strategies instead of drowning in spreadsheets and manual reconciliations.
While AI drives automation and analytics, blockchain brings a critical layer of trust and transparency to finance operations. At the same time, digital assets like stablecoins can increasingly offer treasury teams the capability to optimize cross-border payments and provide alternative payment solutions, such as for complex commercial transactions or within regions with less stable fiat currencies.
Together, these two buzzy technologies are working to prove their mettle as strategic enablers of growth, efficiency and control in an increasingly complex financial world.
Unlocking Strategic Advantages for Finance Teams
With the news that RLUSD, the USD-pegged stablecoin launched by Ripple, has received approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and Tuesday (Dec. 17) becomes available for use, the applications of blockchain-based treasury innovations are top of mind for finance teams looking toward a more efficient and transparent financial future.
By combining the stability of traditional currencies with the accessibility and borderless nature of blockchain networks, stablecoins represent a transactional bridge between traditional methods and newer processes.
After all, throughout history enterprises have been bringing in computers to drive productivity. Blockchain and AI are just the latest iteration of the computational processes and systems long relied upon to drive operational leverage.
“In five years, we might have a blockchain or state-machine capability where financial institutions involved in a transaction can look at that common state and use it as a source of truth to update their own balance sheets,” Tony McLaughlin, emerging payments at Citi Services, told PYMNTS.
Last month, Mastercard’s Multi-Token Network (MTN) connected to J.P. Morgan’s Kinexys Digital Payments to streamline cross-border B2B transactions.
Of course, regulatory clarity sits at the center of the convergence of crypto and traditional finance functions.
How AI Is Giving Back Office Operations a Boost
Ultimately, as blockchain and AI reshape financial and payments processes, the role of finance leaders is evolving as well.
“The middle to back office, they’re no longer just a cost center. They’re a value-added partner for everybody within the business,” Meghan Oakes, vice president of customer success at FIS, told PYMNTS. “There are many different aspects of that middle to back office that are now at the forefront of how companies operate …Right now, 20% to 40% of businesses have just started to touch AI. It’s going to accelerate and become table stakes.”
With the news that Google on Friday (Dec. 13) unveiled a platform that provides artificial intelligence agents and AI-powered search to enterprises, the technology’s capacity as a change agent within finance teams is just beginning.
“Many treasurers are thinking, ‘Well, how can I extract that last ounce of juice from my financial ecosystem?’” Ambrish Bansal, global head of liquidity and cash concentration products for the Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions business, told PYMNTS.
AI helps eliminate human error and subjectivity in financial planning. By analyzing both structured data (like P&L statements) and unstructured data (market reports, news), AI models can work to deliver accurate forecasts, helping businesses plan for growth or downturns with confidence.
Among the innovations shared by experts in “Outlook 2030: How Platforms and Networks Will Power the Future of Business Payments,” a PYMNTS eBook, five AI-driven advances stood out: cash flow forecasting, the automation of repetitive tasks, smarter fraud prevention, personalized experiences and unlocking data for richer insights.
As the PYMNTS Intelligence report “60 CFOs Can’t Be Wrong … AI Can Help Accounts Payable” reveals, the effective and responsible integration of AI into financial workflows is just beginning. And the future is bright.
