AI adoption in finance is not simply a top down transformation

AI adoption in finance is not simply a top down transformation. It is a bottom up journey. New research from Aalto University School of Business, based on interviews with finance executives across nine Finnish companies, explores how organisations are actually adopting AI in their finance functions.

The findings point to a gradual journey:
🟢 Individual: Professionals begin by using AI assistants to improve everyday productivity.
🟢 Functional: AI and automation are introduced to support routine finance processes.
🟢 Operational: Organisations move towards forecasting, anomaly detection and real time analytics.
🟢 Strategic: AI starts to reshape the role of finance in business decision making.

What stands out is that progress depends not only on technology, but also on the foundations that support its use: high quality data, good governance, relevant skills, organisational culture and committed leadership.

‘For finance, trust is particularly important. Accuracy, auditability, information security and human verification remain essential as AI becomes more deeply integrated into financial work,’ Professor Seppo Ikäheimo says.

The message for business leaders is practical: start where value and risks can be clearly understood, learn from experience and build towards broader transformation.

Read the full article by Seppo Ikäheimo, Olli-Pekka Lumijärvi and Jukka Sihvonen in The European Business Review