"In both cases, it's really the same answer in that we're empowering humans. We always keep humans in the loop when we think about really augmenting their work."
Jo-Anne Ruhl, ANZ managing director and vice president of Workday, a leading cloud-native enterprise software company, says AI should enhance human abilities, not replace them. She stresses the importance of responsible AI adoption.
"For AI and machine learning to fulfil their potential, they must be trustworthy and augment humans, not displace them," says Ruhl.
Ruhl urges rigorous investments in technology governance to build and maintain customer trust.
"Transparency is key," says Ruhl. "This is why Workday has put in place a robust responsible AI program. One key pillar of our Responsible AI program is a set of Responsible AI guidelines and review processes that operationalise our principles through AI development guardrails, turning them into documented practices and assessments.
"Our product development teams use tools to evaluate a potential AI feature's risk profile before we write any code. AI tools assessed as high-risk would be subject to more rigorous documentation and risk mitigation deliverables."
To ensure transparency, Workday produces fact sheets for each AI and ML use case, providing detailed insights into the data used, expected outputs, and risk assessments.
"These fact sheets are provided as part of the release process when a use case goes into production. The level of details provided is geared toward arming our customers with the right information to make an educated decision when adopting Workday AI capabilities," Ruhl says.
Workday's platform approach and data management set its AI solutions apart, she says.
"We've been incorporating Workday AI into our platform for a long time. It's embedded within our core applications architecture, enabling our applications to natively leverage AI and ML as part of the workflow," Ruhl says.
The unified data model of Workday, with over 65 million users and 800 billion transactions per year, provides a unique resource for training ML models.
Workday's partnerships with leading academic institutions and local finance bodies further enhance its AI certification programs.
Collaboration with academic institutions such as MIT and Stanford, as well as partnerships with local finance bodies like CA ANZ and CPA Australia, is further buttressing Workday's AI certification program.
These initiatives aim to uplift the skills and career development of finance professionals, ensuring they stay abreast of technological advancements and industry trends.
Amid concerns about job displacement, Ruhl points to the potential for AI to create new opportunities and drive productivity.
"By automating transactional work, employees can use their talent to do more interesting and advanced work," she says.
"Most research indicates there will be more jobs created by increased productivity and a shift to a skills-based economy."
Workday continues to innovate in the realm of AI-driven finance solutions, with upcoming capabilities including predictive insights, conversational planning, document generation like collection letters and document analysis like contract clause analysis.
Ruhl says CFOs and their teams are well positioned to lead the AI revolution using a human-centered approach to augment skills -- not replace workers.
For example she says, Workday has built generative AI into its Enterprise Management Cloud, to take advantage of AI's ability to comb through vast amounts of data to detect and surface anomalies before they can impact a company's value or market reputation.
"Large language models [LLMs] can be trained to stay updated on the latest financial regulations, ensuring that compliance is always up to date," says Ruhl.
"They can also assist in risk management by identifying patterns in data that might signify potential risks and by building robust risk models that consider a wide array of factors.
Workday's platform approach distinguishes its AI-driven solutions, seamlessly integrating AI and ML into core applications architecture.
Workday has been instrumental in assisting organisations like First Sentier Investors in overcoming challenges associated with AI adoption.
Suzanne Evans, chief financial and strategy officer at First Sentier Investors, acknowledges the inherent conservatism in the financial services industry and the value of having a trusted partner like Workday.
"Having a trusted partner who can help us navigate emerging technologies like AI and machine learning, and unlocking the efficiencies they can deliver is invaluable," says Evans.
She emphasises the importance of a collaborative partnership with Workday, highlighting their depth of understanding of their business and needs.
Workday's human-centered approach to AI resonates strongly with First Sentier Investors, says Evans.
"Harnessing tools to work smarter while simultaneously reducing manual processes has been a focal point of our finance transformation journey over the last few years," she says.
Looking ahead, AI is poised to continue shaping the future of finance within organisations like First Sentier Investors.
Evans envisions AI's role in reducing mundane work and repeatable tasks, and in the process accelerating the delivery of valuable outcomes.
"There will always be so much in the finance function that people versus AI will do really well such as understanding the nuances of the regulatory environment," says Evans. "But having AI tools to free up your time in other areas where computers excel, is really important."
