Conversational AI is rewriting financial leadership

In its current state, AI is both hyper-visible and invisible. 

It demands attention; inspiring thousands of editorials (I’m willing to bet this isn’t the first AI think piece you’ve come across today), offering constant predictive responses, and summarizing every web search. But it’s also unseen; monitoring billions of transactions, curating social feeds, and filtering threats before you even notice. 

The synthesis of visible user-facing AI features and invisible, backend autonomous workflows marks the next frontier of business finance – where AI doesn’t just assist with tasks, but manages them intelligently.  

Turning AI from a tool to an intelligent partner

The application of AI has rapidly progressed from customer-facing support use cases and efficiency solutions to systems that understand your business contextually, anticipate needs, and take actions independently. 

What I find most compelling is how this shift from AI tool to partner will redefine the relationship between people and technology – unlocking entirely new ways of operating across every function. It represents the next major leap in how organizations operate and make decisions.

There’s a natural tension when we apply this thinking to business finance. In the future, AI systems won’t just reconcile financial data or detect anomalies. They will manage liquidity and forecast cash flow in real time – for example, projecting the cash impact of expanding into a new market and recommending when to move funds across currencies to minimize FX exposure.

The trust gap is closing

Research released in April by KPMG found that 53% of Americans intentionally use AI regularly, yet trust continues to lag behind adoption. Most consumers still have concerns about accuracy, fairness, and safety, even as AI becomes increasingly embedded in everyday tools and interactions.

Among US businesses, however, momentum is accelerating. In PwC’s 2025 AI Agent Survey, 88% of executives say their team or business function plans to increase AI-related budgets in the next 12 months due to agentic AI, and 79% say AI agents are already being adopted in their companies. Of those already using agents, 66% report measurable productivity gains, and 73% agree that how they use AI agents will give them a significant competitive advantage in the coming year.

Finance is a key area in which AI is being embraced. For years, institutional banking and manual oversight equaled corporate trust. But as business complexity grows and speed becomes a competitive advantage, leaders are realizing that human diligence alone can’t scale.

The rise of conversational finance

Business finance has evolved through four distinct eras:

• Manual management: Traditional banking systems and spreadsheet-based processes.

• Digitization: The rise of SaaS finance tools and cloud-based services.

• Automation: Integrated systems that manage routine workflows.

• Autonomy: The emerging era of AI agents that act on our behalf.

We’re standing on the edge of that fourth phase. 

We’re reaching a point where instead of clicking through dashboards and reports, business leaders will soon chat with their financial systems. Imagine asking a question in plain language, “Why were expenses higher this quarter?”, and receiving a graphical breakdown by department, with anomalies flagged, and suggestions for optimization – all in seconds. Respond with the suggestions you’d like to action; AI will take it from here.

I expect to see more financial services accessible through intelligent interfaces, powered by AI language models. “Does this purchase order match the invoice?” “Should I move funds now or wait for a better FX rate?” “Please sweep surplus cash flow into the investment account”. 

Your AI partner can verify documents, track transactions, model future cash positions, and even suggest where to park idle funds for better returns until FX rates improve in your favor. While much of this happens automatically, users can always dive under the hood to see how decisions are made, validate assumptions, and make adjustments. In finance, visibility and transparent decision-making are key – AI will enhance, not replace, that control.

This innovation is emerging rapidly, which may spark excitement in some and anxiety in others. We’ve all seen businesses fail to adapt to new technologies and struggle to stay competitive as a result; however, I would argue that AI is different. Unlike previous technological shifts, this one doesn’t require user retraining. AI is emulating tasks that reduce reliance on human expertise and can guide users towards contextual understanding and informed decision-making. And even better, you don’t need to seek this technology out. It’s coming to you.

Never used ChatGPT before? No problem. Existing services you use, like Google, for example, are already introducing similar technology to share information with you. Instead of the ‘10 blue links’ returned in your search results, Google search now summarizes the answers you’re seeking through natural human language. Technology companies are fighting for your attention, so they will make it as easy as possible for you to get on the AI train. Airwallex is no exception. We’re building an autonomous financial agent that is safe, accountable, and keeps you in control. My job is to make it as easy as possible for you to adopt this system. 

A new era of financial leadership

The CFO of tomorrow won’t just analyze data – they’ll collaborate with intelligent systems that manage it. As AI takes over the repetitive, the CFO’s role becomes more strategic than ever.

Finance is poised to completely shift to this new model, from visible applications to invisible intelligence. These capabilities will bring you closer to your own data, help you uncover insights, and remove barriers that slow down decision-making. And of course, they’ll save you an unimaginable amount of time. Using AI as a trusted collaborator will profoundly impact how businesses operate – and feel as natural as having a conversation.