You will recognise the feeling. You walk into the office in the morning, put your bag down, open your laptop — and suddenly there is a new colleague standing next to your desk. Someone who did not exist yesterday.
That is how the introduction of AI tools feels to many finance professionals. Not as a system update, but as a fundamental shift in how work looks. Controllers who used to spend hours on data preparation find that time suddenly freed up. The question is: what do you use it for?
What AI is already doing in finance
The applications are multiplying. AI tools analyse general ledger entries and flag anomalies faster than any manual review process. Forecasting models are fed with external data — commodity prices, exchange rates, macroeconomic indicators — and produce scenarios that previously took weeks. Month-end closes that used to take three days now take a day and a half.
What AI cannot do
What AI cannot do is judge. It can recognise patterns, but it cannot understand why the commercial director decided not to close that deal after all. It can flag an anomaly, but it cannot assess whether that anomaly has an operational explanation or represents a serious risk. That requires context, relationships and human insight.
The professional who will thrive
The most successful finance professionals we speak to embrace AI not as a threat but as a tool. They invest the time they have gained in what cannot be automated: judgement, relationships and context. They ask better questions, communicate more sharply with the business and build strategic insight.
The AI transition is not a threat to the finance professional — it is an accelerator for those willing to evolve. At Blooming Hill, we look for candidates who understand this, and clients who create the space to let it happen.