Most companies are not Vanguard tech firms. Rather than pursuing speculative, high-failure-rate AI projects, small and medium-sized businesses will see a faster and more reliable ROI by using existing AI tools to automate tedious, routine internal processes.

The future of financial operations involves combining data analysis with proactive AI execution. Expect tools to soon integrate conversational voice AI to automatically handle collections calls for overdue invoices, making the process more efficient and scalable.

The most powerful use of AI for business owners isn't task automation, but leveraging it as an infinitely patient strategic advisor. The most advanced technique is asking AI what questions you should be asking about your business, turning it from a simple tool into a discovery engine for growth.

Founders are consistently and universally wrong about their financial projections, particularly cash runway. AI tools can provide an objective, data-driven forecast based on trailing growth, correcting for inherent founder optimism and preventing critical miscalculations.

Before planning the future, analyze the past. A Profit & Loss (P&L) statement reveals what truly drove revenue and where money was spent. For a deeper, non-obvious analysis, input your P&L into ChatGPT and ask it to act as a financial analyst, identifying trends, overspending, and hidden opportunities.

A killer app for AI in IT is automating tedious but critical tasks. For example, investigating why daily cloud spend deviates by more than 5%. This simple-sounding query requires complex data analysis across multiple services—a perfect, high-value problem for an AI agent to solve.

Waiting for monthly financial reports creates a crippling delay in decision-making. Use an AI tool to connect financial data and send a daily email summary of your cash position. This allows you to "see the flow of cash daily" so you can "fix it weekly."

The most significant value from AI is not in automating existing tasks, but in performing work that was previously too costly or complex for an organization to attempt. This creates entirely new capabilities, like analyzing every single purchase order for hidden patterns, thereby unlocking new enterprise value.

Traditional automated dashboards are often ignored. AI-driven reporting is superior because it doesn't just present data; it actively analyzes it. The AI summarizes trends, generates relevant follow-up questions, and even attempts to answer them, ensuring that insights are never missed, even when stakeholders are busy.