When it comes to AI, the hype is everywhere. Everything’s faster, smarter, and more efficient, especially in the world of Corporate Performance Management (CPM). Forecasting? Done in seconds. Anomalies? Spotted before your morning coffee’s even cold. But with all that speed, there’s an important question: where do people fit into this picture?
But with all this speed and automation, an important question remains:
How do you harness AI responsibly, without losing transparency, reliability, and the human judgment finance depends on?
At cpmview, we hear this every day. Finance leaders want the efficiency AI delivers, but they also need confidence that decisions are grounded in sound data and human expertise. That tension is real, and it isn’t going away anytime soon.
AI Should Accelerate, Not Replace
Generative AI can turbocharge workflows by:
- Auto-generating scenarios and simulations
- Spotting trends buried in complex datasets
- Flagging potential issues in real time
Quick fact: Some forecasting models today process more than 1,000 variables at once, far beyond what any human analyst could track manually.
But here’s the catch:
If you rely on AI outputs without understanding the assumptions behind them, you risk basing decisions on distorted or incomplete insights. During the COVID-19 crisis, we saw exactly why human judgment matters. One of our pharmaceutical clients watched historical forecasts become obsolete overnight. While AI models quickly surfaced shifts in demand, it was the finance team who knew which assumptions to reset, how to adjust targets, and when to introduce new scenarios. That mix of technology and human perspective turned raw AI outputs into a workable plan.
People Are Still Essential
A forecast can look statistically perfect on a dashboard. But does it reflect what’s happening in the real world? Are the assumptions still valid? These are questions only experienced professionals can answer. You need people with analytical skills and business acumen to sense when an output makes sense and when it doesn’t.
The Risks to Watch
While AI brings incredible benefits, it also introduces new risks:
- Black box models that make decisions hard to explain
- Data privacy and bias that can erode trust if left unchecked
- Overconfidence in machine outputs that haven’t been validated
Even the most advanced tools still require oversight, over 70% of fraud alerts, for example, need human review before action is taken.
Our Approach at cpmview
If you’re starting to explore AI, here’s what we recommend:
- Start small and learn fast.
Pilot AI on a single reporting process or forecast line. Track what happens and refine over time. - Keep your data clean.
AI is only as good as the information you feed it. Prioritize data quality, governance, and clear ownership. - Blend automation with human review.
Let AI do the heavy lifting, but always have a finance professional validate results before making decisions.
The Future
The future of finance isn’t about replacing people with machines, it’s about amplifying what humans do best. AI brings speed, scale, and pattern recognition, but humans provide judgment, ethics, and context.
