If there was ever a time to start taking AI seriously, it’s now. Generative AI is predicted to be big business and is having a significant impact on the finance function.
That means the office of the CFO needs to get on board. But where to begin? For finance professionals looking to learn more about AI and its potential impact on the finance function, here are the top AI finance influencers to follow.
Scroll down to read the full list, which is in alphabetical order by last name.
Linas Beliūnas
Linas Beliūnas is a business developer, sales professional, and FinTech strategist who is one of the world’s leading voices in finance AI.
Though he has a bachelor’s degree in Economics (with a major in Economics and Politics), he has been working in the Financial Services field throughout his career. Today, Linas is leading Lithuanian-headquartered Flutterwave, a payments company that is on their way to becoming a unicorn, according to CB Insights & Fast Company.
He provides a hot take and exclusive overview of some of the hottest trends in AI that the CFO’s Office needs to know about. Linas has 396,000 followers and runs the Weekly FinTech Digest, the biggest FinTech newsletter on LinkedIn and one of the biggest ones in the world counting 146,000 subscribers.
Nicolas Boucher
Nicolas Boucher teaches finance professionals how to use ChatGPT and how to move toward financial planning and analysis (FP&A). As a finance thought leader, Nicolas has trained more than 500 people and shares his professional knowledge with his network of more than 600,000 followers. He offers courses such as “ChatGPT for Finance”, “Become a High Performing Finance Professional” and “Financial Analysis for FP&A”. You can sign up for his weekly newsletter and read his blog which features his latest insights and tips. Nicolas is the Senior Manager Controlling for ground transportation systems at Thales and was previously an auditor at PwC.
Check out some great advice from Nicolas Boucher on the FP&A Today podcast about how to use your audit skills to be a successful FP&A leader.
Glenn Hopper
Glenn Hopper, a serial start-up CFO, and U.S. Navy veteran who earned a master’s degree at Harvard, has spent the past two decades leveraging technology for enhancing operations, introducing finance automation, and driving significant change aimed at moving firms from start-up to scale-up. When ChatGPT talk reached fever pitch, Glenn was ready with a proof of concept for an FP&A version of ChatGPT.
Hopper joined the FP&A Today podcast in March to talk about how he built an FP&A tool with ChatGPT.
For good measure, he also provided 30 pages of documentation about the process (“Application of ChatGPT to Build an FP&A Tool”) – to acclaim among FP&A professionals. For the trailblazing CFOs ready to dive deep into the era of information, analytics and Big Data, Glenn’s book “Deep Finance” will take you from asking “What Is AI?” to walking a clear path toward your own digital transformation.
Sloane Kolt
With over 10 years of Corporate Finance experience in large and medium-sized CPG and technology companies, Sloane Kolt brings a unique blend of financial and operational expertise to her work with Datarails Labs. She has spent her career deeply focused on automating “the boring stuff” and is now working hard on the great potential of AI applications on corporate finance.
Sloane believes that “AI will help transform finance teams from reactive workers to strategic centers of their business.” She is committed to continuous learning and staying ahead of industry trends.
Ashok Manthena
Ashok Manthena is the publisher of A.I for Corporate Finance, a weekly newsletter where he shares the latest developments in the application of AI in corporate finance. He is a thought leader with 15 years of experience in finance analytics, machine learning, product strategy, implementation, and integration.
Ashok is an expert in financial and accounting topics such as FP&A, payments, US GAAP and FASB regulations, currency translation, forecasting and budgeting, and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
He is a full-time author and speaker on AI in finance, and has discussed areas such as how AI can be used in finance for forecasting to enhance modeling results. Ashok has also published numerous articles and papers on the application of AI to enhance corporate finance functions.
Bernard Marr
With more than 2 million social media followers, 1.2 million newsletter subscribers, and ranked by LinkedIn as one of the top 5 business influencers, Bernard Marr is a superb source of AI finance news. He is known as one of the world’s most highly respected experts when it comes to future trends, strategy, business performance, digital transformation and the intelligent use of data and AI in business.
Many of the world’s best-known organizations including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, AstraZeneca, NVIDIA, and Cisco, have all sought Bernard’s guidance and counsel. Beyond his role as strategic business & technology advisor, Bernard is a best-selling author of 21 books and writes a regular column for Forbes.
Alie K Miller
AI entrepreneur, advisor, and investor Allie K Miller has more than 1 million followers on LinkedIn. She was previously the Global Head of Machine Learning Business Development for Startups and Venture Capital at Amazon (AWS), where she advised the world’s top machine learning researchers and founders. Even before that, she had made her mark as the youngest-ever woman to build an AI product at IBM.
Allie is a seasoned speaker on AI around the world and also advises on global AI public policy. She has won numerous awards including AIconic’s 2019 “AI Innovator of the Year”, Award Magazine’s Top 50 Women in Tech and Top 100 Global Thought Leaders, Chief in Tech’s Top 100 Women in Tech to Watch in 2022, and ReadWrite’s Top 20 AI Speakers in the World.
Kamalika Poddar
A senior product manager at Computer Age Management Services Limited, Kamalika Poddar is building India’s first Open Finance product suite which involves the development of key features to make personal finance simpler for end-consumers. She publishes a biweekly newsletter Fintech Chronicler where she discusses and shares insights into the latest fintech innovations.
Throughout her career, the fintech product leader has served as the analytics manager for prominent corporations such as PayU, one of the world’s leaders in global payments and innovative fintech, and Axis Bank, the third-largest private sector bank in India.
Tal Schwartz
Dr. Tal Schwartz is a serial entrepreneur, quantitative researcher, technology innovator and former Professor of Finance. As the co-founder and CEO of Clicktale, Dr. Schwartz pioneered the field of Experience Analytics and invented products that combined machine learning and psychological research to answer business critical questions.
Today, as the founder and CEO of Actualize Capital, Dr. Schwartz combines his expertise in finance and AI to launch the AI-Enhanced Global Macro™ Fund, which aims to generate positive risk-adjusted returns under all market conditions. He has also founded and launched AI Funds, a company which utilizes a new AI-based approach to actively manage portfolios, which he believes to be superior to traditional methods.
Adam Shilton
Passionate about helping businesses use technology to their advantage, Adam Shilton has been helping hundreds of finance professionals over the past few years make informed tech decisions that have moved them closer to their goals. Currently, Adam works as a Senior Business Advisory Consultant for Thinc and is the creator and host of the Tech for Finance podcast where he interviews leading figures in the tech and finance industries.
Adam’s LinkedIn channel is all about leveraging AI and automation as he believes that “Every minute you lose to low-value work, is time you could be using to create value instead.”
Don and Bill Tomoff
You might know Don and Bill Tomoff from their popular daily LinkedIn posts under the hashtag #twinztalk. Don and Bill are not only twins, they are finance executives with over 30 years of broad accounting, finance, and consulting experience. Currently Don and Bill work at Invenio Advisors, and are focused on helping companies “think differently” with technology and innovation.
Conclusion
Ignore at your own peril! Even as you’re reading this, the impact of AI on the finance industry continues to grow. As such, it’s crucial for finance professionals to keep abreast of the latest developments. By following these influential experts, you can gain insights, knowledge and perspectives that can help you harness the power of AI for your organization’s financial success.