Securing Project Finances with AI: Best Practices For Managers

The finance industry is rapidly changing, with more people completing their transactions online rather than cash. With the use of AI and ML, the industry is becoming more advanced. 

With the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, companies are managing their services and creating customer forecasts. Additionally, these tools allow them to improve their support or customer level with the use of chatbots. Plus, the financial industry requires a lot of customer support as there are many services available. 

Artificial intelligence can also assist with decision-making in real-time, not to mention the cost-saving benefits that it provides and quicker transactions. This helps to benefit financial service companies and their customers. 

Automated operations are also much simpler with the use of AI and can also provide accurate customer behaviour reports.

The world of AI can be scary to most sectors however that is not the case with the finance industry. 

Different Uses of Artificial Intelligence For The Financial Sector

There is no doubt that AI has multiple benefits, especially for the financial industry. But what type of AI is used in the industry? 

AI and Automation 

AI automation and chatbots seem to be the future of customer support services and AI is rapidly improving in this area. With the use of AI chatbots, humans are no longer required when dealing with customer issues or very little human interaction is required. However, this does cause some issues with customers who wish to work with a human for their queries rather than an AI bot. 

Machine Learning

Machine learning is another type of AI. This is very advanced, as it is capable of identifying patterns with customer data by using deep learning and natural language processing. 

If a company wishes to use AI to deal with customer queries, they will use machine learning first to analyse and report customer data. It will also assist with budgeting and forecasting. Furthermore, this company will also be able to use these AI models to help with online bank fraud detection and scams. 

Chatbots 

AI chatbots have been used for many years now and since their initial introduction to customers, they have rapidly improved. In the financial industry, chatbots can be very beneficial, as there is a lot of information that can be given to a chatbot, which they can then provide to customers if required. 

Blockchain Technology

Blockchain technology has also rapidly improved in the last 5-10 years, especially with the crypto market. This type of technology has been used to assist with calculating risk management. Additionally, it offers more security with each online transaction. Not to mention it is capable of getting a better understanding of customer behaviour. 

Using this technology, organisations are becoming far more efficient. It also assists with more accurate predictions of financial trends and can enhance business operations.

OCR

There is no doubt that AI is a very time-effective tool for several tasks. OCR stands for optical character recognition and this can be used to scan documents and convert them into text. Managers who need to enter the data manually to send it to an accountant will no longer need to do that. Not only will this reduce a manager’s time in sending over information but it will also help reduce error, which is vital when sending financial data to an accountant. 

Robotic Process Automation

Another task that AI can perform is repetitive tasks. AI can learn very quickly, much better than a human for those monotonous tasks that humans don’t usually enjoy doing themselves. 

Financial work can involve many different tasks but some are repetitive, which is where RPA comes in. Monthly payments for example, can be completed using AI instead of someone who has to click a button every time payday arrives. 

There are other tasks which AI can also complete, such as audits and Know Your Customer checks, all of which are essential for a manager. 

With the use of AI for those tedious tasks, you are reducing your time and also narrowing the chances of any mistakes being made. 

How AI Is Applied

Many financial companies can benefit from the use of AI technology so let’s take a look at how some of them use it. 

Helps Improve Risk Management

One of the main benefits of using AI is that it can help with fraud detection and risk management. PayPal is a great example as they use ML to help analyse and review risks in real-time, furthermore, if you don’t use PayPal, then you may not know that they use machine learning to check for fraudulent activities.

Kensho Technologies has partnered with S&P Global as they have industry-leading technology, capable of analysing large datasets, allowing them to give investors more insights into their investments. While partnered with S&P, Kensho has access to a lot of data and can assist with the financial issues that businesses face. 

Not only can AI help with fraud but it is also capable of processing data, including reviewing the team’s previous performances and highlighting any risks going forward. Using AI will provide data about what tasks usually run late and if there is a previous history of anything running low. This could be building materials or running out of paper in an office. 

Project Forecasting 

One of the core benefits for managers when using AI is that it is great at both project forecasting and budgeting, preventing the need for debt help in the future. When working towards strict deadlines, it will be good to separate a project into different stages to help make reaching that deadline easier. 

As mentioned earlier, AI analyses previous data and reviews the external sources to see how the outcome can be affected. This is important because it can help managers and shareholders understand whether the project will finish on time. 

While it can predict the possibilities of reaching strict deadlines, it can also work out the costs of budgeting. Maybe that is the labour costs of a worker or how many days a team needs to work on a singular project. It will also take into account how much resource will be required and how much it will cost.

To Conclude

There are many pros and cons why you should consider using AI for your business but there are no negatives with controlling finances. If anything, it makes the process quicker and more accurate. It also helps assist with automation in accounting, predictive analysis, completing risk assessments and much more. Not to mention that it can also assist with fraud detection, helping you and your employees avoid financial problems.