How finance skills are evolving in the era of artificial intelligence
Generative AI and other digital technologies are transforming the way work is done, and finance roles are no exception. Less than a year after generative AI tools became widely available, 24 percent of staff in financial services companies were already using them in their work. To better understand the nature of the shift in skill mix, we categorized the 30 most frequently cited skills into four broad areas of capability:
1. Finance subject matter expertise. Such expertise includes foundational knowledge of core finance concepts such as the principles of accounting, tax, or treasury operations.
2. Managing financial data, processes, and technologies. This skill set involves the ability to maintain finance operations and information flow through the design, operation, and maintenance of processes; controls; and the deployment of technology. Examples include proficiency in using technology solutions for various areas of finance and in defining finance processes, policies, and controls to manage finance risks.
3. Generating financial insights to drive business impact. This involves the ability to understand the commercial and operational context of the business, develop insights into the trajectory of financial performance, and make recommendations to improve financial and operational performance. Examples of such skills are facility at identifying value drivers, data analysis, market analysis, and problem solving.
4. Leading self, teams, and organizations. This category includes the soft skills required to influence and collaborate with a diverse set of stakeholders and teams to achieve business objectives. Examples are empathy, effective storytelling, and debiased decision making.
All four sets of skills appeared more often in job postings in 2022 than in 2018, suggesting that increased competition for talent encouraged employers to add more detail in postings. Compared with 2018, postings in the 2022 databases mentioned more than twice as many different skills. The rate of growth among different skill groups varied dramatically, however. Mentions of finance subject matter expertise increased only 1.3 percent between 2018 and 2022, while the softer and more strategic skills associated with leading self, teams, and organizations increased by more than 7 percent (exhibit). Recruiters were least likely to add skills such as the ability to perform accounting operations such as accounts payable (skill group 1), use legacy tool sets like spreadsheets (group 2), or perform controls-focused financial management tasks (group 2) to their job postings. They were more likely to include capabilities in communications, coaching, or teamwork (group 4).
What’s driving the change? Automation may be driving the pivot from more transactional and know-how-based skills to harder-to-replicate human-centered skill sets. Newer technologies are replacing basic tools like spreadsheets with more sophisticated software. Transactional activities such as accounts payable and receivable are increasingly automated through a combination of robotics, chatbots, and smart workflow technologies. The adoption of generative AI in the workplace is likely to accelerate this trend. With the right supporting applications and skilled prompt design, large language models such as ChatGPT can write reports, summarize data, and assist in researching subjects such as accounting or tax principles. That will reduce the number of subject matter experts needed to advise in these areas.
So why is demand increasing for skills related to personal and organizational leadership? The answer may be that these are the skills needed to translate financial insights into better business performance. Skills such as communication, leadership, coaching and mentoring, and teamwork are needed to ensure that the right decisions are made, the right stakeholders are involved, and increasingly complex and diverse organizations mobilize around the correct set of actions and priorities.
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