Koch Global Senior Finance Director Andrea Unruh shares her thoughts on how finance is becoming a strategic capability rather than a control function. These thoughts are based on a conversation she had during a recent live broadcast with Deloitte to discuss its Finance Trends 2027 report.
During the last few years, I’ve watched the role of finance evolve faster than at any point in my career. Organizations are navigating unprecedented changes in technology, capital allocation and workforce expectations. As a result, accounting, finance and tax capabilities are being asked to do much more than report results. We’re increasingly expected to help leaders make better decisions, connect investments to outcomes and identify opportunities to create long-term value.
That’s the challenge that we have to take on to meet the changing demands of the future. For decades, finance teams were expected to explain what happened after decisions were made. Today, the greatest value comes from helping shape decisions before resources are committed.
That means we have to start bringing forward ideas. We have to challenge assumptions and identify opportunities that help drive growth and profitability. We’re able to create the greatest value when we understand the business and work alongside it to directly enable leaders to make better decisions.
AI doesn’t create value. Better decisions do.
This becomes particularly important when we are trying to figure out the best ways to implement new technologies, including artificial intelligence. AI, like every technology before it, isn’t valuable because it’s new. It’s valuable when it helps people make better decisions, improve outcomes or eliminate work that doesn’t create value.
Too many organizations start with a tool instead of an outcome. It’s an easy trap to fall into, but if a project just adds complexity without improving outcomes, that’s what we call technology adoption, not transformation.
The technical side of transformation is often the easiest part. The harder challenge is helping people rethink how work gets done and where they can create greater value. If you don’t consider the effects a technology will have on people and processes, you’ll miss the mark and not get your desired outcome.
When leaders ask where they should focus their AI investments, I find it helpful to think about three levels of value creation.
- Personal productivity
- Capability productivity
- Companywide value creation
Personal productivity is where everyone should be exploring ways to improve their personal effectiveness. That looks like saving five minutes here, or 10 minutes there, using an AI tool to summarize a meeting or quickly dig through emails or Teams messages to find an answer or document you’re looking for.
The second bucket, capability productivity, is where you’re going to use AI to transform processes within your capability. This bucket helps change how we interact with data, moving from just producing a report to understanding what the data inside it is telling us. Some of the things we’re doing include using agents to automate reports, fill out returns or perform subledger-to-ledger tie-outs. Unlike with the first bucket, items in this bucket require documentation on how the process works and whether it lives on a sustainable platform. You don’t want to lose efficiency if one person moves and the system no longer works.
The last bucket is companywide value creation. This is where the greatest opportunity exists and where you can potentially create the most value. This is when you can create an agent or process that can be shared across a broad set of businesses. It’s also where you can start connecting data across companies, creating opportunities to identify insights, manage risk or answer questions that couldn’t easily be answered otherwise.
The most successful organizations are those that are making progress across all three buckets.
People-first transformation
As we make these transformations, I think it’s important not to forget how crucial it will be for leaders to continue to invest in our people. We have to better understand our teams and help them adapt to these changes. Organizations that develop adaptable, curious and business-focused talent are going to be in the best position to capitalize on the changes that are happening.
As finance teams and capabilities look to rethink their roles in meaningful ways, the ones that will create the most value are those that actively contribute to decisions and relentlessly focus on creating long-term value.
Technology will continue to evolve. The question is whether we will evolve with it. The teams that do will be positioned to create value far beyond efficiency gains and drive meaningful transformation across their organizations.
Watch Andrea discuss these topics in more depth in an appearance on a LinkedIn Live broadcast with Deloitte to discuss its Finance Trends 2027 report.
Andrea Unruh is the global senior finance director for Koch. With more than 20 years of experience, she oversees international, federal and state income tax compliance, planning and audits, as well as accounting and finance solutions.
