The rapid progress of AI tools in the finance function in recent times has made it more important than ever for CFOs and finance leaders to demonstrate three core pillars of human leadership: adaptivity, empathy and authenticity, according to Gartner, Inc.
“As AI becomes ever more capable and can carry out more work in the finance function, inevitably the question arises about whether AI replaces human employees,” said Dennis Gannon, vice president analyst in the Gartner Finance practice. “The picture that’s actually emerging as organizations put advanced digital technology into action is a lot more nuanced and difficult than a binary of whether a job stays or doesn’t.”
Speaking during the opening keynote at the Gartner CFO & Finance Executive Conference in National Harbor today, Gannon went on to describe “the emergence of a human-machine learning loop” in which humans and machines are each doing what they’re best at and interacting with each other.
“Technology is providing tripwires and early trigger warnings, providing simple recommendations and refining data, while humans are interpreting data, identifying problems and goals, and taking on more complex decisions,” said Gannon. “When it works well, the human and the machine complement each other and make each other better.”
The biggest obstacle to things working well, however, is employees checking out of the process because of fatigue with near-constant change, and fears about being replaced by technology stoking a widespread lack of faith in leadership.
“The expanding scope of what technology is now able to do for us has fundamentally changed what employees need from their leaders,” said Gannon. “Finance leaders need to access human leadership skills to guide not just their own teams but the broader enterprise in this environment.”
Human leaders drive employee intentions to stay with their current employer up by 12 percentage points over the average leader, and drive improvements in employee wellbeing and engagement by 30 and 37 percentage points, respectively.
The three key pillars to human leadership that CFOs and finance leaders must develop include adaptivity, empathy, and authenticity.