Hi Reader,

Every month, I hear the same thing from CFOs: it’s not the complexity of the job that drains them... it’s the volume of manual work.

You probably are one of them if you still spend hours combining spreadsheets and drafting commentary.
But others have moved that work to AI and now spend their time testing scenarios, preparing a strategy, and coaching their teams.

Want a simple way to start? I have prepared 3 practical use cases for you in today's newsletter.

Before diving into today’s topic, I have an important update to share with you first…

How SAP Uses AI to Help Finance Teams

Learn how SAP’s modular finance suite uses AI and live data to help CFOs, Controllers, and FP&A teams free up working capital, protect margins, and stay audit-ready.

What you’ll see in 45 minutes:

• Surface cash in receivables and inventory with AI-driven signals
• Spot margin leakage in pricing, spend, and operations before month-end
• Automate routine close tasks while keeping controls and audit trails intact
• Reduce risk exposure with proactive alerts your team can actually act on

This is ideal for CFOs, Finance Directors, Controllers, FP&A leaders and every senior finance pro.

This week's newsletter is sponsored by SAP

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Traditional CFO vs. AI-Driven CFO

OLD: Traditional CFO

Traditional CFOs rely on judgment, credibility, and hard-earned experience. Every month, they typically:

• Spend 2 days assembling board decks
• Write 6 hours of financial commentary
• 3–4 hours consolidating Excel files
• Feel the pressure during audits due to scattered documentation

These leaders are diligent and respected but the work is manual and slow, visibility is limited, errors creep in with complex datasets, and scaling insights across fast-changing markets is tough.

NEW: AI-Driven CFO

AI-Driven CFOs keep the leadership strengths and add speed, automation, and insight. They:

• Automate recurring files with ChatGPT + Python
• Generate tailored commentary in ~10 minutes
• Build models from simple prompts
• Draft SOPs, letters, and checklists instantly

What changes in practice?

• Real-time “what-if” scenarios to stress-test outcomes
• 24/7 anomaly detection so issues surface before month-end
• Time back to lead, coach, and challenge assumptions
• Faster scale without losing oversight

Both are smart. Both are experienced.
But one spends most days inside spreadsheets.
The other spends most days leading.

That’s the shift: Traditional CFO ➝ AI-Driven CFO.

How to Start Your Journey of Becoming an AI CFO

You don’t need a lab, a data team, or a reinvention project. Begin by attacking the tasks that eat your month.

1) Generate financial commentary (6 hours ➝ ~10 minutes)

You can use ChatGPT's Agent Mode in generating financial commentary in Excel. It is highly recommended to import sensitive data when you are in an enterprise grade secure AI tool. Check with your team to see which plan you are using.

Prompt used (make sure Agent Mode is enabled):

More to consider with AI...

• Feed your monthly data to your assistant (P&L, variance notes, KPIs).
• Prompt for a board-ready narrative with risks, drivers, and next steps.
• Ask for versions: concise for slides, detailed for audit trail, and a “CEO brief” with 3 bullets + 1 ask.

2) Run scenario modeling (answers in minutes, not days)

You can use AI models like Gemini that can understand the structure and intent behind images (like dashboards or simulators). When you pair this with natural language instructions, you get a powerful way to go from concept to prototype in minutes.

What you need...

1. A screenshot of a simple simulator or dashboard (like the one I used above).
2. Gemini (or a similar large language model with code generation capabilities like ChatGPT or Copilot).

More to consider with AI...

• List key drivers in Excel (revenue, cost, FX, interest, pricing, cash)
• Create a quick driver tree and best/base/worst cases
• Spin up instant charts and a one-page decision memo: assumptions, sensitivities, and triggers to monitor
• Ask specifically to create an HTML model so you can use it everywhere

3) Merge financial files (save hours every cycle)

You can use AI models like your favorite AI tool (ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini or Claude) to generate a script (Google Script, VBA, Python code) to tidy up and format your data before merging them all together into one spreadsheet.

It is unwise to just ask ChatGPT what you want it to do, and expect it to create accurate code for you. So you must follow a process:

1) Explain where is your data
2) Explain how your data looks like (or better if you don't have any security issue: upload your data as an example)
3) Explain which tool you have in your tech stack
4) Explain all the steps you usually do manually (like you would coach a junior team member to do the work)
5) Ask your AI to propose different solutions (the best is to ask the output in a table format to better analyze those solutions)
6) Deep dive into one of this solution by asking your favorite AI how to implement it
7) Implement it and still use AI for any questions or troubleshoot you need

It may seem a bit fiddly at first, but once you get used to troubleshooting in ChatGPT, and running the code a few times it becomes much easer.

More to consider with AI...

• Automate monthly merges across cost centers, entities, or versions.
• Use a simple Python/VBA/Apps Script to clean, stack, and total.
• Standardize headers once; reuse forever. The result: one reliable source for the close, board pack, and audit trail.

Why this matters now

The fundamentals of the job haven’t changed: your board still expects judgment, clarity, and leadership.

But now they want you to do it faster and AI is there to help you (and your board knows it too!).

When AI handles the routine work, you finally get breathing room for the things that actually move the needle: coaching your team, stress-testing strategy, and influencing decisions before they’re made.

Last gut-check for this week:

• Did you build your board deck… or just sign off on it?
• Could you run a live scenario in your next exec meeting?
• Are unusual variances finding you — or are you still chasing them down at 10 p.m.?

If most answers lean toward “not yet,” you need to start to act now to get closer to the AI-driven camp.
Start with one workflow this week.
Don’t overcomplicate it. Small wins compound.

You need my help?
Reply with “AI CFO” if you want to learn how the 1000+ AI CFOs are adopting the latest AI techniques and tools in only 2 hours per week.
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Best,
Your AI Finance Expert,
Nicolas

P.S. I don’t usually discuss investing, but some of you asked.
So I reached out to my friend Pieter Slegers — one of the smartest investors and trusted by over a million readers and followed by names like Bezos and LeBron.
He shared a free watchlist of 94 companies using his "Tiny Titans" method to spot Buffett-like stocks.
👉 Grab the entire watchlist (94 stocks) with all fundamental data of Tiny Titans here​

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Transparency note:​
Some of the links in this newsletter are affiliate links or paid placements. That means I might earn a commission if you use them. But I only share things I personally trust and believe are worth your time.

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