NEW STAMPLI RESEARCH
What holds back AI adoption in Accounts Payable?
89% of senior financial leaders want to adopt AI. This new study by Stampli and Probolsky Research identifies the concerns that hold them back — and the path to a win/win for the business and AP employees alike.
Stampli and Probolsky Research surveyed senior-level finance managers and Accounts Payable employees in organizations ranging in size from 25-15,000 employees. These findings create a roadmap for CFOs to successfully implement AI in their finance organizations.
There is widespread interest in AI within accounts payable.
Senior financial leaders
AP team members
However, there is also concern about a lack of human oversight. Perhaps unsurprisingly, AP team members feel the strongest.
32%
Senior financial leaders
41%
Manager/Directors
64%
AP team members
CFOs and VPs of Finance are most concerned with privacy and security of data (44%). Their concern over lack of human oversight is secondary (32%).
Directors and finance managers also prioritize privacy and security of data (48%) above a lack of human oversight or decision-making (41%).
A lack of human oversight is the most prominent concern for AP team members (64%), with privacy and security of data coming second (48%).
Top overall concerns of all respondents:
46%
Privacy and security of data
41%
Lack of human oversight or decision-making
30%
False or inaccurate information invented by the AI (aka "hallucination")
25%
Replacing the jobs of employees
25%
Technical learning curve for employees
25%
Dependence on vendors
☝️ This is the key insight for CFOs considering AI in finance.
One of the most significant fears surrounding AI is the loss of human control. When you’re rolling out AI solutions, success will rely on ensuring that humans remain in charge — and that the entire team knows it.
Overall, 63% would be less hesitant to deploy AI if decisions made by AI had to be approved by a human. Broken down by title:
70%
CFOs & VPs
56%
Manager/Directors
59%
AP team members
70% of CFOs and VPs of Finance are less hesitant to deploy AI in accounts payable if humans remain in the loop.
Similarly, but slightly less overwhelmingly, 56% of finance directors and managers are more comfortable with AI when humans are in control.
A large portion of the concern AP team members have over AI dissipates when they remain in control. 59% of AP team members agree.
Respondents see a huge range of benefits from AI in AP:
51%
Improving accuracy
46%
Improving processing speeds
40%
Improved fraud detection
38%
Cutting costs
38%
Improving financial system efficiency
37%
Refocusing humans on more valuable tasks
For deeper insights into the promises and roadblocks surrounding AI in Finance
Download the full research memo ↓
"We see Billy the Bot as part
of the team."
Two aspects of Stampli's approach to AI have led to widespread
acceptance among AP team members. CFOs should take note.
One example of an AI that has been successfully embraced in finance organizations is Stampli’s Billy the Bot™. Billy performs formerly manual tasks such as capturing information on invoices, allocating costs to the correct cost centers, identifying approval workflows, detecting fraud, and more.
Our customers see Billy as a team member and embrace it instead of fearing it. This is not an accident: We designed our AI around the two key principles for user acceptance and mutual success.
Principle #1: Keep humans in control
Crucially, Billy the Bot does not automate human judgment. AP team members validate the AI’s decisions. A little Billy icon is placed next to each field the team member needs to review, reinforcing the fact that humans are always in control.
Principle #2: Make the AI relatable
Our AI has a name and a face. Users see AI as a “who” as opposed to a “what.” This turns AI from something faceless and threatening into a colleague that can be trusted to automate the manual work and free people up for more valuable activity.
“Many of our AP team members were apprehensive about using AI, with concerns about how automation would impact the need for their roles. But once they used Billy the Bot, they found their work shift to more meaningful and higher value responsibilities. We see Billy the Bot as part of the team.”
-ANTHONY FERNANDES,
Financial Controller
Alden Renewables
“Billy is a partner to make our employees more efficient. There are plenty of other things to do, so having Billy’s help is welcomed.”
-ANDREW MCCREARY,
Finance Director
Mt. Lebanon Municipality
“Whenever you have AI suggesting data that will make it into your accounting systems you get a little nervous. What alleviated our concerns was that all of the data that Billy the Bot was populating were simply suggestions that could be overridden by our staff.”
-JORDAN HALES,
Finance Director
Spanish Fork City
“We love Billy. It freed up our data input time, which has given us more time to focus on other areas of our department. Billy is our AP clerk that works 24/7.”
-ISA STEGMAN,
SR. Vice President, Finance
OpticalTel
“The team really likes Billy. He cuts down on data entry. He’s a funny little blue guy that’s very helpful.”
-MILISSA DOUGLAS,
Controller
CorkHoward Construction Company
