AI Is Transforming Work — And My View on Treasury Roles Has Become Clearer Than Ever

One year ago, the rise of generative AI created real concerns about the future of work. Many professionals feared that automation would replace large segments of the workforce — and in some areas, this is indeed happening.

Administrative support, repetitive operational tasks, customer service workflows, and highly standardised analytical roles are already being reshaped or reduced through AI‑driven automation.

But today, after a full year of observing how organisations actually deploy AI, my conclusion is very clear: the impact on corporate treasury is fundamentally different.

What I See Today in Organisations

AI adoption is accelerating across all sectors. McKinsey reports that 65% of companies already use AI in at least one function, and Gartner expects 70% to deploy generative AI by 2026. Finance is among the fastest adopters, integrating AI into forecasting, reporting, and anomaly detection.

Yet what I hear every day from treasurers, CFOs, and finance leaders is remarkably consistent: in treasury, AI acts as a lever — and this lever is always activated and guided by humans.

AI accelerates analysis, improves visibility, and automates manual workloads, but treasury teams remain at the centre of judgment, interpretation, and strategic decision‑making.

My Personal View on Treasury Roles and the Future

From my perspective as a treasury advisory and recruitment professional, I see a profession that is evolving, not shrinking. The 2024 Strategic Treasurer survey confirms this, showing that 71% of organisations expect treasury staffing levels to remain stable despite AI adoption.

AI strengthens the treasury function by supporting:

• faster and more dynamic cash-flow forecasting

• enhanced cash visibility and real-time liquidity insights

• quicker analysis and reporting

• better scenario modelling and decision support

But every one of these improvements still relies on treasury teams' expertise. AI does not define the right questions, does not validate data, and does not take strategic decisions. Treasury professionals do.

To me, the future belongs to AI‑supported treasury experts who combine financial expertise, data literacy, and technological fluency.

Insights From the Webinar

Having taken part in the Real‑Time Treasury webinar hosted by treasuryXL, I heard very positive and encouraging perspectives from leading experts:

• Macer Skeels, CTO at FinanceKey

• Marianna Polykrati, TreasuryXL Expert

• Annette Gilles, Corporate Treasurer & Cash & Liquidity Strategist

• Moderated by Pieter de Kiewit, Founder of treasuryXL

Their collective view resonated strongly with my own: AI significantly accelerates treasury activities, enriches analysis, and enhances risk visibility — and it does so alongside, not instead of, treasury professionals.

Treasury remains a strategic discipline grounded in human insight, market understanding, cross‑functional collaboration, and scenario thinking. AI amplifies these strengths.

A Profession Entering a New Phase

I increasingly observe that treasury roles are becoming more strategic, more analytical, and more technology‑driven. Skills are evolving toward:

• financial and market expertise

• data and analytical literacy

• the ability to review and challenge AI outputs

• strategic interpretation of insights

As Jensen Huang (NVIDIA) expressed: “Humans who use AI will replace those who do not.”I believe this applies perfectly to treasury.

Training and Governance Are Now Essential

What many organisations still lack is a structured approach to:

• upskilling treasury teams

• defining AI usage guidelines

• strengthening data governance

• coordinating finance, IT, and risk around AI projects

Gartner estimates that well‑designed governance is key to unlocking AI’s full value while controlling risks.

From my perspective, this will be one of the most decisive differentiators in the coming years: the organisations that train and empower their people will extract far more value from AI.

My Conclusion

AI is accelerating the transformation of treasury, expanding analytical capacity, and strengthening the strategic role of treasury professionals. What I observe everywhere is encouraging: AI acts as a powerful lever — and this lever becomes meaningful only when activated by experienced, trained, insightful humans.

The future of treasury will be shaped by human expertise enhanced by AI, not replaced by it.