Renoir, in partnership with the NOVA Community, hosted a panel discussion and networking event for finance leaders focused on “How Data & AI Will Transform the Role of the CFO.”

As AI continues to reshape industries at an unprecedented pace, the finance sector faces unique challenges, particularly regarding data management and integration. 

At this event, we welcomed Amit Mistry, Director of Finance at Dolphin Square, who shared his insights and personal journey into the world of AI. With a diverse career in finance spanning multiple sectors, Amit has built a strong foundation through an accelerated management scheme, gaining a comprehensive understanding of business operations. His expertise encompasses P&L ownership, report and KPI implementation, strategy development, change management, and leading commercial channels, establishing him as a key point of contact in the financial market. 

In this interview, Amit reflects on the implications of AI for finance leaders and discusses how he is approaching its integration in his current role. 

1. What were your key takeaways from the event?

Firstly, for me, it was great to be in a room full of other individuals on the same journey. The event hosted by Renoir and Nova made the whole situation feel less overwhelming because, as a leader of an organisation, you often feel slightly isolated. Having a platform and a group of individuals at my level, who are going through the same journey, understanding their challenges, where they are, how they’re feeling about it, how they’re navigating it—and then having a group of experts—was really useful. 

My key takeaways from the event were based on the panel discussion. The first is the importance of breaking it down and having some sort of strategy, because it’s such a vast area to explore as a business. And when you don’t have all the time in the world because you’re delivering your day-to-day role, it’s breaking it down and having a strategy. Whether it’s a data strategy—figuring out what you need, when you need it, and how that’s going to add to the business either day-to-day or potentially for future planning—having that strategic element helps focus where your attention can go when it comes to AI and where AI solutions might help. 

Linked to that strategic element is mapping opportunities. A lot of the reading I’ve done on AI focuses on addressing automation and efficiency in an organisation, but there are also opportunities to think about where you want your business to go in the future. What tools, techniques, or advice could help the business accelerate forward? So it’s about keeping one eye on day-to-day operations—on learnings, efficiency, and automation—and another eye on the future, thinking about how to move the business forward to add value for our shareholders.
 

2. Where are you up to with your data and AI journey?

AI is quite a new field; it’s emerging, and people are learning. As a business, I think we’re in the same place—we’re at the exploration phase. We’re trying to gather insight and understanding, figuring out what we’re going to do and when we’re going to do it. A large part of that, which relates to some of the conversations held by the panel, is stakeholder engagement. Right now, there are lots of open and honest discussions about what we want to do. 

We have to do something with AI because we’d be missing an opportunity if we didn’t. But having those open and honest conversations helps us understand where our time will be invested in this exploration—whether it’s people, information, tools, or third-party partnerships. It’s really a lot of understanding and planning. Beyond that, it’s about starting to dip our toes in the water and bringing stakeholders on board. This might involve exploring third-party solutions or consultants who can help organise our thought processes, but it could also mean understanding the existing tools we already have in the business. Are there AI functions we can start implementing, given they’re part of our day-to-day operations and we’ve already engaged with those suppliers? 

So, we’re still at the early stage. I’d like to say it’s not overwhelming, but sometimes it does feel slightly overwhelming, however, it’s also really exciting. Overall, it’s about stakeholder engagement and understanding what exactly we’re going to do with AI. 

3. As you begin exploring AI for your business, which specific areas or functions do you see as having the most potential for AI-driven improvements? How are you prioritising where to start with implementation?

We’re still at that exploration phase. I think the risk is if you move too quickly in one area, you might miss opportunities in other areas. As part of these discussions, one of the key things I’m doing is recognising that people are our most valuable resource. During stakeholder engagement, I’m working to understand, across the business and through conversations at all levels, what people’s understanding of AI is. What do they think we could do with AI? Have they done any research themselves that could help us identify opportunities? Using this as a platform, we’re splitting the exploration into a few different work stream-style conversations. 

The first is the most obvious one that’s commonly talked about, in my experience: efficiency and automation. Specifically, within finance, there are a lot of processes that are quite repetitive. There are tools out there that have been launched by various businesses—such as automation in AP, and AR—that we could explore to accelerate basic processes, thereby freeing up individuals to add more value to the business. The conversation isn’t about replacing people with robots and AI; it’s about driving efficiency, freeing up our people to contribute more meaningfully, and helping them learn, develop, and grow. 

The second area we’re broadly looking at is governance. How can we use AI to help protect our business? Often the conversation is around automation and efficiency, but we’re also thinking about whether AI can help protect us from making poor decisions or venturing into areas where we may not be compliant with ever-evolving legal frameworks. The governance piece is really important as it impacts all aspects of our business. 

The third area of discussion is adding commercial value—making better decisions at the right time with support from more insight and data. It’s about utilising AI and existing tools to empower individuals at all levels to make better decisions. This could mean cost savings or efficiencies, but there’s also potential to drive revenue by making informed decisions based on market insights, conditions, and sentiment. By bringing in multiple variables, AI can accelerate the thought process in ways that would be difficult for humans, who are limited by access to traditional sources like newspapers and existing data platforms. 

So, coming back to your question, it’s not necessarily a specific area we’re focusing on. As a smaller organisation, we’re thinking about how AI can serve as an umbrella to help with various decisions and bring everything together. We haven’t reached the point of focusing on a single area yet; we’re having a lot of wide-ranging discussions. Ultimately, I think we’ll start within the finance function—I’ll lead by example as the finance director. I’ll showcase the capabilities and benefits of AI as a way to demonstrate its value to all stakeholders. Many of our stakeholders are very engaged and excited about AI, but they’re also quite nervous about making the wrong decision and steering our business in a direction that drains resources rather than adding value. 

4. As a leader, how do you get buy-in from stakeholders when it comes to the topic of AI implementation?

For me, what I’ve learned is the importance of open and honest conversations. As a finance director, you’re often pulling together data, providing insights, reporting on performance, and aligning on where the business is heading. Throughout this journey, you’re already engaging stakeholders to understand their perspectives, their views on the business, their interpretation of performance, and the future direction. So, it’s about weaving in the conversation around AI as part of those ongoing discussions. 

What I’ve benefited from is understanding where stakeholders’ minds are at, as I’ve encountered a spectrum of opinions. Some individuals know of AI, are familiar with things like ChatGPT, but haven’t thought about how it could be used in the business. On the other hand, I have stakeholders who are eager to implement AI right away—feeling that we could be missing out on an opportunity by not doing so. Having these open conversations enables me to gauge the spectrum of thought processes across the business and use that insight when we come together for discussions, bringing those thoughts to the forefront to align our views. For example, we’ve had conversations about using ChatGPT to help our team respond to customers on various topics because it can scrape large amounts of information quickly, potentially leading to more informed customer conversations. 

The discussions then evolved to consider the governance side, recognising that AI doesn’t necessarily have context—it might not grasp the tone, emotion, or nuances of a conversation, such as how a customer is feeling or even external factors like the weather that day. So, it’s about bringing those debates to the forefront with stakeholders, figuring out how we can utilise AI effectively and safely. As a result of these conversations, we’ve started experimenting by using AI to help draft policies and procedures. This approach accelerates our thought process, allowing us to have more of a rolling start rather than a standing start. Our teams have been able to use the information provided by AI, add context and tone, and ultimately launch initiatives faster than before. 

So, it’s really about having open debates, coming to collective agreements, and then trying things out, with people being invested in those trials. 

5. What advice would you give to finance leaders like yourself who are in the exploration phase and are feeling siloed or “going it alone,” so to speak? Where should they start?

From my own perspective and reflecting on my own journey, which I understand might be different for others, I think the key is to put the effort in. As a leader, if I don’t make the effort to explore, I could miss out. That exploration might involve reading during your commute, attending events like the one held by Renoir to connect with like-minded individuals and experts, or anything in between—essentially, having those key conversations. It’s really about putting in the effort to understand what options are available, so when opportunities arise, you already have some information that can guide your decision-making, rather than waiting until you suddenly need AI or have a problem that requires a solution. 

It’s a proactive approach—gathering understanding and using that knowledge in your conversations to unlock opportunities. For me, being well-informed through conversations and continuous learning reduces the feeling of being overwhelmed. It’s about pushing yourself beyond your day-to-day responsibilities to gain more insight. 

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