Experiences in Developing an AI-Native Finance Function at OpenAI
Sarah Friar shares her experiences in the process of building an AI-driven finance department at OpenAI and five practical lessons for CFOs.
OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar shared insights gained while building an AI-driven finance function at the company, highlighting goals of a zero-day close and continuous forecasting.
The Real-Time Transformation of Finance
The finance department has evolved into a structure that no longer merely closes books faster or updates forecasts, but sees the business's changes in real time.
Zero-Day Close and Continuous Forecasting
The goal is to provide leaders with an instant view of the company's financial health by combining open spending plans and general ledger data.
Continuous forecasting reveals how the business is changing, what might happen next, and which decisions can alter the outcome.
Employees Building Their Own Tools
Finance employees can now build custom AI tools tailored to the needs of their business processes on their own, moving beyond static models.
The Balance of Responsibility and Control
While AI accelerates processes, the human element remains at the center of final decisions and verification processes.