AI Agents: What Are They, and Should Finance Teams Be Using Them?
AI Agents for Finance Teams: Your New Coworkers Never Call in Sick
The whole concept of AI agents might seem vague and intimidating. If you’ve ever felt like you should know what they are but were too afraid to ask, you’re not alone. Is the future of finance just... AI Agents, talking to each other? Probably not. This primer-esque blog post is designed to demystify AI agents, explain their applications in finance, and help you decide whether you and your team should be using them.
What Are AI Agents?
At their core, AI agents are software programs. They perform tasks on behalf of users or systems using artificial intelligence. Think of them as digital assistants with advanced problem-solving and decision-making capabilities.
Why don't we just call it "software", then? Unlike traditional software, AI agents are more dynamic: they can learn from data, adapt to new information, and operate autonomously to achieve goals.
There are several types of AI agents, including:
- Conversational Agents: These include chatbots like ChatGPT and virtual assistants like Siri or Alexa. They can handle customer service, answer questions by synthesizing data from a single source or multiple sources, and even schedule tasks. If it feels like a “friend”, it’s probably a conversational agent.
- Recommendation Agents: Algorithms behind platforms like Netflix or Amazon that suggest movies, products, or services based on your preferences. One of the first big recommendation agents was Criteo – groundbreaking at the time! — and now it’s impossible to shop online without getting recommendations based on your past behavior.
- Task Automation Agents: Tools like UiPath or Zapier, they automate repetitive workflows, such as data entry or email sorting. Would 10% recommend trying to incorporate some of this automation into your personal workflows, if you haven't already.
- Decision-Making Agents: Used in finance, these agents analyze large datasets to recommend investments or detect fraud.
- Generative Agents: These create content, from writing articles to generating realistic images or designing marketing campaigns. That otherworldly, somewhat offputting AI art you’re seeing floating around the internet? There's a generative agent behind that.
Chat, Should My Finance Team Use AI Agents?
AI agents are starting to change the game for SaaS finance teams — I'm sure you've seen every finance platform out there announcing some type of AI component. It's not just for marketing purposes; the impact of these agents on typical finance workflows is undeniable. These sophisticated agents can execute multi-step tasks, communicate across systems, and free up your time for high-value work. Think of them as finance interns who never sleep, never make mistakes, and won’t ask for equity. Well, not yet.
Here’s how AI agents are revolutionizing internal finance, collections, and accounting:
1. Close the Books Faster Than Ever
Closing the books at the end of the month is a necessary evil—painful, tedious, and prone to human error. But AI agents can handle reconciliations, flag discrepancies, and even initiate corrections without human intervention.
💡 Example: An AI agent automatically reconciles bank transactions with your ERP system in real time. Instead of spending hours tracking down mismatches, you get a simple report with flagged exceptions.
The result? You close the books in days, not weeks, and your auditors might actually start smiling (or at least stop grimacing).
2. Collections: No More Awkward Emails
Collections is a delicate art—be polite but firm, persistent but not annoying. Know which customers are likely to pay... and which should actually get the virtual nudge. AI agents can strike that balance for you. They analyze customer payment patterns, predict late payments, and send personalized follow-ups with just the right tone.
💡 Example: Instead of sending the same “Hey, just a reminder your invoice is overdue” email, the AI agent reviews payment history and adjusts the message:
- 1 week overdue: Friendly nudge. “Hey, just checking—did you get our invoice?”
- 3 weeks overdue: Stern but kind. “We’d love to resolve this before the end of the month. Let’s chat!”
By the time the human collections specialist steps in, they’re only dealing with genuinely complex cases, not chasing $200 invoices from a forgetful client.
3. Forecasting on Steroids
Traditional cash flow forecasting is like driving with binoculars—great if you want to crash. AI agents process massive datasets in real time, spotting trends and updating forecasts instantly. They’ll even offer suggestions, like reallocating cash reserves or timing payments to maximize working capital.
💡 Example: Your AI agent notices that a major customer is delaying payments more than usual and flags the impact on your cash flow forecast. It then recommends adjusting your upcoming vendor payments to maintain liquidity.
Suddenly, cash flow management feels less like guesswork and more like playing chess with an unfair advantage.
4. Automating Compliance and Audit Readiness
Compliance checks and audit prep are the stuff of nightmares for finance teams. AI agents can comb through transactions, highlight anomalies, and ensure compliance with internal policies and external regulations—all without breaking a sweat.
💡 Example: An AI agent monitors expense reports in real time and flags anything suspicious—like that oddly high “client lunch” that just happens to fall on the day of a championship game.
When audit season rolls around, everything is neatly documented, and you’re no longer frantically searching email threads for backup.
5. Vendor Management on Autopilot
Vendor payments can be a mess—different terms, currencies, and tax implications. AI agents streamline the process, ensuring payments go out on time while optimizing for early-payment discounts and currency fluctuations.
💡 Example: An AI agent handles multi-currency payments, calculates the best timing to minimize FX losses, and updates your general ledger in real time. All you do is approve the final batch.
A New Era for Finance Teams
AI agents won’t replace your finance team, but they’ll absolutely transform it. They’ll handle the repetitive, soul-crushing tasks so you can focus on strategy, analysis, and making big moves.
The key is to start small—identify a few processes that are ripe for automation and let AI agents take the wheel. Before you know it, your finance team will be running smoother than ever, and you’ll wonder how you ever survived without them.
And no, they won’t complain about coffee quality in the office kitchen.
Think you can spot the AI Agent in Tesorio's Award-winning Financial Operations Platform? Take tour here.