For many companies, especially those in the scale-up or mid-size ranges, the challenge facing finance leaders and teams is not about global market access or the implementation of financial infrastructure. The biggest challenge they are facing is operating efficiently at scale, without adding complexity.
Many of these businesses are facing the additional challenge of operating across borders and using a suite of fragmented tools that aren’t fit for purpose. SMEs also find themselves stuck between single-operator apps and corporate banking opportunities. Finance teams have to spend a lot of time and focus on building manual processes in, understanding regulation and deploying banking solutions across several geographic locations. Often, they are relying on consumer-first tools that were never designed for the governance, approval workflows and multi-entity complexity of international businesses.
McKinsey’s Ramji Sundararajan and Uzayr Jeenah wrote in August, “Agentic AI marks a shift from user-driven to system-mediated decision-making. It also marks a change in retail and SME finance from brand-led loyalty to performance-led selection. Institutions that adapt first can embed trust and visibility in the logic layer that could soon make decisions on every customer’s behalf. Those that wait risk becoming invisible balance-sheet utilities. This is not just about protecting margin; it is about reimagining retail and SME finance.”
The agentic shift in SME finance
There is a better option for SMEs than the traditional path. It just takes a finance team to work with a platform that is bold enough, and capable enough, to adapt to this new frontier of artificial intelligence-led finance management.
Now that technology has developed to the point that AI can feasibly be rolled out efficiently and cost-effectively in finance management, SMEs can work faster, more accurately and use tools better equipped to support their growth.
“I think it’s really exciting because three or four years ago, there were these middleman players that connected the traditional banks with the ERPs, and now everyone wants to do everything on their own platform. This is, in my opinion, a huge opportunity,” says Michael Wüst, CEO of Amnis, a Swiss fintech solution. He says AI opens the door for change in banking and finance for SMEs in a number of ways.
The typical SME has, in the past, used a number of different methods for managing finances. From manual expenses processes to multiple credit cards to traditional bank accounts to accountancy software, the function is overloaded with complications and systems. And in many cases, these systems don’t agree or interact with each other. That makes it the job of the CFO and their team to piece together a functioning finance strategy.
Wüst says, “It shouldn’t be about processing transactions and claiming or reconciling data, it should be more about designing something that is scalable; it’s strategic work. So this is the shift that is going on in all industries at the moment.”
But, the introduction of AI can build in automation to reshape core finance workflows. Wüst points to three main changes that might occur.
The first area of change will be visibility. AI will improve finance teams’ access to real-time data. “Nowadays it’s all about data. If you have your data, real-time, it’s a different game than if you have your data, leaking through once a month,” says Wüst. That gives teams continuous visibility on their savings, their outgoings, their budgets and their financial resilience.
Payments are another area where AI can significantly improve efficiency. Finance teams are often manually uploading payments or individually managing cross-border payments across many locations. AI can assist with routine tasks such as extracting invoice data, preparing payments or categorising expenses – significantly reducing manual work while finance teams remain in control of approvals. It’s now possible, for example, to email an invoice and trigger an automatic payment, with AI handling data extraction and categorisation in the background. This frees finance leaders to focus on higher-value tasks.
The next big area of focus is accountancy itself. For many finance teams, this translates into measurable efficiency gains. Automated workflows can reduce manual accounting work by up to 50%, while finance teams can automate up to 90% of routine financial processes. For finance leaders looking to quantify potential gains, it’s possible to do so using a savings calculator tool to estimate the possible impact on time and costs.
Wüst says leveraging AI agents to automate accounting is a huge opportunity for the reshaping of the finance function. “If you look at the impact, finance teams and CFOs will regain strategic capacity. This is one of the biggest gains, besides costs. It’s about time. Then you ease operational and compliance risk by using the right platform,” he says.
From automation to strategic advantage
Amnis helps finance teams and businesses capture this strategic advantage by acting as the smart financial operations layer alongside their existing bank. Its agility and efficiency understand the needs of the modern, international SME or scale-up. Instead of managing multiple bank accounts, card programmes and payment tools across different markets, finance teams can consolidate these processes into one platform with multi-currency accounts, smart cards and automated expense processing.
Finance teams and CFOs will regain strategic capacity
If a business has, for example, several different credit cards across multiple countries, it can streamline those 12 different accounts into one. The platform is developed by a team combining experience from fintech, global payments and traditional banking, bringing modern technology together with the reliability of established financial infrastructure.
For companies already using the platform, the operational impact can be immediate. At Stryve, a fast-growing scale-up, team expenses were previously managed entirely through spreadsheets.
“Team expenses used to be Excel only. Now it’s just automated. My accountant tells me we save at least 10 hours per week,” says Lennart Rieper, founder and managing director at Stryve.
By automating expense processing, card reconciliation and pre-accounting workflows, the company has eliminated manual expense tracking and significantly reduced the administrative burden on its finance team.
A more strategic role for finance leaders
Real-time data access, analysis and visibility help build a more resilient, more forward-facing finance team too. If the CFO is armed with live data showing the business’ financial requirements, pressures and incomings, they can make more informed decisions about the business’ future. They can also take more measured risks, by using that data to chart a strategic course.
“If the CFO no longer spends time comparing data and reconciling data,” says Wüst, “they can focus on shaping the company’s future.”
Amnis’ cross-border solutions, simplicity of access, AI integration and adaptable accountancy tools arm the finance team with more information than they would gain from the combination of manual and digital systems they currently use.
Its integration of AI and automation into the platform reduces manual financial work across expenses, payments and accounting workflows, while keeping finance teams fully in control of approvals and decisions. Not only is that a benefit in terms of time gained and mistakes avoided, but it is a strategic gain for the CFO looking to become a more strategic partner for the business as a whole.
There is an opportunity, as Wüst points out, to take advantage of these changes and build a finance operation that is primed for efficiency and effectiveness. It just takes a company to understand the new frontiers in finance and make the bold leap to a more strategic future.
For more information please visit https://amnistreasury.com/
For many companies, especially those in the scale-up or mid-size ranges, the challenge facing finance leaders and teams is not about global market access or the implementation of financial infrastructure. The biggest challenge they are facing is operating efficiently at scale, without adding complexity.
Many of these businesses are facing the additional challenge of operating across borders and using a suite of fragmented tools that aren’t fit for purpose. SMEs also find themselves stuck between single-operator apps and corporate banking opportunities. Finance teams have to spend a lot of time and focus on building manual processes in, understanding regulation and deploying banking solutions across several geographic locations. Often, they are relying on consumer-first tools that were never designed for the governance, approval workflows and multi-entity complexity of international businesses.
McKinsey’s Ramji Sundararajan and Uzayr Jeenah wrote in August, “Agentic AI marks a shift from user-driven to system-mediated decision-making. It also marks a change in retail and SME finance from brand-led loyalty to performance-led selection. Institutions that adapt first can embed trust and visibility in the logic layer that could soon make decisions on every customer’s behalf. Those that wait risk becoming invisible balance-sheet utilities. This is not just about protecting margin; it is about reimagining retail and SME finance.”
