CFO Live 2024: NAB Executive Warns of Elusive Productivity Gains in Age of AI
Australian Financial Review
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Details
- Date Published
- 19 Nov 2024
- Priority Score
- 2
- Australian
- Yes
- Created
- 8 Mar 2025, 02:41 pm
Description
Finance executives have been more circumspect about the transformative power of the new technology, suggesting return on investment should be the focus.
Summary
The article explores concerns raised by finance executives over the anticipated productivity gains from AI technologies, particularly as expressed at the Australian Financial Review CFO Live summit. NAB's Nathan Goonan highlights that without proper measurement of staff output, companies may struggle to validate the productivity improvements and return on investment of AI deployment. This cautious approach challenges the widespread optimism about AI's role in automating processes and enhancing efficiency. While the article underscores the importance of ROI in AI investments, it does not delve deeply into existential or catastrophic AI risks, focusing instead on business implications and decision-making frameworks.
Body
TechnologyCFO LivePrint articleJames EyersSenior ReporterNov 19, 2024 – 5.58pmSaveLog inorSubscribeto save articleShareCopy linkCopiedEmailLinkedInTwitterFacebookCopy linkCopiedShare via...Gift this articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber?LoginFinance executives say many companies will drop the ball on artificial intelligence because they are not measuring the output of staff and will not be able to quantify the productivity improvements it may deliver – a necessary ingredient to determine if spending on the emerging technology is justified.In contrast to the broad hype about the introduction of AI technology to automate processes and drive productivity, the mood atThe Australian Financial Review CFO Livesummit was more circumspect. This reflected challenges for finance professionals charged with ensuring artificial intelligence deployment delivers a return on investment for shareholders.Loading...James Eyerswrites on banking, payments and fintech. He is a former legal and investment banking editor at the AFR, has degrees in commerce and law from UNSW, and is co-author of Buy now, pay later: The extraordinary story of AfterpayConnect withJamesonTwitter.EmailJamesatjeyers@afr.com.auSaveLog inorSubscribeto save articleShareCopy linkCopiedEmailLinkedInTwitterFacebookCopy linkCopiedShare via...Gift this articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber?LoginLicense articleFollow the topics, people and companies that matter to you.Find out moreRead MoreCFO LiveAIProductivityNational Australia BankPEXABig fourAFR LiveFetching latest articlesOlympic weightlifting is hard. This boss uses the 1pc rule to get it doneLucy DeanOut-of-control watch price rises give housing a run for its moneyKnow your craft: How the biggest airlines rate at the pointy end‘We’ll fight’: Alex Waislitz on family battles and bad betsPatrick DurkinJob appointments have never been purely merit-based: CEW chiefWhy this CEO saves creative work for after her periodNew Zealand pops its cork for one of the world’s great wine festivalsMax AllenWhy Hawaii’s data-driven wellness retreat is a haven for high-flyersA last-chance tote bag and a groovy case for trumpetersVictor Smorgon’s star fundie eyes 50pc returns for new fundAlex GluyasForrest family powerbroker had alleged role in big Fortescue decisionsEllison-run garnet mine faces punishment over unsanctioned development