From Black-Box Systems to Augmented Decision-Making - Anusha Akkina

In this talk, Anusha Akkina, co-founder of Auralytix, shares her journey from working as a Chartered Accountant and Auditor at Deloitte to building an AI-powered finance intelligence platform designed to augment, not replace, human decision-making. Together with host Alexey from DataTalks.Club, she explores how AI is transforming finance operations beyond spreadsheets—from tackling ERP limitations to creating real-time insights that drive strategic business outcomes.

TIMECODES:

00:00 Building trust in AI finance and introducing Auralytix

02:22 From accounting roots to auditing at Deloitte and Paraxel

08:20 Moving to Germany and pivoting into corporate finance

11:50 The data struggle in strategic finance and the need for change

13:23 How Auralytix was born: bridging AI and financial compliance

17:15 Why ERP systems fail finance teams and how spreadsheets fill the gap

24:31 The real cost of ERP rigidity and lessons from failed transformations

29:10 The hidden risks of spreadsheet dependency and knowledge loss

37:30 Experimenting with ChatGPT and coding the first AI finance prototype

43:34 Identifying finance’s biggest pain points through user research

47:24 Empowering finance teams with AI-driven, real-time decision insights

50:59 Developing an entrepreneurial mindset through strategy and learning

54:31 Essential resources and finding the right AI co-founder

Connect with Anusha

- Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anusha-akkina-acma-cgma-56154547/

- Website - https://aurelytix.com/

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