Top Senior Data Scientist on AI and Future proofing FP&A
Oct 15, 2024
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Tobias Zwingmann, an ex-Senior Data Scientist turned managing partner at RAPYD.AI, shares insights from his work empowering businesses with AI strategies. He discusses the transformative potential of generative AI in finance, emphasizing the importance of data literacy. Tobias delves into the latest enhancements in Microsoft’s Copilot and how FP&A professionals can leverage tools like Excel and Power BI. He also addresses common data preparation pitfalls and offers tips for achieving clean, actionable data in financial analysis.
Finance professionals can leverage AI to enhance decision-making and improve forecasts, transforming their organizations into insight-driven enterprises.
Tobias Zwingmann's journey highlights the importance of effective AI adoption, emphasizing that organizations can start using AI even with less mature data structures.
Democratizing access to generative AI empowers employees to improve productivity and innovation, fostering a culture of experimentation and process optimization.
Deep dives
Leveraging AI for Finance Professionals
Finance professionals can enhance decision-making and improve forecasts by effectively leveraging artificial intelligence (AI). AI tools can transform organizations into insight-driven enterprises, even for those new to AI or seeking to deepen their expertise. For example, finance teams can utilize AI for tasks such as predicting financial outcomes, analyzing market trends, and optimizing resource allocations. This integration of AI into financial processes can lead to improved efficiency and accuracy, enabling finance professionals to make more informed decisions.
The Journey to AI Adoption
Tobias Zwingman's journey in data science began with a business administration background, which transitioned over time into roles focused on analytics and machine learning. He founded Rapid AI during the pandemic, shifting from AI as a service to AI consulting due to growing demand for effective AI adoption in non-digital industries. This transition highlights the importance of understanding and using AI effectively, as many companies are not leveraging it to its full potential. Zwingman emphasizes the necessity for individuals and organizations to learn how to harness AI to drive innovation and growth.
Transforming Business Practices with Data Maturity
Zwingman asserts that organizations at various stages of data maturity can still successfully implement AI solutions. Businesses often mistakenly believe they need perfect data governance before adopting AI. In reality, even those with less mature data structures can start using AI for basic tasks, which can later lead to more sophisticated applications. For instance, companies can utilize AI to tackle data quality issues or harness insights from unstructured data even before achieving optimal data maturity.
Empowering Employees with Generative AI
Generative AI empowers employees by enabling them to use AI tools for personal productivity rather than relying solely on IT departments to dictate AI usage. Companies see greater benefits when employees have access to generative AI and receive basic training on its applications. By encouraging employees to incorporate AI into their daily workflows, organizations can improve efficiency and decision-making capabilities. This democratization of AI promotes innovation as users experiment with the technology and share insights on optimizing processes.
Skills for the Future: Data Literacy and AI Knowledge
To future-proof their careers, finance professionals must focus on developing data literacy and practical AI skills. Understanding how to clean, structure, and analyze data accurately using tools like Power BI is essential for leveraging AI effectively. Continuous learning and hands-on experience with AI will help professionals identify which tasks are suitable for AI automation and which require human insight. By incorporating AI into their workflows, finance professionals can enhance their model accuracy and build more effective forecasts, positioning themselves as valuable assets in their organizations.
Tobias Zwingmann is an ex-Senior Data Scientist-turned managing partner of RAPYD.AI - which is empowering companies from B2B SaaS startups to leading financial institutions towards a unified AI strategy. His data insights are shared in his books including “AI-Powered Business Intelligence” (O’Reilly 2022) and “Augmented Analytics” (Co-author, O‘Reilly 2024) as well as weekly newsletter “The Augmented Advantage” read by 4,500+ business leaders from brands like Amazon, Mercedes-Benz, Gucci, and Santander.
In this episode:
My rise in data science
Did the latest changes to Co-Pilot actually make it good?
What finance can learn from other departments using AI
Consolidating reports and augmenting processes using AI
Let’s talk forecasting and analytics and regression analysis
Leveraging Excel and Power BI to enhance their data analysis capabilities
Getting to “data progressive” and “data active” in your organization
