Across the finance function, expectations have shifted. Teams are being asked to close faster, forecast more frequently, and deliver insights on demand, often with fewer resources and under more scrutiny. But many of the tools still in use today were designed for a slower, more predictable world.
Kevin Beckberger, who heads product marketing at Planful, has seen this play out time and again, both across his 25-year career in corporate performance management and in the conversations he’s having now, with finance leaders trying to modernize under pressure. The symptoms are familiar: scattered systems, sluggish reporting cycles, and too much time spent wrangling data instead of shaping decisions.
“There’s no shortage of platforms or dashboards out there,” he says. “But the reality is, teams are still stuck chasing actuals across spreadsheets. And when something changes, which it always does, they’re not ready.” That gap between complexity and responsiveness is where many companies are now stuck. And it’s also why AI has surged into the conversation.
Why Finance Needs AI, But Not the Kind You Think
The idea of handing repetitive analysis to machines sounds great on paper. But Beckberger is quick to point out that in high-stakes environments like FP&A, automation without accountability doesn’t work. The risk isn’t just in getting the numbers wrong, it’s also in not knowing why they’re wrong.
“We specifically called it an assistant, not an agent. We want people in the loop,” he says. “In finance, these shouldn’t be autonomous bots. They should be designed to enhance human work, not replace it.”
“The reality is, teams are still stuck chasing actuals across spreadsheets. And when something changes, which it always does, they’re not ready.”
Kevin Beckberger, heads of product marketing at Planful
And finance leaders agree. According to Planful’s research, 53% of European finance teams are already using AI tools — with 73% saying budgeting and forecasting will benefit the most. That focus underscores Beckberger’s point: the biggest gains come not from automating decisions, but from giving humans better leverage in judgment-heavy areas like forecasting.
This distinction, between AI as an assistant versus an autonomous actor, is more than a naming convention. It reflects a broader mindset shift happening in modern finance: the move from black-box automation to intelligent, explainable support. In Beckberger’s view, AI has the most impact when it works behind the scenes, speeding up analysis, flagging anomalies, and surfacing patterns humans might miss, but always with a human making the final call.
“The assistant gives you what you asked for,” he adds, “but it also gives you what you didn’t know to look for.” It’s not about removing humans from the equation. It’s about giving them leverage.
Solving for Complexity, Not Just Speed
In today’s global businesses, especially across the Nordics, financial complexity is woven into the fabric of operations. Companies span currencies, tax regimes, and reporting requirements, and the ability to plan in local currencies while maintaining a consolidated global view is no longer optional. Beckberger points to this as one of the quiet challenges finance leaders constantly navigate. It’s about making sure that currency logic is consistent across planning, consolidation, and reporting, so that finance isn’t spending cycles reconciling numbers that should already align.
“That currency engine needs to be baked in,” he says. “If you’re stitching it together after the fact, you’re already behind.” This isn’t a feature conversation. It’s a structural one.
When systems aren’t aligned at the core, complexity compounds, and decisions get delayed.
When Finance and Marketing Actually Collaborate
Another friction point Beckberger often highlights is the disconnect between marketing and finance, two teams that, in theory, should be working toward the same goals, but often don’t speak the same language.
“Marketing knows what they’re trying to achieve. Finance knows what needs to be justified. But there’s a gap in how success gets defined,” he says.
That gap becomes especially visible during planning cycles or reforecasting moments, where marketing teams are expected to defend budgets without a clear line from spend to outcome. Beckberger sees forward-looking teams tackling this by aligning around one or two metrics that both sides can stand behind, for example, sales-accepted leads instead of surface-level engagement.
“It’s less about tracking clicks and more about tracking contribution,” he explains. “When both teams know what success looks like, and how it’s being measured, everything else gets easier.” This kind of collaboration isn’t just operationally cleaner. It drives smarter investment decisions, especially when market conditions force reallocations mid-cycle.
Resilience, Redefined
Few regions exemplify agility like the Nordics. Small but deeply global in mindset, Nordic companies often deal with fast-moving regulatory environments, currency volatility, and shifting political landscapes. Traditional planning cycles, quarterly or annual, simply don’t cut it. Beckberger calls out the shift that’s now underway: from static budgeting to continuous planning, from locked-down models to dynamic, scenario-based thinking. And from reacting to events to planning for multiple outcomes ahead of time.“If you’re dealing with frequent change, whether it’s M&A, market volatility, or regulatory updates, you need to be able to restructure quickly,” he says.
“That might mean updating business hierarchies, refreshing forecasts, or adjusting scenarios, often all at once.”
He sees scenario planning as a particularly underused discipline, one that could transform how finance leaders manage uncertainty. But only if it’s accessible and fast.“It’s not about predicting the future perfectly,” he adds. “It’s about knowing what you’ll do if it changes, and having already run the numbers before the pressure hits.”
Not Reinventing. Rethinking.
Beckberger doesn’t claim to have all the answers, but he’s clear on the patterns. Finance teams that succeed in this environment aren’t the ones with the flashiest tools. They’re the ones with systems that help them move faster and think clearly. The ones who keep people in the loop, align cross-functional teams, and structure for adaptability. Speaking about Planful, he adds, “We’re not just keeping pace with change—we’re driving it. This year, we’ve introduced more new products than ever before, setting the foundation for the future of finance software.”
That’s not a flex, it’s a signal. The companies making progress aren’t chasing hype or clinging to legacy tools. They’re focused on getting the structure right, so their people can make smarter calls, faster.
To learn more about Planful and what sets it apart in the competitive space of Financial Planning, visit www.planful.com
