From October 8 to 9, Warsaw hosted the CFO Forum 2024 under the slogan “The best way to predict the future is to create it,” Peter Drucker. The event has long been a platform for exchanging modern practices and effective technological solutions between developers, vendors, CFOs and managers united for the purpose of developing the business industry. This year, the forum covered such important topics as leadership in the AI era, digital competencies in financial teams, increasing the profitability of AI businesses, developing digital leadership, managed AI, and innovation-based strategies, etc. As you can see, one of the leitmotifs of the presentations and discussions was artificial intelligence technologies. SMART business attended the 2024 forum as a Silver Partner and presented its portfolio of business solutions with AI and ML algorithms. Therefore, we suggest going through the main checkpoints of the event and finding out the most interesting things.
Challenges, strategies and technologies shaping the future: a retrospective of key discussions
The forum began with active morning networking, which set the tone for all subsequent events. The opening of the forum was led by the project director Edyta Olbratowska and the chairman of the program council Wojciech Wieroński. The first inspiring speech by Agnieszka Jarosz from ACCA Poland was devoted to the topic of “Digital Horizons and the Future of the Profession”, which laid the foundation for discussing technological challenges and their impact on the financial sector.
At the “Fireplace Chat”, Dominika Bettman, CEO of Microsoft Poland, shared her experience of adapting to new technologies within the framework of the topic: “Adaptive Leadership in the Age of AI”. Much attention was paid to the development of digital thinking as a new way of perceiving and solving problems in business and management. The key conclusion of the discussion was that the success of modern leadership in the context of the digital revolution depends on the ability of leaders to adapt to constant changes, implement innovations and effectively integrate technologies into strategies and management processes.
In general, practical cases and discussions covered a wide range of important topics, including the transformation of the CFO role in the current conditions and strategic risk management using modern tools. An informative session was held on the role of financial teams after process automation, which sparked an active discussion about the future of accounting. The debates on leadership and talent highlighted the importance of long-term employee engagement and building competencies in financial teams.
The audience was greatly interested in the presentation on the use of artificial intelligence to create
additional sources of income, which was given by Liliia Shvid, a Data and AI consultant at SMART business.
The speaker demonstrated real cases of successful implementation of solutions with AI algorithms. The
presentation was based on answers to three key questions:
- What opportunities does AI open up for business today? — How AI helps optimize processes,
analyze data more effectively, and make informed decisions - How does the implementation of AI solutions affect a company’s P&L? — How AI solutions can
be used to reduce costs, improve operational efficiency, and gain new opportunities to increase
a company’s profits. - How to calculate the return on investment in AI? — The speaker demonstrated the results of
implementing SMART Demand Forecast for the McDonald’s Georgia chain of restaurants and
analyzed how the company achieved 83% accuracy in sales forecasting for each of its restaurants.
The audience could also use a special calculator from SMART business to independently calculate how
much money their company would receive if the forecasting accuracy was increased with SMART Demand
Forecast.
SMART business — at the forefront of digital change
At the SMART business’s booth, visitors could not just receive useful advice on innovative solutions, but
also to take part in a competition with attractive prizes. Books on AI and investment strategy were drawn
among the participants:
- Sztuczna inteligencja w biznesie. Jak zdobyć rynkową przewagę dzięki AI – a book that reveals
the potential of AI for business and gives practical advice on how to gain a market advantage
thanks to artificial intelligence technologies. - Podręcznik pasywnego inwestowania. Jak racjonalnie pomnażać majątek – a guide for those
who want to understand the principles of passive investment and effective capital management - AI w biznesie. Jak zarabiać więcej dzięki sztucznej inteligencji – a real guide on how to use AI to
increase profits and optimize business processes.
The conditions for participation in the competition were simple: it was necessary to fill out a short form
and take a quick survey on the opportunities opened up by AI for the financial sector. The SMART business team was pleased with the activity of the audience, who willingly participated in the exchange of
experience, shared their thoughts and cases from their own practice.
We are sure that most of the participants received a significant portion of inspiration and new ideas for
further improvement of their professional activities and business development. We are confident that
visitors left the forum ready to meet the challenges of the future along with new technologies and
strategic approaches.
And if you happened to miss the 2024 forum, SMART business will be happy to provide you with a
consultation on solutions that will help you build accurate demand forecasts, expand the functionality of
the ERP system, improve customer service, automate human capital management processes, optimize
logistics and warehouse processes and overall build a holistic digital ecosystem.
Contact SMART business for assistance in selecting the optimal solutions for your company, so that you
can use the maximum potential of the latest technologies and achieve even greater results in the future: