人工智能和区块链 2

ArtificialIntelligenceandBlockchain

Thefutureofaccountsreceivableandcreditmanagement

Authors:MarkSpeiser,GaryMulherin,KyleKingandShellyClark

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TABLEOFCONTENTS

TOPIC PAGE

INTRODUCTION…………………. 2

ARTIFICIALINTELLIGENCE:

WhatisArtificialIntelligence……….…………..……... 3

ComponentsofArtificialIntelligence…………………. 4

PotentialBenefitsofArtificialIntelligence……………….……………. 7

PotentialChallengesofArtificialIntelligence………….. 8

BigDataandArtificialIntelligence…….. 9

RoboticProcessAutomation……….…… 10

Existing&FutureArtificialIntelligenceApplicationsinA/R&Credit. 12

BLOCKCHAIN:

WhatisBlockchain……….……………. 14

HowdoesBlockchainWork? 16

PotentialBenefitsofBlockchain…….………………..……………….. 19

PotentialChallengesofBlockchain…………….……..……………….. 20

TheFutureofBlockchainintheOrder-to-CashProcess…………….… 22

SmartContracts……..……….………….……………… 23

Cryptocurrencies…………..…………….…………..…. 24

InternetofThings(IOT)……………..… 28

AI&BLOCKCHAINIMPACTONTHEFUTUREOFA/R&CREDIT…… 30

APPENDIX:

BlockchainGlossaryofTerms………….…..…………. 34

ListofAcknowledgmentsandReferences……………… 39

INTRODUCTION

Sincethedawnoftimeandthefirstappearanceofmans’innovations,technologyhasbeeneverpresent.Civilizationformednewwaystocommunicatethatadvancedfromhieroglyphics,writtenscrolls,theprintingpressandthetelephone.Societiesalsobroughtforwardnewformsofcommerce,developingfromcommonformsofexchange(stilltheunderlyingmodelforallbusinesstoday)fromfurtradingtotheBarterSystem,ultimatelytothecreationofstandardizedcurrency,afinancialbankingsystemandaformalizedaccountingsystem.Thegradualbutforwardmovingdevelopmentofalloftheseeventswasunderpinnedbynewandprogressivetechnologiesdrivingthemforward.

Thebeginningofthe21stcenturysawtheintroductionofanewcommunicationtechnologyconceptcalledthe"WorldWideWeb"or"Internet"asitisknowntoday.Itsusageandapplicationseemedquiteforeigntomany,aseeminglyfuturisticidea.Yet,todaytheuseoftheinternetiscommonplace,mosteverythingwedo,informationweseek,communicationwetransmithavebeeninfluencedbytheinternet.Thisformoftechnologyhasbroughtaboutotherinnovationsandapplications(i.e.smartdevices),increasingspeedandefficienciesandshorteningdistances.Yet,canyouimaginetheinherentdelaysandstalloftoday'sglobalbusinessenterpriseoperatingwithoutthedevelopmentoftheinternet?

TechnologyandautomationinB2Baccountsreceivableandcreditmanagementhasbeengrowingoverthepast5to10years,asisevidentwiththetechnologicalgrowthandproliferationofnewautomationsolutionsprovidersinthisspace.Thesethingshavehelpeddrivegreaterefficienciesthattranscendintocompaniesrealizingreductionsin

"Weareatapointwhereallmajorfinancialinstitutionshavesomeformofinnovation" "now

wearemovingfromanindustrialeconomytoaninnovationeconomy".

LuisNoriega,WellsFargo&Co.

DSO,pastduereceivables,andbaddebtreserves,alongwithothercostreductions.However,evenwiththistechnologyandautomation,mostA/Randcreditmanagementprofessionalsstillmanagemanymanual,time-intensiveandrepetitivetasksintheorder-to-cashprocesses,whilebeingchallengedtodomorewithless.

Thispaperwilladdresstwonewanddevelopingtechnologies:

ArtificialIntelligence(includingroboticprocessautomation),and

BlockchaintechnologyanditspossibleimpacttotheProcure-to-Payprocess.

Finally,wewillexploretheimpactthesetechnologiesmayhaveonaccountsreceivableandthecreditprofessionatlarge.

ARTIFICIALINTELLIGENCE

WhatisArtificialIntelligence?

Theterm‘artificialintelligence’wasfirstcoinedbyStanfordresearcherJohnMcCarthy,oneoftheorganizersofaconferenceheldat

DartmouthCollegein1956.1McCarthyhassincecometobeknownasoneofthefoundingfathersofAI.Theproposalfortheconferenceincludedthefollowingclaim:

everyaspectoflearningoranyotherfeatureofintelligencecanbesopreciselydescribedthatamachinecanbemadetosimulateit.2

Artificialintelligence(AI)describestheworkprocessofmachinesthatwouldrequire

intelligenceifperformedbyhumans.AIthusmeans‘investigatingintelligentproblem-solvingbehaviorandcreatingintelligentcomputersystems.’3

Therearetwokindsofartificialintelligence:

Weakartificialintelligence(A.K.A.NarrowAI):AIthathasnopowerofperceptionthatisfocusedonnarrowtasks.AllcurrentlyexistingsystemsconsideredartificialintelligenceofanysortareweekAI.SiriandAlexaaregoodexamplesofnarrowintelligence.4

Strongartificialintelligence:Theprocessesinthecomputerareintellectual,self-learningprocesses.Computerscan‘understand’bymeansoftherightsoftware/programmingandareabletooptimizetheirownbehavioronthebasisoftheirformerbehaviorandtheirexperience.5StrongAI’sgoalistodevelopartificialintelligencetothepointwherethesystemsintellectualcapabilityis

1AdvisoryBoard.(2017,April).ArtificialIntelligenceandRoboticsandTheirImpactontheWorkplace.IBAGlobalEmploymentInstitute,pp.9-10

2ReceivableSavvy(2016)ArtificialIntelligenceandRoboticProcessAutomationinAccountsReceivableAreHeretoStay[Online].Available:

/blog/ai-and-

rpa-in-ar-here-to-stay/

3SeeReference#1above.

4Karau,B.(2017).ArtificialIntelligenceintheCreditDepartment[Online].Available:

/pdfs/webinars/5-24-17-artificial%20IntelligenceNACM.pdf

5SeeReference#1above.

functionallyequaltohumans.Currently,nocomputersonthemarketexhibitfullAI.6

AIismostlybeingdevelopedtoperformtasksthatusuallyrequirehumanintelligence,suchasvisualperception,speechrecognition,translationbetweenlanguagesanddecision-making.AIisasetofverypowerfulbusinesstoolsthatcanbeusedtosolvebusinessproblems.Intoday’sbusinessworldandthefuture,AIwillassumeincreasingresponsibilityasworkforceschangeandmanagersareforcedtodomorewithless.

Theemergenceofmobilephones,tablets,socialnetworksandwearableelectronicdeviceshasmade(weak)AIapplicationsmorepracticalandeasytoaccess.Therealityisthatartificialintelligenceisnowverymuchapartofoureverydaylives.

Theadvancementofintelligenttechnologiesinrecentyearsmeansthatindividualsandorganizationsnolongermustrelysolelyonmanualinterventiontoaccomplishlearnabletasks.SomeexamplesofhowAIhasmadeitswayintooureverydaylivesinclude:7

TheintroductionofvirtualpersonalassistantssuchasAmazon’sAlexa,SirioniOSphonesandtablets,andmanyotherapplications.WhytakethetimetolookthingsuponyourbrowserordialthatbestfriendwhenyoucansimplyhaveSiridoitviavoicecommand.

FraudreductionthroughAItoolsthatcanlearnauser’shabitsbyfollowingtheirbehavioralpatternsandwarningofanyinconsistencies.

RecommendationsformoviesandmusicfromproviderslikeNetflixandSpotify.Watchenoughmoviesandlistentoenoughmusicandtheseproviderswillleveragetechnologythatcannowmakerecommendationsbasedonyourhabits.

Smartappliancesanddevicesthatcananticipateyourneedsinyourhome,lightsthatcomeonandburnatcertainbrightnessorthermostatsthatadjustthetemperaturebasedonyourhomeactivityarejustsomeofthemundanebutrepetitivetasksAI-enabledappliancesanddevicescanmanage.8AsmoreAIsystemsappear,newnamesarebeingusedincollaboration,whichincludesmachinelearning,reasoning,roboticprocessautomation(RPA),tonameafew.

ComponentsofArtificialIntelligence:

Whatqualifiesasintelligence?ResearchinAIhasfocusedonfivekeycomponentsofintelligence.Whilesomeoftheseelementsmayseemself-evidentasasingleitem,theymustworkinconjunctionwitheachothertoqualifyasArtificialIntelligence.

6SeeReference#4above.

7ReceivableSavvy(2016)ArtificialIntelligenceandRoboticProcessAutomationinAccountsReceivableAreHeretoStay[Online].Available:

/blog/ai-and-

rpa-in-ar-here-to-stay/

8SeeReference#7above.

/artificial_intelligence/artificial_intelligent_systems.htm

Reasoning:Impliesthecomputerrepresentationoflogic.Reasoningemployscomplexdeductivereasoningtodrawinferencesfromavailabledata.9Reasoningsystemscomeintwomodes:interactiveandbatchprocessing.Interactivesystemsinterfacewiththeusertoallowtheusertoguidethereasoningprocess.10Batchsystemstakeinalltheavailableinformationatonceandgeneratethebestanswerpossiblewithoutuserfeedbackorguidance.Reasoningsystemshaveawidefieldofapplicationsthatincludesbusinessruleprocessing,problemsolving,predictiveanalytics,robotics,naturallanguageprocess,alongwithotherapplications.11

Learning(MachineLearning/Robots):Theabilityofacomputersystemtoimproveitsperformanceonpreviousresultswithoutbeingexplicitlyprogrammed.12Machinelearningisusedtodevisecomplexmodelsandalgorithmsthatlendthemselvestopredictive

analytics13–whichproducereliable&repeatabledecisionsandresults.Machinelearningistheconceptthatacomputerprogramcanlearn,adaptandreacttonewdatawithouthumaninterference.Withinmachinelearningisabroadermethodcalldeeplearning(alsoknownasdeepstructuredlearningorhierarchicallearning)basedon

learningdataelements,asopposedtotask-specificalgorithms.14Deeplearningmodelslearn,inaveryrealsense,torecognizepatternsindigitalrepresentations

9ReasoningSystems:UseofLogic[Online]Available:/wiki/Reasoning_system

10SeeReference#9above.

11SeeReference#9above.

12MachineLearning[Online]Available:

/wiki/Machine_learning

13SeeReference#12above.

14DeepLearning[Online].Available:

/wiki/Deep_learning

ofsounds,images,andotherdata.Inshort,AIsystemswithdeeplearningcannowteachthemselves,toadegree.Thestate-of-the-artdeeplearningisalreadywellknownandusedinvariousdisciplineslikeautomaticspeechrecognitionandcomputervisionoffiguresandobjects.TheIBMWatsonsystem(thatbeatahumanonthetelevisiongameshowJeopardy)isnowusingdeeplearningtechniquesandisbeingtrainedtohelpdoctorsmakebetterdecisions.15Deeplearninghasalsohelpedimprovethevoicesearchfunctioninsmartphones.IthasbecomemorepopularinAItothedegreethatonetechcompanyusedtheterm“deeplearning”81timesduringits83-minuteearningscallwithinvestors.16

Deeplearningcouldtransformalmostanyindustryandhasalreadystartedimpactingaccountsreceivablewithautomatedcashapplicationthatrecognizespatternsofcustomerremittanceanddeductionprocessing.

Perception:ToputthedatatogetherandtomakesenseofthemisthejoboftheperceptioncomponentofAI.Perceptionistheprocessofacquiring,interpreting,selectingandorganizingsensoryinformation.17InAI,perceptionismostlyfocusedonspeechandvisualsignals.Voiceorspeechrecognitionistheabilityofamachineorprogramtoreceiveandinterpretdictation,ortounderstandandcarryoutspokencommands.

ProblemSolving:Problemsolvingencompassesanumberoftechniquesknownasalgorithms,rootcauseanalysis,etc.AvarietyofproblemsolvingisaddressedinAI,includingplanningaseriesofmovementsthatenablearobottocarryoutagiventask.InAR&Creditthiscouldincludeaddressingcustomerdeductionsbasedonreasoncodesorotherdatathatcanleadtorootcauseanalysis.

LinguisticIntelligence(orLanguageUnderstanding):Theabilityofamachineorprogramtoreceiveandinterpretdictation,ortounderstandandcarryoutwrittenandspokencommands.Languageunderstandingisdevotedtodevelopingalgorithmsandsoftwareforintelligentlyprocessinglanguagedata.Someresearchinthisfieldaimstocreateworkingspeechortextprocessingsystemswhileothersaimtocreateasystemallowingmachineinteraction.18EarlyworkinthiscomponenthasincludedOpticalCharacterRecognition(OCR)anddocumentretrieval,whichareabletobeusedinAR&Creditautomationtoday.

15Hoff,D.(2013)DeepLearning:WithMassiveAmountsofComputationalPower,MachinescanNowRecognizeObjectsandTranslateSpeechinRealTime.ArtificialIntelligenceisFinallyGettingSmart.MITTechnologyReview[Online].Available:

/s/513696/deep-learning/

16SeeReference#15above.

17TempleUniversity.3202.IntroductiontoArtificialIntelligence[Online].Available:

/~wangp/3203-AI/Lecture/IO-2.htm

18ComputationalLinguistics[Online].Available:

/Computational_Linguistics

PotentialBenefitsofArtificialIntelligence:

CostSavings:Roboticprocessautomationcancreatea50-70%costsavings.19Processautomationenables24/7executionatafractionofthecostofhumanequivalents.

Priortoautomation,oneBusinessProcessOutsourcing(BPO)serviceproviderthathandledtheapplicationforprocessinginsurancebenefitsemployedafull-timehumanemployeewhocouldcompletetheprocessinanaverageof12minutes.Automationsoftwarecompletedtheprocessinone-thirdthetime,triplingthetransactionvolumeforone-tenthoftheFull-TimeEmployees(FTE)cost.20

OperationalEfficiency&ReducedDowntime:AIoffersanimprovedworkflowandservicesdeliverymodelbyincreasingproductionandaccuracy,reducingerrorsandcycletimes,anddecreasingtheneedforongoingtraining.Unlikehumans,robotscanwork24hoursaday,sevendaysaweek.Typically,onerobotcandotheworkofmultipleFTEs.

AdvancedAnalytics:Processautomationmakesgatheringandorganizingdataeasiersoacompanycanpredictfutureoutcomesandoptimizetheirprocesses.Theanalysisdeterminesareasofimprovement,andtheimprovedprocesses,inturn,producemorespecificdatathatallowsforfurtherimprovementofoperationsandhigherlevelsofefficiency.Advancedanalyticsisanessentialelementinachievingregulatorycompliance,costeffectivegrowthandoptimizedoperations.Theanalyticscanhelpmanagecreditriskbypredictingpotentialslowpayandpotentialbaddebts,whileprovidingmanagementwithinsightintopossibleindustryeconomictrendsandconsiderationforpossiblechangestopolicy.

EnhancedPerformanceandQuality:Outofevery100steps,ahumanislikelytomake10errors,evenwhencarryingoutsomewhatredundantwork.21Robotsaretrustworthy,consistentandtireless.Theycanperformthesametaskthesamewayeverytimewithouterrororfraudulence.AIoptimizescapabilitiesthatgroworganizationalcapacity.Afterdeployingautomationsoftwaretosupportanumberofprocesses,onecompanywasabletoincreaseorganizationalproductivityandcapacitywithoutextrarecruitingortraining.Theyachievedpaybackinapproximately15monthswithacalculatedreturnoninvestmentof141percentandconcludedthattheycouldexpect

19Ernst&YoungAccountants,LLP.(2016).RoboticProcessAutomationintheFinanceFunctionoftheFuture[Online].Available:

/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY_-

Robotic_process_automation_in_the_Finance_function_of_the_future/$FILE/EY-robotic-

process-automation-in-the-finance-function-of-the-future-2016.pdf

20InstituteforRoboticProcessAutomation&ArtificialIntelligence[Online].Available:

/definition-and-benefits/

21SeeReference#20above.

greaterreturnsastheycontinuedtoautomatemoreworkflows.22ManylargecompanieshaverecognizedsignificantROIwithinone-to-twoyearsofimplementingsomeaspectofAIintheiraccountsreceivabledepartment.Mosthaveimplementedroboticstoautomatethemajorityofthecashapplicationworkflowprocessesduringoff-businesshours,includingretrievingremittanceadviceandothersourcedatafromvendorportalstoapplycashwithinsecondsandhavevirtuallyazero-errorrate.ThishasresultedinsavingsthroughFTEreductionsintheiraccountsreceivabledepartment.SomecompanieshaveshiftedaportionoftheirFTEstofocusonotherimportanttasksthatwerepreviouslynotreceivingthelevelofattentionneeded,likedeductionmanagement.

PotentialChallengeswithArtificialIntelligence:

HighCosttoFullyImplement:Thepurchase,maintenanceandrepaircostsrequirelargecapitalinvestmentastheyareverycomplexmachines.Inthecaseofseverebreakdowns,theproceduretorecoverlostcodesandreinstatingthesystemmaytaketimeandhavehighcosts.

LossofData:Aswithmanyhighlyutilizedsystemspoweredbybigdata,thereisalwaystheriskofsystemsbeingcorruptedthatcouldresultinthelossofdata.Oncelost,itisverydifficult(ifnotimpossible)toretrievethedata.Thiscancauseserioustroubletoabusiness.

NoOriginalCreativity:Creativityorimaginationisnottheforteofartificialintelligence.Humanbeingsarehighlysensitiveandemotionalintellectuals,whichAIwillnotbeabletoachieve.However,humancreativitymaydevelopfurtherinareasthatAIhaslessinfluence,likecreditmanagersbeingmoreinvolvedinthehighlevel/majoraccountdecisionsmostcompaniesmaynotleavesolelytoAIprocessesalone.

JobSecurity:ArtificialIntelligencecanandhasledtounemploymentincertainsectors.Mostofthesejobshavebeenassociatedwithpositionsthathandlerepetitiveworkflow.AIenables24/7/365execution,whichhumancapitalcannotachieve.However,AIwillnotbeabletodostrategicplanning,makehighlevel/exceptiondecisions,negotiatewithcustomers,etc.Withinaccountsreceivableandcredit,FTEreductionsmayoccurwithpositionsthathandlerepetitiveandredundanttasksthatareeasytoautomatewithroboticslikecashapplication,alongwithon-boardingnewaccountsthroughelectroniccreditapplicationsandriskmodelanalytics.

22InstituteforRoboticProcessAutomation&ArtificialIntelligence[Online].Available:

/definition-and-benefits/

BigDataandArtificialIntelligence:

Thevolumeofstoreddatahasbeenincreasingexponentiallysincetheadventoftheinternet.Accordingtoestimates,by2020theworldwidedatavolumeisexpectedtobemorethan(100zettabytesoronesextillionbytes)tentimesthevolumein2006.23Bigdataandthe“internetofthings”(tobecoveredlaterinthispaper)createnewdisruptivepurposesofAI.

Storeddatacanbeobtainedfromdifferentsourcingthatincludes,butarenotlimitedto,theinternet,electronicpaymenttransactions,creditcarddata,creditbureausandmanyothersources.WithbigdataAIwillbeabletoanalyzeandpredict–whichwillhelpimproveriskmanagement.Anothergreatadvantageofbigdataisthatitcreatesaclearbasisfordecisions,enablingthedecision-makertomakerationaldecisionswithoutspendingalotoftimeonresearch.EvenwithweakAI,systemscansiftoutrelevantdatafromthenoisebecausetheyhavesomuchtoworkwith.24Bigdataisthusanimportantpartofartificialintelligenceandwillbemoreimportantthaneverinthefuture,withtherapidriseintheamountofcollecteddata.

TherearethreewaysinwhichbigdataisnowempoweringAI:25

BigDataTechnology:Wehavetheabilitytoprocesshugequantitiesofdatathatpreviouslyrequiredextremelyexpensivehardwareandsoftware.

Availabilityoflargedatasets:IntelligentCharacterRecognition(ICR),transcriptions,paymenthistoryandotherdataarenowavailableinwaysthatwereneverpossibleinthepast;evenold“papersourced”dataisbecomingavailableonline.

Machinelearningatscale:ScaledupalgorithmssuchasdeeplearningispoweringthebreakthroughofAI.

Whilethefirstwaveofbigdatawasaboutspeedandflexibility,itappearsthenextwaveofwillbeallaboutleveragingthepowerofAIandmachinelearningtodeliverbetterbusinessvalue.

23AdvisoryBoard(2017,April).ArtificialIntelligenceandRoboticsandTheirImpactontheWorkplace.IBAGlobalEmploymentInstitute,Pg.99.

24Hammond,K.(2015).PracticalArtificialIntelligenceforDummies.Hoboken,NJ:JohnWiley&Sons.

25Bean,R.(2017,May8).HowBigDataisEmpoweringAIandMachineLearningatScale[Online].Available:

/article/how-big-data-is-empowering-ai-and-

machine-learning-at-scale/

Forthefirsttime,largecorporationsarereportingthattheyhavedirectaccesstomeaningfulvolumesandsourcesofdatathatcanfeedAIalgorithmstodetectpatternsandunderstandbehaviors.Ina2018surveybyNewVantagePartnersthemainfindingisthatanoverwhelming97.2%ofexecutivesreportthattheircompaniesareinvestinginbuildingorlaunchingbigdataandAIinitiatives.26 Inparticular,executivesreportnotablesuccessesininitiativestoimprovedecision-makingthroughadvancedanalytics–witha69%successrate–andthroughexpensereduction,witha61%successrate.27

RoboticProcessAutomation(RPA)-DependentonAI?

Manypeoplethinkofrobotsasphysicalmachinesinplaceslikecarmanufacturingplants.OrtheythinkofsciencefictionlegendssuchasOptimusPrime,C-3POor“TheTerminator”.TheeasiestwaytodescribeRPAisassoftware(“robot”or“soft-robot”)

thatmimicshumanbehavior.Typically,thisis“rule-based”,sothatitcanbecapturedinproceduresandworkinstructionsandrequiresdigitalinputsfortheRPAsoftwaretobe

“So,thequestionis(1)howmuchofthosetaskscanbeautomatedsothatwearetaskingourteammembersonthemostimportantFTEeventsandthen(2)canyouasthemanagementteamdictatethesequenceofthosetasksthataddthemostvalueforthecompanytoimprovethecapacityofyourFTEevents.”

ChrisCaparon–CEO&Founder,cforia

effective.RPAisdesignedtoreducetheburdenofrepetitive,simpletaskswhileprovidingbettercomplianceandaccuracy.Processautomationhasbeenaroundforalongwhile(evenSAPcanbedescribedasprocessautomationsoftware),butthedifferencewithRPAisthefocusonthehumantasks.DoesRPAhaveacontinuumordependencyonAI?Well,thinkofthekeydifferencesbetweenRPAandAIthisway--robotsofRPAare‘dumb’whileAIis‘self-learning’.28Therobotswilldoexactlywhatyoutellthemtodobasedondigitizedandstructureddata,whichisperfectforrules-basedprocesswhereaccuracyiscritical,likeaccountsreceivablecashapplication.

26Bean,R.(2018,February5).HowBigDataandAIAreDrivingBusinessInnovationin2018[Online].Available:

/article/how-big-data-and-ai-are-driving-

business-innovation-in-2018/

27SameasReferenceabove.

28Burgess,A.(2015,December9)RPAandAI–TheSamebutDifferent[Online].Available:

/rpa-and-ai-the-same-but-different/

However,AIisbettersuitedwherethereisambiguity,unstructuredandchanginginputstoaprocess,orwherethereareverylargeamountsofdata,becauseAIcanmanagethevariabilityandgetbetterattheprocessovertimethroughitsownreasoning,learningandperceptionofthedata.So,RPAisnotdependentonAIorAIdependentuponRPA,butthetwotechnologiesdocomplementeachotherverywell--AItomanageunstructureddataatthebeginningoftheprocess,thenusingtherobotstoprocessthetransactions.

However,todaymostcompaniesimplementRPAwithoutanyneedforAI.

ThesimplicityandrelativelylowcosttoimplementcanmakeRPAamoreattractivesolutionformanycompanies(particularlywithlegacysystems)thatprovidessignificantadvantagesintheareasofconsistency,compliance,flexibility,scalability,speedand24/7operations.RPAworkslikeadigitalassistantforworkersbyclearingtheonerous,simpleandrepetitivetasksthatconsumepartofeveryworkersday.Finally,RPAsoftwarecapturesawealthofdatathatcanbeusedforprocessimprovements,reportingandanalytics.

AccordingtoChrisCaparon,CEOandFounderofcforia“ConvertingkeystrokingtoarobotallowsthatFTEtodoothertasks.Let’stakeintoaccounttasksthatanassociatedoesthroughoutthecourseofaday--invoicereprint,collectioncall,workingadispute,etc.So,thequestionis(1)howmuchofthosetaskscanbeautomatedsothatwearetaskingourteammembersonthemostimportantFTEeventsandthen(2)canyouasthemanagementteamdictatethesequenceofthosetasksthataddthemostvalueforthecompanytoimprovethecapacityofyourFTEevents.”29

ReceivablessolutionprovidersareleveragingAImoreeachyearastheyincorporatetechnologysuchasRoboticProcessAutomation(RPA).IncorporatingRPAallowsnon-technicalpersonnelto‘train’softwarerobotsinawaythatallowsthemtolearnspecificstepsinaprocess.Wheretraditionalsoftwareprogrammingwillusecode-basedinstructionstoexecutetasks,RPAsoftwarecanbeconfigurablefornon-technicaluserssothatismakesbetterchoicesbasedonhowithasbeentrained,verymuchlikestaffmembers.30

RPAcanimproveandstreamlineanumberofkeyareasforcreditandaccountsreceivabledepartments,including:31

29Caparon,Chris(2018,January12)CEO&Founder,cforia,10:00amET,ConferenceCall

30ReceivableSavvy(2016)ArtificialIntelligenceandRoboticProcessAutomationinAccountsReceivableAreHeretoStay[Online].Available:

/blog/ai-and-

rpa-in-ar-here-to-stay/

31SeeReference#25above.

RefiningdatacaptureandcashapplicationthroughOpticalCharacterRecognition(OCR),withouttemplateorrulesmanagement,whileresultinginahigherrateofaccuracy.

Automatethecashapplicationprocess,whereremittancedataisgatheredthroughvarioussources,matchedwithinvoicedataandisreconciledwiththecorrespondingcustomeraccountundertheelectronicpaymentprocess.

Enhanceworkflowsrelatedtothecollectionsprocess,allowingforgreaterefficiencyofstaffandotherdedicatedresources,whileimprovinginvoicecollections.

Establishworkflow,trackingandreasoncodesofcustomerdeductionstoreduceDaysDeductionsOutstanding(DDO)andcompleteroot-causeanalysistobettermanageandminimizefuturedeductions.

IndustryresearchpredictstheRPAmarketwillexpandatacompoundannualgrowthrate(CAGR)of60%overthenextsevenyears,reaching$8.75billionby2024.32

ExistingandFutureArtificialIntelligenceApplicationsinFinance:Whereorganizationsareconcerned,AIprovidesmanybenefitsthroughtheautomationof