Will Finance Be Replaced by AI? A Real Conversation About What's Actually Changing

Felicia Gallagher
1 day ago
3 min read

Every few weeks, someone asks me a version of the same question:

“Will finance jobs be replaced by AI?”

“Will AI take over finance?”

“Will finance majors be replaced by AI?”

Let’s talk about it honestly.

The short answer? No, AI isn’t replacing finance. But it is replacing the professionals

who refuse to use it.

I’ve been in finance for more than 20 years, which is long enough to see entire systems change. Excel macros once felt revolutionary. Then came cloud accounting, ERPs, automation, and now AI. Every one of those shifts made our work smarter, not smaller.

What’s happening now is no different.

AI is already rewriting how we analyze data, build models, forecast, and report. It’s not taking away the thinking, but is is removing the manual. If you’re still spending hours cleaning data or formatting reports, you’re not competing with AI, but you are competing with the finance leader who’s using it to get the same work done in half the time, with twice the insight.

As a founder and CFO, I believe this shift is less about replacement and more about redefinition. Finance has always been about judgment, understanding context, human behavior, business strategy, and risk. AI doesn’t understand any of that without human direction.

What it does do is expand our capacity. It gives us more time to think strategically, to partner with the business, and to focus on what actually drives growth and value.

How I Use AI in My Work

At ThreeStone Solutions, AI has become part of our daily rhythm as a productivity partner.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

Data Cleaning and Analysis AI tools help consolidate messy exports from accounting systems or ERPs. What once took hours to reformat and align can now be done in minutes, letting us move straight into insight and decision-making.
Drafting Financial Narratives When I’m preparing monthly board or investor commentary, AI helps me summarize trends and identify recurring themes across business units. It doesn’t write the story, but it helps me find the story faster.
Operational Process Mapping We use AI to outline SOPs, identify process gaps, and generate workflow diagrams. It helps visualize inefficiencies across departments before we step in to optimize them.
Benchmarking and Market Research AI speeds up early-stage research by analyzing pricing, cost structures, and competitive data. It gives us a baseline so I can spend my time validating assumptions rather than sourcing them from scratch.

Each of these uses amplifies our role. It allows us to operate at a higher level of strategy and deliver more value in less time. That’s what finance with AI looks like: precision, speed, and better decisions.

What About Finance Students?

If you’re a finance major right now, this conversation matters even more. You’re entering a world where your technical skills are expected and your ability to use AI tools to enhance those skills will set you apart. AI won’t replace finance majors, but it will replace the graduates who only know how to memorize formulas instead of applying technology to real-world financial problems.

Professors should be teaching finance students how to integrate AI into their work — from data visualization and predictive analytics to scenario modeling and risk assessment. Understanding the why behind the numbers still matters. But the how is changing fast. Students who learn to think like analysts and work like technologists will lead the next generation of CFOs, portfolio managers, and financial strategists.

The Bottom Line

The future isn’t finance versus AI. It’s finance with AI.

AI won’t take your seat, but it’ll take away the repetitive tasks that have been weighing you down. The remainder is the human part of finance: strategy, integrity, intuition, and leadership.

Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a student just starting out, it's critical to learn the tools, master the systems, and stay curious. The ones who do will shape the future of this industry. The ones who don’t will be left trying to catch up.

About ThreeStone Solutions

ThreeStone Solutions is a strategic finance and fractional CFO firm helping beverage, spirits, and CPG founders build financially strong, scalable businesses. Founded by award-winning CFO and finance executive Felicia Gallagher, MBA, CMA, CPA, the firm combines deep financial expertise with modern technology and values-driven leadership.

Built on the three stones of Faith, Family, and Excellence, ThreeStone Solutions delivers clarity, confidence, and strategy through financial modeling, capital planning, and operational finance support.

From early-stage growth to investor readiness, we help founders make smarter decisions, raise capital intentionally, and build businesses that last.