AI in finance: From crunching numbers to making decisions, how far can it go?

From reconciling accounts and processing invoices to forecasting cash flows, spotting fraud and analysing investments, artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly moving into tasks that once required hours of human work. The technology is also beginning to influence decisions, which raises a bigger question for banks, businesses and consumers — how much of financial decision-making can AI actually take over?

According to KPMG’s 2026 Global AI in Finance report, active AI use among finance organisations has risen from 30% in 2024 to 75% in 2026. The report, based on 1,013 senior finance leaders across 20 countries and 13 sectors, found that 76% of organisations are using AI in financial planning.

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It added that 70% of organisations said AI had improved decision-making quality, 71% reported faster decision-making and 64% saw better forecasting accuracy.

But finance is different from many other industries. A wrong recommendation here can mean a lost investment, a rejected loan, a missed fraud or a tax liability. That makes the transition to AI less about simply automating work and more about deciding where machines should stop and humans should take over.

From bookkeeping to business decisions

The first and most obvious area of AI adoption is routine finance work. Bookkeeping, reconciliation, invoice processing, reporting and compliance involve large volumes of structured data — precisely the kind of work AI can process quickly.

Pei Fu Hsieh, co-founder of AI Accountant, told The Times of India that businesses are already seeing finance teams spend less time on data entry, transaction categorisation and reconciliation. Faster processing, fewer manual interventions and quicker book closures are among the gains.

The result is a shift in what finance teams spend their time doing. Instead of compiling information, employees can focus more on analysing it, forecasting cash flows and helping businesses make decisions.

AI can do something similar for individuals, helping analyse income and deductions to estimate tax liabilities or flag inconsistencies.

Swaroop Repaka, VP Product at ClearTax, told TOI that the early use of AI has centred on areas such as tax notices, litigation support and tax research. The larger opportunity is now emerging in high-volume, rule-based work involving structured data.

But there is a clear limit. Tax positions, treaty interpretation and transfer pricing require judgement and a defensible professional view. AI can assist with the work, but it cannot automatically take responsibility for the final position.

AI is becoming a financial analyst

The more interesting change is happening beyond routine tasks.

AI systems can analyse multiple variables simultaneously to answer questions such as which investments carry greater risk, how a portfolio could react to higher interest rates, whether a customer may default or whether a business can afford another loan.

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Rajosik Banerjee, partner and national head, risk and finance advisory at KPMG India, told TOI that AI is moving beyond automation and becoming a catalyst for process transformation, particularly in reconciliations, invoice processing, financial reporting and planning.

The next stage, he said, will involve redesigning entire finance processes around AI-enabled workflows. But decisions requiring accountability and professional expertise will continue to need human judgement.

That distinction matters. A faster decision is not necessarily a better one.

Krishna Dev Pathak, an investment banker and advisor to early-stage startups, added that the objective should be to make “better and more accurate decisions with the same or better level of control”.

An AI recommendation may look convincing while still being wrong for a particular investor. The system may not know the person's complete financial situation, goals, risk appetite or investment horizon.

Your financial advisor may not disappear, but their job could change

In wealth management, the more likely future is not AI replacing financial advisors but AI working alongside them.

Tushar Bopche, co-founder and CEO of InvestValue, describes this as “HI + AI” — Human Intelligence combined with Artificial Intelligence.

AI can process thousands of data points, identify patterns and surface insights quickly. The human advisor provides the context: a client's financial goals, risk appetite, family circumstances and changing priorities.

That could allow advisors to spend less time researching products and processing information and more time explaining what the numbers actually mean.

AI is also watching for fraud

The use cases extend beyond investment and tax advice.

Banks and financial institutions can deploy AI to monitor transactions, identify unusual patterns, detect potential fraud and assess risks. Customer conversations across social media, support channels and review platforms can also be analysed to identify complaints, churn signals and emerging concerns.

Sameer Narkar, founder and CEO of Konnect Insights, told TOI the opportunity is to turn customer intelligence into strategic decisions rather than use AI merely as an efficiency tool.

Tax and compliance functions are similarly moving towards continuous monitoring of financial records and regulatory requirements.

Animesh Sharma, CTO at Indifi Technologies, said AI adoption should be treated as “a governance exercise as much as a technology one”. For outputs that affect financial statements, credit decisions or regulatory filings, he argued for human checkpoints rather than fully autonomous systems.

Deloitte's research, cited by Pallav Chaturvedi, partner at Deloitte India, also points to a governance gap. Fewer than one in 10 organisations in India currently have the governance structures considered necessary for trustworthy AI. Security vulnerabilities, privacy risks and regulatory uncertainty remain major concerns.

(With inputs from TOI)