Harnessing the Power of AI
The CFO Forum gathered on Tuesday, June 11th for their second quarter program. The all-star panel included Conetha Van Aswegen, Director of Finance, Analytics, and AI Initiatives at Salesforce, Jing Nealis, CFO of SES AI, and Greg Cohen, Senior Director of Content Marketing, and member of Westrock's AI steering committee.
This forum was graciously emceed by Sundeep Reddy, Salesforce EVP & CAO and moderated by Grant Thornton Managing Director, Durran Dunn.
Video courtesy of Darryl Lewis, Digital Content Creator, www.DarrylLewis.com
Personal Impacts of AI
Jing: Jing shared her experience with AI in personal and professional contexts. Using AI, she crafted a bridesmaid speech for a friend's wedding in just 20 minutes, transforming basic facts into a touching narrative. Jing highlighted the efficiency and creative potential of AI in personal tasks.
Conetha: With a background in Salesforce and auditing, Conetha discussed using ChatGPT to assist in a programming course. She started in January, and by April, AI was significantly integrated into her coding practices, emphasizing the rapid evolution of AI technology.
Greg: Greg oversees digital marketing and discussed using AI to enhance rather than replace human capabilities. His son utilized ChatGPT for a video editing project, achieving notable success. Greg highlighted AI’s role in augmenting personal and professional tasks, making them more efficient and impactful.
Organizational AI Journeys and Aspirations
Conetha: Conetha emphasized the current opportunities in AI, advocating for a step-by-step approach to integration. Starting with small projects and gradually expanding, Conetha shared success in automating lease contract preparations, saving significant time and effort. She stressed the importance of team learning and iterative development.
Greg: Greg recommended using AI to improve human expertise. He created virtual C-Suite personas to explore business strategies, emphasizing AI's role in extracting and leveraging human knowledge.
Jing: Jing discussed SES’s long-term use of AI, particularly in battery safety and material discovery. AI has helped predict battery safety and discover new materials, significantly advancing their technological capabilities. She highlighted the importance of training AI with accurate data and maintaining human oversight in innovation.
AI Councils and Internal Discussions
Greg: Greg described the structure and function of their AI council, involving cross-business discussions and regular updates on AI initiatives. A key project includes training a sustainability bot for internal queries, showcasing AI’s potential in facilitating organizational communication and knowledge sharing.
Images courtesy of Laure Glorieux | www.laurephotography.com
AI's Role in Workforce Transformation
Jing: Jing acknowledged that while AI might reduce the need for certain junior roles, it cannot replace the expertise and creativity of senior scientists. She shared an example of using AI in legal tasks, highlighting cost reduction and efficiency gains from a CFO perspective. However, the question remains: how can we develop senior scientists if we do not cultivate and support junior scientists first?
Conetha: Conetha emphasized the importance of attending conferences, finding partners, and creating an AI council to share innovation across the company. Starting with data visualization, they explored various AI applications to enhance efficiency.
Greg: Greg advised using AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, etc. to generate industry-specific ideas and strategies. He emphasized empowering teams to innovate and leverage AI for improved productivity.
Sundeep: Sundeep encouraged empowering teams to generate innovative ideas and ensuring data security through firewalls and partnerships with trusted vendors.
Addressing Employee Concerns and Future Outlook
Jing: Jing discussed legal concerns around AI-generated content and the unknowns regarding intellectual property ownership. She highlighted the ongoing need for human involvement in AI-driven innovation.
Conetha: Conetha shared positive team experiences with AI, focusing on its role in reducing mundane tasks and enhancing job satisfaction.
Greg: Greg emphasized the importance of clear internal communication, ongoing updates, and storytelling to mitigate fears about AI replacing jobs. He advocated for a balanced approach, combining AI tools with human expertise to drive efficiency and innovation.
Q&A
How do you use AI in meetings as a public company, and how do you protect your input?
Jing: There are private tools available for meeting minutes to address legal concerns. Using internal AI tools ensures data security.
Greg: Microsoft Co-Pilot for meeting notes stays within company walls. Free AI tools can be used in a sandbox environment to avoid feeding external models.
How do you protect sensitive data within a firewall?
Greg: Utilizing separate platforms for different roles and permissions is essential. Properly managing roles and permissions can prevent unauthorized data exposure.
Will the next generation have critical thinking skills?
Greg: There's a shift towards roles like prompt engineers. While AI might handle analytical tasks, critical thinking is still necessary. Education should integrate these tools to maintain and develop critical thinking skills.
What about content ownership in the AI era?
Jing: Legal ambiguities exist regarding AI-generated ideas. Currently, intellectual property (IP) can only be registered and owned by humans. Hybrid approaches where humans guide AI are more practical.
How do you address employee fears about AI replacing jobs?
Conetha: Emphasize that AI assists in reducing mundane tasks, allowing employees to focus on more meaningful work. AI can scale job functions rather than replace them.
Greg: Internal communication campaigns and story sharing can alleviate fears. Continuous dialogue ensures employees understand AI’s supportive role.
What should be implemented today regarding AI?
Conetha: Attending conferences and creating an AI council are crucial. Start small with and gradually expand AI applications.
Greg: Use AI tools to generate industry-specific ideas and strategies. Empower teams to innovate with AI, focusing on data security and collaboration with partners.
About the Speakers:
Conetha Van Aswegen (Director, Finance, Analytics, & AI Initiatives, Salesforce)
Conetha Van Aswegen is a Director of Finance, Analytics, & AI Initiatives at Salesforce, #1 CRM platform for businesses or all sizes and has been ranked as the top CRM provider for 10 years in a row by International Data Corporation.
She’s been with Salesforce over 15 years and has held multiple roles prior
Leads a team focused on Salesforce App development (for Finance), Analytics, AI and Automation
Passionate about process improvement and developing solutions with a focus on driving effectiveness and efficiency in organizations and teams.
Previously served as Business Auditor for Levi Strauss.
Jing Nealis is the CFO of SES AI Corporation, headquartered in Boston, a global leader in the development and manufacturing of high-performance lithium-metal (Li-Metal) rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles and other applications.
She has 18 years of global finance and operations experience in private and public companies and led several emerging energy transition companies through successful scale-up and commercialization.
Prior to joining SES, Jing served multinational corporations at the Deloitte offices in Chicago, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Greg Cohen (Senior Director, Content Marketing & AI Steering Committee, WestRock)
Greg Cohen is Senior Director of Content Marketing and serves on the Generative AI steering team at WestRock, the 2nd largest American packaging company and one of the world's largest paper and packaging companies with US $21.3 billion in annual revenue and more than 50,000 team members in more than 300 locations in 30 countries around the world.
Works with providers large and small to identify opportunities for injecting AI into our business.
Leads marketing and communications pilots with generative AI to improve content effectiveness and production throughput.
Leads digital experience ideation, innovation, strategy and operations on WestRock.com, integrating sales, marketing, IT and communications team members to continually measure and optimize engagement.