Tipalti’s Global Finance Outlook: AI Hopes Meets Finance Reality
- Niv Nissenson
- Nov 4
- 2 min read
Tipalti — the AP automation SaaS provider — recently partnered with Kickstand to publish a report titled “The Global Finance Outlook: Are Finance Teams Equipped for Today’s Economy?”
The opening lines of the report set the tone well:
“Today’s organizations face a complex landscape characterized by economic uncertainty, shifting tariffs, and ever-evolving regulatory and compliance changes — all accelerated by the rapid pace of technological innovation and AI.”
Tipalti and Kickstand put numbers ahead by surveying more than 2,300 finance professionals across industries.
Automation: Not Quite “Fully Automated”
One of the more interesting findings is that despite the hype, only 7% of respondents said they have fully automated their AP operations. “Fully automated” is a vague term that isn't described in the report and my guess is it still includes humans in the loop (and may not even involve AI), but it’s clear that true end-to-end automation is rare.
Even more interesting is that 83% of finance professionals said their workload has increased over the past year, and 66% reported more manual work. That means nearly half of companies are still relying on mostly manual AP workflows. So much for the “robots taking our jobs” narrative. In finance, the humans are still typing.
Where Finance Leaders See the AI Value
When asked where AI could create the most value, finance professionals pointed to:
📊 40% — Improved financial reporting
🧾 37% — Invoice processing
🕵️♂️ 31% — Fraud detection and risk monitoring
📈 31% — Budgeting and planning
💸 30% — Payment reconciliation
These are pragmatic, process-heavy areas where automation can save time but still depends on data structure and oversight.
The Adoption Gap
According to the report, 46% of finance teams are piloting or beginning to implement AI tools, while 77% believe AI and automation are essential for making finance more strategic. Finance teams clearly understand the potential, but adoption remains slow and uneven and as we mentioned AI has some serious limitations that inhibit scaling.
My Take
I’ve always liked Tipalti. Their platform made my life easier as a CFO, particularly for streamlining payables and onboarding vendors. I’ve also covered some of their recent news, and it’s clear they’re serious about innovation.
But I’ve long felt that Tipalti, by its nature, operates in a niche function within the finance stack. It’s great at automating what’s in front of it invoices, payments, onboarding but it doesn’t see the full enterprise picture.
That’s why I believe the real AI revolution in finance will happen inside ERPs, where data is standardized, interconnected, and governed. Initiatives like NetSuite Next imply that future with AI embedded directly within the operational core rather than layered around the edges.
The Bottom Line
Tipalti’s new report shows that finance teams aren’t as automated as the industry narrative suggests. Workloads are still heavy, processes are still manual, and AI adoption remains cautious.
Finance leaders know AI is a strategic necessity but most are still trying to get their data, systems, and workflows ready for it.
The message is clear: before we can make AI strategic, we have to make finance structured.
