OpenAI’s CFO insists AI won’t replace judgment

Good morning. Readers of CFO Daily are keen to understand what OpenAI is doing with its finance department. I recently wrote about OpenAI's use of ChatGPT Work and received feedback on the need for finance team members to challenge AI outputs. OpenAI's CFO, Sarah Friar, addressed this in a LinkedIn post on Sunday, emphasizing that AI does not replace financial rigor or human judgment.

Instead, it assists teams in detecting issues early, improving question-asking, and providing insights before action is required. Friar stated that as OpenAI helps other companies integrate AI into their operations, it is crucial to set an example. On Monday, Friar published an essay on OpenAI's website detailing her experiences in building an AI-native finance function at OpenAI.

Two years ago, when she joined OpenAI, the company had a modest finance team supporting a rapidly growing organization. Her team's objectives were to achieve a zero-day close and maintain continuously updated forecasting. Friar outlined five lessons for CFOs: granting everyone access to AI tools, restructuring workflows around decision-making rather than tasks, enabling finance professionals to build solutions, pairing speed with accountability and controls, and measuring value per unit of intelligence.

Research from OpenAI indicates that 40% of finance professionals' specialized AI applications involve work outside traditional finance, while 22% relate to engineering tasks. Friar emphasized that finance plays a central role in strategy, capital, data, risk, and performance, providing CFOs with a unique perspective on the company's operations and a strong mandate to lead its AI transformation.

The key takeaway for CFOs might be less about adopting specific AI tools and more about redefining finance's role in utilizing the time saved through AI adoption.