If robots replace financiers, what will happen in 10 years?

Today, digital transformation has touched a variety of areas of our lives. Technological changes have already transformed financial studying: the focus has shifted to strategic thinking and business analysis. But machine intelligence can not completely change the profession, moreover, the demand for specialists is still very high.

According to the research of ACCA (Global Professional Association of specialists in the field of Finance, audit and accounting), robotic processes will increase efficiency, speed of services, complement the work of employees, change the placement of jobs in consulting companies, reduce the number of routine work and basic tasks.

The first steps of the career ladder precisely get hit. So many companies face the question: how to train specialists for the future of top management?

What is the biggest change in the financial profession?

According to our research, 55% of respondents believe that the development of Artificial intelligence (AI) will affect the financial industry in the prospective from 3 to 10 years; 42% think that the indicator ROC (Rate of Change – rate of change prices) and economic flexibility will be affected. 41% of respondents guess that the transition to data processing in the cloud will also affect the profession. Many of them point out that the consistency of global financial and business standards and data analysis techniques will definitely change the profession as well as it was happened since the appearance of cashless society. If we talk about specific competencies, first of all we should focus on the following skills:

• Corporate management is a pledge of creating market confidence. It is necessary for companies that need access to equity for long-term investments. Through the competent corporate management, you can help the organization set and achieve goals, manage its Affairs and check the results.
• Professional ethics is considered one of the most important competencies of the next decade. But in countries where the level of corruption is high or the role of cultural religious traditions is very important, it is more difficult to implement generally accepted norms. This is called Rick Management.
• Risk management is the responsibility of different financial professionals (internal and external auditors and accountants) in areas such as strategic planning, technology and reputation. Familiarity with the best foreign practices in risk management will play an important role in 5-10 years.

What skills will help to succeed?

New trends create a completely different picture of the world for both business and financial professionals. Some trends have a serious impact on the entire profession, others — only in its separate region. This process is already irreversible, and the only thing that financiers can do is to increase their competence and acquire new skills.

But what exactly should be developed in itself? According to ACCA, there are seven areas where development will help navigate the new digital financial space:

• Technical skills and ethics. A specialist needs to adhere to certain standards, without violating the principles of integrity, impartiality and skepticism. He should be incorruptible, faithful to his profession and be able to communicate with clients. Compliance with ethical standards – an important competitive advantage over technology;
• Intelligence. Financier keeps up with the times, receives and uses the necessary knowledge;
• Creativity – while it is not available AI, so it is one of the most popular in the robotic future areas for development. A financial specialist can use existing knowledge and discover potential sources of ideas;
• Orientation in the digital space — knowledge about existing and emerging digital technologies, opportunities and strategies for their application;
• Emotional intelligence (EQ) — another area in which robotic programs and AI cannot completely replace a person. EQ is based on four principles: awareness, self-esteem, motivation and adaptability. Each of them allows you to learn important life and business strategies. It is useful in any profession: a person with a highly developed EQ moves faster in his career, because he is more aware of the goals and realizes the potential;
• Forecasting. It is important for a financier to anticipate future trends using the breadth of knowledge about innovations. For successful business it is necessary to be able to assess the solvency of the partner or borrower, using a minimum of information to determine the need for investment and optimize the investment portfolio of the company;
• Experience. To achieve the desired results, the financier anticipates and understands the expectations of the client, creates additional value for him.

Today we live in a world that changes every day. Against the background of all the changes, the time for the development of new skills and the search for opportunities is rapidly decreasing. Permanent education is the key to maintaining a place in the labor market. In order to prevent robots from taking their niche, it is necessary to focus on the development of creative thinking and interpersonal communication — those areas that artificial intelligence is not so easy to replace.

Vera Starodubtseva, FCCA, head of ACCA Russia.

Source: Expert Tatarstan