AI in Finance:
Where to start, safely
A private DIFC briefing for CFOs and senior finance leaders on how digital coworkers are changing month-end close, reconciliations, reporting, audit support and board materials.
Free to attend, by invitation. Every request is reviewed before a seat is confirmed. Attendance is limited to senior finance, accounting and transformation leaders.
Worked examples, run live. A small group of senior finance leaders.
The question isn’t whether. It’s where to start.
Finance leaders are no longer asking whether AI matters. In the last few months, AI in finance has moved from chat-based assistance to workflow-level execution. The important shift is not that AI can answer finance questions. It is that AI systems can now be trained around specific finance workflows, connected to approved data sources, used inside familiar tools and reviewed by humans before anything is circulated or acted on.
That changes what finance teams can delegate. It also changes what finance leaders need to understand.
This briefing answers those questions, practically.
A private briefing with limited seats.
We review every request before confirming a seat, to keep the room focused on senior finance, accounting and transformation leaders. Tell us a little about you and we will be in touch.
Saqr Academy is a KHDA licensed applied AI training institute in Dubai.
From experimentation to workflow adoption.
This is already moving inside major financial institutions. Anthropic recently released ten ready-to-run finance agent templates for work including pitchbooks, KYC screening and month-end close. The agents ship through Claude Cowork, Claude Code and Claude Managed Agents, with Microsoft 365 add-ins for Excel, PowerPoint and Word, and Outlook listed as coming soon.
Public reporting has also named Goldman Sachs, Visa, Citi and AIG among major institutions adopting Claude, with financial services described as Anthropic’s second-largest enterprise revenue sector after technology.
The signal is clear. The question for most finance teams is not whether to respond. It is where to begin.
What a digital coworker means in finance
A digital coworker is an AI system trained around a specific finance workflow. It works with approved files, templates, instructions and review rules. It prepares work, flags exceptions, drafts first versions and assembles supporting evidence. It is not there to make finance decisions.
- Work assembled from approved files and templates
- Exceptions and unusual movements, flagged for review
- First versions of commentary and reporting
- Supporting evidence, organised and indexed
- Judgement
- Approval
- Ownership of the numbers
Nothing is circulated or acted on without finance.
What you will leave with
Built for the people responsible for the function, not only the people doing the manual work. You will leave with a clearer view of:
Which finance workflows are ready for AI support
The best starting points are usually repetitive, source-based and reviewable.
Where control should remain with finance
AI can prepare the work, but approval, judgement and accountability stay with the team.
How to choose a first pilot
The safest first pilots are useful enough to matter, but controlled enough to avoid unnecessary risk.
What capability your team will need
Finance teams will need to learn how to brief, review and manage digital coworkers, not just prompt a chatbot.
Five workflows we will run on the day
During the briefing we will show examples of digital coworkers supporting practical finance workflows. Final examples may be adjusted closer to the event, but expected scenarios include the following.
Month-end close
A digital coworker reviews a finance folder, identifies missing inputs, checks unusual movements and prepares a controller or CFO-ready summary.
General ledger reconciliation
A digital coworker compares ledger activity, bank data and supporting files, then produces an exception schedule for finance review.
Variance commentary
A digital coworker reviews actuals against budget and prior periods, identifies the main drivers and drafts a first version of management commentary.
Board and management materials
A digital coworker turns finance data, commentary and supporting files into a first draft of the reporting narrative, slide headlines and likely questions from leadership.
Audit evidence preparation
A digital coworker organises support files, creates an evidence index and flags gaps before audit review.
The final selection is confirmed closer to the event, shaped around what the people in the room are working on.
How finance keeps control
The most important question is not what AI can do. It is how the finance team controls it. The briefing covers the operating model we recommend for early adoption.
The goal is not to remove finance judgement.
The goal is to reduce manual assembly, improve review quality and give the team a better first version of the work.
Who this briefing is for
Each approved organisation may request up to three seats: one senior finance leader, one operational finance lead and one transformation, analytics or systems lead.
The morning, minute by minute
Who you will hear from
CEO, Saqr Academy
Ayo leads Saqr Academy, a KHDA licensed applied AI training institute in Dubai.
He works with organisations to move AI from general awareness into practical workflows, training teams, embedding AI systems and building custom software where off-the-shelf tools are not enough.
Before founding Saqr Academy, Ayo spent 13 years in executive education and regional leadership roles, working with professionals and organisations across emerging markets. His focus is now helping business leaders understand what AI can safely take off their teams’ plates, and what should remain under human judgement.
About Saqr Academy
Saqr Academy is a KHDA licensed applied AI training institute based in Dubai. We help organisations move beyond AI awareness and build practical AI capability inside the work their teams already do.
For finance teams, we train professionals, embed AI workflows into existing processes and build custom software where off-the-shelf tools are not enough.
Our approach is practical and controlled. AI prepares the work, surfaces exceptions and accelerates first drafts. Finance teams keep judgement, approval and ownership of the numbers.
Is this briefing for you?
Seats are limited and every request is reviewed. The briefing is on Thursday, 18 June 2026 at DIFC AI Centre, Dubai. If this is for you, request an invitation and we will be in touch.