FINANCE & SPEND
They buy a tool, bolt it onto a workflow that was already broken and call it transformation.” She explains that real modernisation means the AI is built on actual transaction data, the messy reality and all, not just plugged in from the side.“ That’ s the difference between making mistakes faster and actually making better decisions,” she adds.
Agreeing with Donna on the messy reality of data, Spencer says:“ The biggest misconception for executives is that they have to wait for their data to be clean. The secret is that it’ ll never happen. You have to start with the best information you have at the time and use AI to the best of your ability to get answers.”
Donna points to SAP Clean Core as a real-world example of exactly this principle, working with what’ s already there, rather than starting over.“ A lot of finance teams are in the middle of moving between SAP variants right now, whether that’ s to S / 4HANA or cloud ERP through BTP, and the whole Clean Core principle is about keeping that core clean instead of cluttering it with custom code,” says Donna.“ If your invoice layer works alongside the ERP rather than being locked inside a single ERP environment, finance can make that move without ripping everything out and they keep getting the full value of the ERP investment they’ ve already made. The business keeps running through the transition instead of stalling for it.”
60 September 2026