Editor's Note: This blog post is adapted from a transcript of our Manufacturing Minute podcast episode featuring Randy Lowman of Lake Turn Automation. The content reflects the conversational nature of the original recording.
Welcome to insights from our Manufacturing Minute podcast! I'm Megan Meador, audit and assurance partner and manufacturing and distribution industry leader here at Brown Edwards, and I'm excited to share what we learned in our conversation with Randy Lowman, founder of Lake Turn Automation.
Beyond the Buzzword
Let's face it: AI is everywhere. Every conference I attend features AI topics and subtopics. It's easy to experience what Randy calls "AI fatigue" with all the hype surrounding this technology. But when we strip away the noise, what exactly is AI in plain English?
When people hear "AI," they often think of science fiction scenarios—robots taking over the world. But in the finance and back-office world, AI is much more practical. Randy explained it simply: AI is software that can recognize patterns, make predictions, and learn from data.
The Key Difference from Traditional Automation
Many of us have used automation for years—Excel macros, robotic process automation (RPA), and other rule-based tools. These traditional solutions follow strict rules: if A, then B, else C. They do exactly what you tell them to do, nothing more.
The game-changer with AI is its ability to adapt. It can interpret context, and more importantly, it can improve with experience, much like an employee would.
Randy shared a perfect example: A rule-based bot stops completely when an invoice doesn't match its expected template. But an AI-enabled system can look at something new—like the tariff charges we're seeing on invoices today—understand that it's a new charge, review historical patterns, and still route the invoice correctly. It might even flag that a human needs to approve this new type of charge based on established thresholds.
This represents a massive shift from digital data entry clerks to digital data analysts that can actually make decisions.
Why Now?
Two major shifts have collided to make AI relevant right now. First, the technology has matured. Computer hardware and AI models are now affordable and accessible through tools like Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT Enterprise. These systems are also transitioning from large learning models to large reasoning models, meaning they can make decisions and analyze complex scenarios.
Second, the pressure on finance professionals has never been higher. We're all being asked to do more with less, with faster turnaround times. And let's be honest—it's incredibly difficult to find qualified finance professionals today.
A McKinsey study estimated that roughly half of financial planning and analysis activities could be automated. Yet another recent study showed that fewer than a third of CFOs have actually met that threshold. That gap represents a huge opportunity to save time, reduce manual work, and make smarter data-driven decisions.
Where AI is Making Real Impact Today
AI's impact in finance is often behind the scenes, but it's very real. Randy's firm has been running an extended LinkedIn series on AI agents that highlights how AI is quietly putting business processes on autopilot across all types of organizations.
Expense Management: AI-powered expense systems are flagging anomalies that used to require extensive manual review time.
Fraud Detection: Banking portals are using AI to detect fraud across millions of transactions, providing a level of security and oversight that would be impossible to achieve manually.
Daily Excel Work: While Excel Copilot isn't perfect yet, it's made significant progress in summarizing trends, providing formulas, and offering daily benefits in small but meaningful ways.
The Biggest Wins: Accounts Payable
From Randy's experience, the accounts payable process sees some of the most significant benefits from AI implementation. There's always substantial paper pushing and labor in AP, making it ripe for automation and AI enhancement.
The transformation in invoice processing is particularly impressive. Today's AI can dynamically read and understand invoices regardless of format. It can match them to purchase orders, spot unusual transactions in seconds, and even monitor for new charges like tariffs.
I recently had a client start using AI for logistical planning and execution tasks, and they've been very pleased with the outcomes. It's real, tangible value.
Financial Planning and Analysis
On the FP&A side, teams are using AI tools for scenario planning and variance analysis, which really helps improve decision-making on the fly. This aligns perfectly with the pressure we're all under to do more with less—and do it faster.
For those of us who love Excel (and as accountants, most of us do), AI is enhancing our capabilities in reconciliations and forecasting. These are areas where AI can process large volumes of data and identify patterns that might take us hours or days to spot manually.
Beyond Finance: Back Office Applications
The benefits extend beyond finance:
Human Resources: HR departments are using AI bots to answer policy questions, seeing a 25 to 30 percent reduction in time spent answering repetitive questions.
Operations: Operations teams are using AI for predictive models for scheduling and machine maintenance, which is generating significant time savings.
A Shift in Mindset
I'll be honest—this represents a shift in mindset for many of us. We're regimented accountants. We like our spreadsheets and our established processes. The idea of some AI bot running in the background can feel uncomfortable. We're rule followers by nature, and we don't like to break the rules.
But here's what Randy emphasized, and I think it's crucial: AI doesn't replace people. It amplifies them. It takes repetitive tasks off our plates so we can focus on innovation, problem-solving, and analysis—all things that AI can't do and that we, as humans, genuinely enjoy doing. That's a win-win.
The Bottom Line
AI is already making real impact in finance and back-office operations. It's not some far-off future technology—it's working today to make our jobs easier and our teams more effective. The capability has finally caught up to necessity, and that's why every boardroom is talking about AI right now.
As Randy put it: AI doesn't replace accountants. But accountants who use AI will have a significant advantage over those who don't.
Stay tuned for more insights from our Manufacturing Minute podcast series, where we explore the trends and hot topics shaping the world of manufacturing and finance.
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AI in Finance: From Hype to Real Business Value
Manufacturing Minute
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