Long-Term Tech Investments Position Top Finance Organizations to Extract Maximum Value From AI, Extending Market Advantage

October 22, 2024 at 10:00 AM EDT

Digital World Class^® Finance Organizations Operate With 47% Lower Process Costs and 50% Fewer Full-Time Staff Compared to Peers

Generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) is reshaping the finance landscape, disrupting traditional operations and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. As finance organizations face increasing pressure to increase innovation and cut costs, Digital World Class^® organizations are uniquely positioned to leverage Gen AI to foresee the future and uncover new opportunities for faster transformation.

The latest research from The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT) reveals that Digital World Class^® finance organizations are now operating at 47% lower costs with 50% fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) staff – and their advantage extends well beyond cost savings, delivering superior value compared to their peers.

These organizations have fewer total FTEs per billion in revenue than peer group organizations in transaction processing roles alone, with 64% fewer FTEs in transactional roles, 32% fewer FTEs in financial planning and analysis roles, and 29% fewer in specialist finance roles. Focusing on higher-value roles, alongside increased automation, delivers substantially more value significantly faster as they close and consolidate financials 36% faster, complete forecasts five days sooner, and dedicate 82% more time to forward-looking analyses. As a result, management expresses 24% greater confidence in their work, and they are 44% more likely to be considered a valued business partner.

Remarkably, finance is the only back-office business function that reduced costs as a percentage of revenue from 2023 to 2024 while investing more in technology. Consistent investment in technology is a crucial driver of finance’s efficiency. Their technology costs are 11% lower than their peers, thanks to consistent investments in modern architecture and emerging technologies such as Gen AI, smart automation, advanced analytics, and collaboration tools. These investments continue to reduce costs while increasing overall speed. Despite spending less on technology as a percentage of revenue, Digital World Class^® finance organizations operate with a technology-intensive model, dedicating 15.4% of their total operating costs to technology – 41% more than their peers.

The gap between Digital World Class^® and typical finance organizations continues to widen. Digital World Class^® finance functions are:

59% more likely to have automated customer-to-cash processes, enhancing scalability and freeing up staff for higher-value activities
Generating 95% of customer invoices electronically, improving efficiency and reducing manual errors
Delivering 11% longer days payable outstanding and 48% shorter days sales outstanding
19% more likely to use standard data and coding definitions, reducing complexity and improving data accuracy
Providing 2X greater online access for management information report users, offering real-time visibility into operating performance

“After years of strategic technology investments, Digital World Class^® finance teams have mastered optimization. This frees them up to focus more on predicting, preparing, and adapting for the future, putting them in the best possible position to fully leverage AI without having to play catch up,” said Vince Griffin, principal and Executive Advisory Finance and Global Business Services practice leader.

Gen AI is poised to further expand the Digital World Class^® advantage, boosting staff productivity by 48% and reducing finance process costs by 42%. For those who know how to deploy Gen AI effectively, the possibilities are limitless, driving exponential innovation and value creation.

The Hackett Group defines Digital World Class^® finance organizations as those that achieve top-decile performance in business value and operational excellence. The 2024 research includes benchmarks, performance studies and advisory insights from global companies engaged in procurement transformation A public version of the report – “Insights From Top Performers: How to Level Up With Gen AI” – is available free, with registration, at: https://go.poweredbyhackett.com/dwcfin2406nr.

About The Hackett Group

The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT) is an IP-based, Gen AI strategic consulting and executive advisory firm that enables Digital World Class^® performance. Using AI XPLR^™ – our AI assessment platform – our experienced professionals guide organizations to harness the power of Gen AI to digitally transform their operations and achieve quantifiable, breakthrough results, allowing us to be key architects of their Gen AI journey.

Our expertise is grounded in unparalleled best practices insights from benchmarking the world’s leading businesses – including 97% of the Dow Jones Industrials, 89% of the Fortune 100, 70% of the DAX 40 and 55% of the FTSE 100 – and are delivered leveraging our Digital Transformation Platform, Hackett Connect^™ and Quantum Leap^®.

For more information on The Hackett Group, visit: https://www.thehackettgroup.com/ or email media@thehackettgroup.com.

Trademarks

The Hackett Group^®, quadrant logo, Digital World Class^® and Quantum Leap^®are the registered marks of The Hackett Group^®.

Cautionary Statement Regarding “Forward-Looking” Statements

This release contains “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements including without limitation, words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” or other similar phrases or variations of such words or similar expressions indicating, present or future anticipated or expected occurrences or outcomes are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical fact and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that may impact such forward-looking statements include without limitation, the ability of The Hackett Group to effectively market its digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and other consulting services, competition from other consulting and technology companies that may have or develop in the future, similar offerings, the commercial viability of The Hackett Group and its services as well as other risk detailed in The Hackett Group’s reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The Hackett Group does not undertake any duty to update this release or any forward-looking statements contained herein.