Majority of Young Finance Professionals Feel Threatened by Emerging Technologies

As per a study conducted by a financial analytics firm named Metapraxis, the opinion of new breed of finance professionals is mixed with regards to the impact of the developing technologies on the financial services sector.

Metapraxis surveyed 402 finance professionals (those born after 1981) half from the US and half from the UK. Out of those who participated in the survey, a significant number expressed that the automation of core finance processes could potentially cause a threat to their jobs. Around 67% of the participants expressed that they have concerns regarding the automation of finance processes and its potential impact on their careers. More than three quarters (78%) of the participants believe that more automation would add great value not only to the finance department but also to the overall business operations.

The participants to the survey had different opinions regarding the technologies that will impact the finance sector the most. 52% of the respondents were of the opinion that advanced analytics, would impact the finance sector the most. Apart from advanced analytics technologies such as AI and machine learning, data visualization and cloud services were also seen as key.

The survey also highlighted difference of attitudes in two major regions. 27% of the US participants expressed that they feel secure in their role and that they are not threatened by the potential impact of automation, compared with this only 16% of the UK respondents felt and expressed the same. The report authors have suggested that this may be due to the reason that finance departments in the UK are automating their processes much before their US counterparts. It is being reported that around 64% of the UK finance departments have started automating their processes.