The Irish Tech News Podcast

AI in finance is moving past potential and changing how work gets done. The question is what it can actually deliver.
In this episode of One Vision Podcast, Theodora Lau talks with Fiona Ashley, VP of Product Marketing at SAP Concur, about how finance teams are shifting from using AI to get work done to using AI to change how the work gets done. Drawing on SAP Concur’s latest CFO Insights Report, Fiona explains why half of finance leaders say proving ROI is their biggest AI deployment challenge, and why measurement has to go beyond time saved and error reduction.
They discuss:
How real-time spend visibility moves finance from reacting after the fact to spotting risks and identifying trends and opportunities early

How close we are to the self-managing expense report, and why a human stays in the loop

AI-generated fake receipts: 92% of CFOs now believe employees may be using AI to falsify receipts, up from 84% in 2025

How CFOs should decide which AI investments to protect, pause, or reduce heading into 2027

Why connected, trusted data is the foundation for scaling AI

🔥Hot take: “We’re no longer asking how AI can help me get work done, but how AI can change how the work gets done.” — Fiona Ashley

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

Keywords: AI in finance, CFO Insights, SAP Concur, agentic AI, expense management, AI ROI, spend visibility, fraud, governance, data, digital transformation

#AI #Finance #CFO #Fintech #SAPConcur

Timestamp:
00:00 Welcome and Introductions
01:43 AI From Hype to Outcomes
04:44 Real-Time Spend Visibility
08:46 Self-Managing Expenses
11:26 Fraud Risks and Governance
14:03 CFOs Investing in AI
16:47 Discipline and Data Foundations
17:46 Closing 

More about our guest 
🌐Fiona Ashley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionaashley/ 
🌐CFO Insights Report: https://www.concur.com/resource-center/reports/how-finance-leaders-manage-spend-during-volatility?pid=social_selling&cid=akent_uk_linkedin_theo_november26%5C 

More about our host and One Vision Podcast 
🌐Theodora Lau on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theodoralau/ 
🌐Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence (book): https://www.bankingonaibook.com/ 
🌐Unconventional Ventures (company): https://www.unconventionalventures.com/ 
🌐Listen to all One Vision Podcast episodes by visiting: https://shows.acast.com/one-vision

As AI becomes more and more intertwined in our daily lives, how should we be dealing with it?  A HOSA Institute Report recommends that the effective governance and deployment of Al requires the establishment of three interdependent pillars: Institutional Accountability, Operational Control and Human Capacity.
To find out more about HOSA and their report which can be read here I caught up with Leo Cullen, Faculty Fellow AI, Enterprise & Industry at HOSA. Leo talks about his background, What HOSA does, their report, AI, recursive self improvement, Neuralink and more.
More about HOSA:
HOSA is the convergence that emerged from 3 very different people who had spent most of their lives wondering "Why is it that Change holds for some people, but not others?"  Each one held a conviction that the answers to this question would be found at the intersection of Science and Lived Experience. 
What follows is the background story of all 3 individuals that led them to cross paths, compare notes and find themselves bringing pieces of a much larger puzzle to the table.
 A puzzle that would become the Human Operating System Architecture (HOSA).

The Beta Festival, Irelands Technology and Arts Festival which starts today is taking place across Dublin till November 22nd. In its fourth year, this year's Beta Festival explores how technology is reshaping how we sense, perceive and understand the world around us. To find out more about this year’s Beta Festival I caught up with Aisling Murray, Beta Festival’s founder and Director
Aisling talks about her background, Beta Festival, festival highlights, AI, and more.
More about the Beta Festival:
Bringing together artists working across installation, performance, sound, games, AI and digital media, the 2026 Beta Festival programme asks what happens when we de-centre the human perspective and begin to consider the intelligence of landscapes, plants, animals and machines. Audiences are invited to encounter technologies as systems that shape our relationships with each other and with the environments we inhabit.  
Renowned neurodivergent artist AlanJames Burns premieres his new exhibition, Unmasking Nature - an interactive installation featuring a rich landscape of new multi-sensory artworks. Unmasking Nature presents a sensory feast, foraged from Ireland's rich biodiversity to explore the diverse ways people connect to the world around us. The installation invites visitors to experience a number of interactive sensory activities. Society pressures neurodivergent people to mask their true selves. Yet, nature depends on diversity. Unmasking Nature is a sanctuary for restoration.
Exploring the entangled boundaries between the digital and the living, Beta Festival this year launches a new strand of programming for non-human audiences. Titled ‘The Other Audience’ the inaugural exhibition begins with our most immediate non-human companions: our pets. Dublin-based artist Gabriela Waclawska has developed a new work that takes animals seriously as audiences, participants, and co-creators.
Waclawska's 'woofy woofy ૮֊˕֊ა੭ bow-wow hauhau', is an interactive sound installation for dogs that explores what happens when canines are given the freedom to play, explore and simply be themselves. Dogs attending the event will even make their own music, and their owners are welcome to attend too.  Each half hour slot welcomes 5 dogs and their owners into the space. The interactive installation will run at Project Arts Centre from 17 to 19 November.

At the moment businesses are going through their biggest digital transformation since they adopted cloud computing, as they get to grips with AI.  Businesses risk focusing too much on the technology itself when approaching AI transformation. Daire Cunningham, COO at Spanish Point Technologies thinks that amid the rush to adopt AI, businesses can easily start with the wrong question, which AI tool should we use, rather than what problem are we actually trying to solve? 
I recently caught up with Daire. and he spoke to me about his background, what Spanish Point Technologies does, AI, Microsoft partnership, data centres and more.
More about Spanish Point Technologies:
Spanish Point Technologies is a pioneering software engineering firm and founding Microsoft Partner based in Dublin. Established in 2005 by CEO John Corley and Chairman Donal Cullen, the company’s 100+ strong team of software engineers drives growth through innovative projects and long-term customer partnerships. The business spans three core areas.
Smart AIM is an Azure DevOps accelerator for ISVs and software development companies, providing prebuilt libraries and framework services that streamline development, minimise risk, and maximise ROI. Smart AIM has been implemented for over 30 organisations across 60 projects in Ireland, the UK, and the Nordics.
Matching Engine is an enterprise software solution for international Collective Management Organisations that ensures rights holders are paid fairly for their intellectual property. Since its launch in 2018, the Matching Engine has expanded to 13 countries across Europe and North America. Customers using the platform distribute over €2.6 billion in royalties annually, guaranteeing fair remuneration for more than 758,000 rights holders and creators worldwide. Spanish Point’s digital transformation practice delivers award-winning, solution-focused engineering for enterprises tackling complex technology challenges in the UK and Ireland.
Recognised among the top 1% of Microsoft cloud partners worldwide, Spanish Point is Ireland’s largest Azure partner and an Azure Expert Managed Service Provider (MSP). The company holds Microsoft Azure Solution Partner designations for Digital & App Innovation, Data & AI, and Infrastructure, and is a two-time winner of the Microsoft Ireland Country Partner of the Year Award (2016, 2019). Most recently, Spanish Point became the first indigenous company in the Republic of Ireland to earn the Microsoft Azure Specialisation to Build and Modernise AI Apps.

Manage Engine recently announced plans to expand their Ireland operations after 25% year on year growth. Manage Engine,is  a division of Zoho Corporation and a leading provider of enterprise IT management and security solutions. and  has been in Ireland for nearly two decades. Their continued growth in Ireland can also be attributed to ManageEngine's local partner,Servaplex.
To find out more about this I recently caught up with Rajesh Ganesan CEO Manage Engine, Gerry Cullen Sales Director and Co-founder Servaplex, and Tim McAlpin Director and Co-founder Servaplex.
Rajesh, Gerry and Tim talk about their background, on prem v cloud, increased costs, AI, ticketing growth in Ireland and more.

More about Servaplex:
Servaplex works across government, education, financial services, construction and manufacturing, supplying, implementing and supporting enterprise IT-management technology, and has developed a particularly long relationship with ManageEngine, dating back around 17 years.