E17: Why a16z is All-In on AI for Finance Teams with Partner Seema Amble

In this episode, Sasha sits down with Seema Amble, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Seema shares her research on the transformation of the CFO’s office, and how generative AI is powering financial teams. She discusses how AI can empower CFOs and finance teams to focus on strategic rather manual tasks, increasing client communication through automation, the impact of AI on valuations in service businesses such as law and accounting, and the progression from “service as a software” vs “software as a service”. Seema also discusses investing cycles, and how AI adoption in enterprise might follow the trajectory of other technologies, beginning with consumer adoption first. 

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LINKS:

The CFO in Crisis: https://a16z.com/the-cfo-in-crisis-mode-modern-times-call-for-new-tools/

Death, Taxes, and Accounting: https://a16z.com/generative-ai-in-accounting/

X/SOCIAL

@seema_amble (Seema)

@sashaorloff (Sasha)

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00:00) Introduction to Turpentine Finance Podcast

(00:01:44) Discussing the CFO in Crisis Mode article

(00:02:10) Challenges faced by CFOs with legacy software

(00:06:35) The pyramid graph of finance team tasks and market insights

(00:15:10) Generative AI's impact on finance

(00:16:24) Emerging trends and changes in the market

(00:20:14) The rise of bundled solutions in finance

(00:22:49) Death, taxes, and AI: Transforming accounting

(00:24:33) The excitement of AI in accounting

(00:26:42) Challenges and opportunities in AI adoption

(00:29:29) Incentive alignment and talent development in service businesses

(00:32:36) The future of services as software

(00:34:14) AI's impact on business models and valuation

(00:38:17) Andreessen Horowitz's AI investment strategy

(00:40:07) Future trends and predictions in AI

(00:44:12) Engaging with Andreessen Horowitz

(00:45:18) Conclusion and call to action