Preparing for the future of finance starts with context and control
Every week, I speak to finance professionals who seem to all face the same pressure: deliver more strategic insight while managing an ever-growing to-do list. , Regardless of size, stage, or industry, they’re struggling to keep up with rising expectations while buried under work that’s essential but doesn’t feel like it adds real value.
The numbers back that up: recent research shows 79% of finance teams are still spending too much time on manual tasks, while 89% are expected to play a strategic advisory role. We all know AI promises to change that.
But here’s what many miss: AI can’t fix broken processes or fragmented systems. In reality, many teams aren’t ready to capitalize on what’s coming.
Before finance teams start building for the autonomous future, they need to improve in two areas:
- Context: Real-time visibility into where and how money is being spent
- Control: Policies, approvals, and tools that guide spending decisions
A practical framework for the AI era
So how can you start gaining this context and control? Here are a few places to zoom in:
- Visibility is the foundation for everything: You can’t automate what you can’t see. Consolidating spend (think cards, AP, procurement) in one place lets you catch issues in real time instead of during the close. It sounds simple, but this often requires rethinking current systems and processes.
- Policy isn’t red tape, it’s key infrastructure: Policies that are vague or buried in a forgotten PDF slow everyone down. But clear, enforceable rules can stop unnecessary expenses and give AI the context to stop or flag problematic spend.
- Approval flows should align to risk: Long email chains, multiple systems, requests that sit untouched for weeks — it’s no wonder employees circumvent the process. Approvals are about matching the level of scrutiny to the level of risk so there are no unnecessary delays.
- Managed AP helps capture lost dollars: Pulling all invoices into one system with built-in approvals and safeguards stops duplicate payments, catches errors early, and lets you actually manage your biggest spend category. This can help you reclaim dollars lost for no good reason.
- Bring procurement in early: By the time a contract hits AP, most of the savings opportunity is gone. Top teams put more dollars through procurement first to maximize opportunities for savings (negotiations) and minimize surprise spend.
Preparing for an agents-led future
The era of agents-led finance, where AI handles the work you shouldn’t be doing and your team focuses on strategy and big decisions, is not far off. But to get there, teams need to strengthen the operational layer that AI depends on.
Ramp's new guide, Autonomous Finance: FinOps for the AI Era provides a practical methodology for building modern financial operations. We realize solving everything at once isn’t practical or realistic, so this guide walks through actionable steps you can implement at any size or maturity. Start with the highest-impact areas, build momentum, and expand from there.
Because better visibility leads to better control. Better control leads to better decisions. And better decisions drive real business impact. Ready to get started?
Get the complete guide: Autonomous Finance: FinOps for the AI Era →
“Ramp is the only vendor that can service all of our employees across the globe in one unified system. They handle multiple currencies seamlessly, integrate with all of our accounting systems, and thanks to their customizable card and policy controls, we're compliant worldwide.” ”
Brandon Zell
Chief Accounting Officer, Notion
“When our teams need something, they usually need it right away. The more time we can save doing all those tedious tasks, the more time we can dedicate to supporting our student-athletes.”
Sarah Harris
Secretary, The University of Tennessee Athletics Foundation, Inc.
“Ramp had everything we were looking for, and even things we weren't looking for. The policy aspects, that's something I never even dreamed of that a purchasing card program could handle.”
Doug Volesky
Director of Finance, City of Mount Vernon
“Switching from Brex to Ramp wasn’t just a platform swap—it was a strategic upgrade that aligned with our mission to be agile, efficient, and financially savvy.”
Lily Liu
CEO, Piñata
“With Ramp, everything lives in one place. You can click into a vendor and see every transaction, invoice, and contract. That didn’t exist in Zip. It’s made approvals much faster because decision-makers aren’t chasing down information—they have it all at their fingertips.”
Ryan Williams
Manager, Contract and Vendor Management, Advisor360°
“The ability to create flexible parameters, such as allowing bookings up to 25% above market rate, has been really good for us. Plus, having all the information within the same platform is really valuable.”
Caroline Hill
Assistant Controller, Sana Benefits
“More vendors are allowing for discounts now, because they’re seeing the quick payment. That started with Ramp—getting everyone paid on time. We’ll get a 1-2% discount for paying early. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you’re dealing with hundreds of millions of dollars, it does add up.”
James Hardy
CFO, SAM Construction Group
“We’ve simplified our workflows while improving accuracy, and we are faster in closing with the help of automation. We could not have achieved this without the solutions Ramp brought to the table.”
Kaustubh Khandelwal
VP of Finance, Poshmark
