AI in Treasury and Finance: Planning for Opportunity

"Get your hands dirty." That is not a command usually heard inside the HQ of a major bank, but it was one of the main messages for the audience at ING's Orange live – The Future of Payment event. Here, Annelinda Koldewe, ING's Head of Payments and Cash Management reflects on the bank's recent flagship webinar.

Corporate cash management is entering a more dynamic phase. AI is sharpening how treasury interprets data, while tokenisation is beginning to reshape how cash and investments move. Real-time visibility and connected platforms are opening new possibilities, but the advantage will sit with teams able to integrate systems, trust their data, and act with confidence.

APAC's trading vibrancy is sometimes tested by cross-border payment inefficiencies. Bank of America's Serina Hourican, APAC Global Commercial Sales Head, Phil Carmalt, APAC Product Head, and Baris Kalay, APAC Corporate Sales Head, examine the challenges and the transactional FX options available to lock certainty, accelerate cash, and reduce operating costs.

AI adoption in treasury is rapidly accelerating, 3/4 of organisations are currently expanding their AI usage, mainly for forecasting, fraud detection, and reconciliation, though maturity remains low across most firms. Referencing findings from PwC's latest Global Treasury Survey, Robin Page (TMI) and Naman Kuwadia (PwC) discuss the rise of agentic AI and 'digital workforces' that integrate across treasury systems to automate processes, enhance decision-making, and break down silos. Framing AI as an augmentation tool, Kuwadia highlights how treasurers can drive greater efficiency, strengthen risk control, and shift their focus toward strategic insight, governance, and higher-value business partnering.

In this special edition of TreasuryCast, Robin Page (TMI) sits down with Bruno Lopes (PwC) to explore the growing momentum behind managed services and why the topic is rising up the agenda for treasurers. Drawing on insights from the latest PwC Global Treasury Survey, they discuss how multinational organisations are leveraging managed services to enhance treasury operations, from forecasting to data analytics, while enabling finance teams to focus more strategically as their role continues to evolve.

The results of a new survey by Nomentia, in collaboration with Juniper Research, offer a window into the mindsets of European finance and treasury leaders at a time of shifting priorities and persistent challenges.

The European Payments Initiative (EPI) is building a homegrown payments backbone for Europe. At the centre sits Wero, a digital wallet and instant payments platform backed by a coalition of leading banks, including BNP Paribas.

Global logistics giant Maersk has reimagined how its treasury operates across Europe, reducing hundreds of euro accounts to a single centralised structure – and winning a TMI Award in the process. Working in partnership with BNP Paribas, the company has tackled legacy complexity, strengthened liquidity control, and built a scalable model for the future of cash management within the SEPA zone. Here, the project team share their insights and key learnings for other treasury professionals wanting to follow suit.

Instead of being in a "constant state of reaction", treasuries should focus on adaptability to ensure change feels manageable as opposed to a continuous run of hurdles. Here, Mark Appelman, CEO Bank Mendes Gans (BMG) outlines his organisation's philosophy as it strives to assist clients to future-proof their treasury departments.

Corporate treasury is entering a new phase, with tokenisation moving from concept to deployment. It spans high-value transactions and even programmable ESG-linked flows, and while the shift is subtle for now, it promises to reshape how money moves, how risk is managed, and how treasury connects to the broader business.