Excel At AI In Finance

Episodet

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  I've Watched AI Make Finance Teams Busier for a Year. Here's What Finally Paid Off. 28.07.2026 18min

  The same AI tool, in the same week, saved me a whole afternoon on one job and cost me one on another. This episode draws the line between the AI that pays you back in finance and the AI that just makes more work with a nicer font, grounded in fresh 2025 and 2026 data and a rule I call the verification tax. The story behind this episode Two finance jobs, same week, same AI tool, opposite results. In this episode Name "workslop" and spot it before you pass it downstream. See why 40% of workers got handed broken AI work in a single month. Learn why 95% of enterprise AI pilots returned nothing measurable. Split your recurring finance work into checkable work and judgment work. Ask 3 questions before you point AI at any task. The takeaway "The finance pros who learn to draw this line don't just get their nights back. They become the ones their company can't afford to lose." Resources mentioned Finance AI Lab, the membership where finance pros build real AI skills in 15 minutes a day: https://www.f9finance.com/finance-ai-lab/ Finance AI Insider, the free weekly newsletter: https://www.f9finance.com/newsletter/ The AI Library, the prompts and templates I use every week: https://www.f9finance.com/ai-library/ Studies referenced: BetterUp Labs and Stanford's Social Media Lab on "workslop"; MIT's 2025 State of AI in Business; the 2026 Journal of Accounting Research field study; the "Ironies of Generative AI" research. About the host Mike runs F9 Finance and is a senior finance leader working in the trenches. He writes the Finance AI Insider newsletter and runs the Finance AI Lab community for finance pros learning AI without the hype.
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  Claude Fable 5 Launched, Vanished, and Came Back Faster Than A Close 21.07.2026 17min

  On June 9th, Anthropic shipped the most powerful AI model the public had ever been allowed to touch. The most powerful AI model on the planet launched, got pulled by the US government 3 days later, and came back 3 weeks after that. In this episode I break down what the Claude Fable 5 saga means for any finance pro building AI into real work, and the 3 moves that keep a vanished tool from blowing up your deadline. In this episode Walk through the full Fable 5 timeline: launch, government pull, and return in about 3 weeks. See why frontier AI is a different dependency than Excel or your ERP. Reframe model risk as concentration risk, the kind finance already manages. Get 3 moves to protect deadline work when a model can vanish overnight. About the host Mike runs F9 Finance and is a senior finance leader working in the trenches. He writes the Finance AI Insider newsletter and runs the Finance AI Lab community for finance pros learning AI without the hype. This week's sponsor This week's episode is brought to you by Finance AI Lab. One new AI skill. Every two weeks. 15 minutes a day. The Lab is where finance pros build the AI skills that make them the ones their company can't afford to lose. Each roadmap runs ten working days at fifteen minutes each. Fifty-nine dollars a month, cancel anytime. https://www.f9finance.com/finance-ai-lab/ More from F9 Finance Get the weekly newsletter: Finance AI Insider, one email a week with the AI workflows worth your time. https://www.f9finance.com/newsletter/ Watch on YouTube: F9 Finance, full episode video https://www.youtube.com/@F9Finance
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  Why AI Rollouts In Finance Keep Stalling 14.07.2026 17min

  Every vendor in finance is selling AI right now, and most of the pilots are quietly stalling. In this episode I break down the three failure modes I keep seeing across real finance functions, why each one happens, and the exact set of questions I'd ask before any AI tool ever rolls into your function again. If you've watched an AI pilot go quiet in the last year, or you're staring down a vendor deck right now, this one is for you. In This Episode Why "tool first, not job first" kills most AI rollouts before month 3 The specific question that separates pilots that ship from pilots that stall Why the CFO mandate is necessary but not sufficient (and who actually needs to own the build) The AI-ready data myth vendors are selling, and what's really the bottleneck The 3 questions to ask before any AI tool gets bought in your finance org The Takeaway "The finance pros who learn to ask these three questions become the people their function relies on when AI is on the table. They become the ones their company can't afford to lose." Resources Mentioned Finance AI Insider newsletter (free, prompts, workflows, and tips each week): https://www.f9finance.com/newsletter/ F9 Finance on YouTube (full episode video plus screen recordings for build episodes): https://www.youtube.com/@f9finance About the Host Mike runs F9 Finance and is a senior finance leader working in the trenches. He writes the Finance AI Insider newsletter and runs the Finance AI Lab community for finance pros learning AI without the hype. This Week's Sponsor This week's episode is brought to you by Finance AI Lab. One new AI skill. Every two weeks. 15 minutes a day. The Lab is where finance pros build the AI skills that make them the ones their company can't afford to lose. Each roadmap runs ten working days at fifteen minutes each. Fifty-nine dollars a month, cancel anytime. https://www.f9finance.com/finance-ai-lab/
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  Welcome to Excel at AI in Finance (Show Trailer) 10.07.2026 1min

  The AI playbook for finance pros who want their nights back. The finance job is getting bigger every quarter. The day isn't getting any longer. Every week there's a new tool, a new LinkedIn post about someone who automated their entire close, a new AI conversation happening around you. If you're the finance pro trying to keep up without giving up your evenings, your weekends, or the life you have outside the work, this show is built for you. Excel at AI in Finance is a weekly podcast for corporate finance pros learning AI without the hype. Each week you get one thing you can take into your finance job right away: A workflow you can rebuild on Monday A frame for handling AI when your CFO asks An honest read on the trend everyone's talking about A conversation with someone who's already done the thing Every episode opens with a real story from Mike's desk or a finance pro he's worked with. Not a hypothetical. Then a breakdown of what actually works. And an honest counterpoint at the close, because the AI advice you're hearing everywhere else has almost never touched a real finance function. The rule: if a workflow only ships in a vendor demo, it doesn't ship on the show. Because the finance pros who learn AI don't just keep their jobs. They become the ones their company can't afford to lose. New episodes every Tuesday. About the host: Mike runs F9 Finance and is a senior finance leader working in the trenches. He writes the Finance AI Insider newsletter and runs the Finance AI Lab community for finance pros learning AI without the hype.