Before we get too far into April I have been reflecting on a busy and interesting month of March - with a rich concentration and variety of encounters with ACT members.
My voyage began on 11 March in London when we hosted a members’ evening at the offices of Deloitte in London with a presentation on the application of AI in treasury, complete with an applied demonstration of a new SAP tool in action. The work was the result of a Deloitte / SAP collaboration and the passion for their subject and the project clearly came through from the two speakers – Ikaros Matsoukas (Director, Enterprise Technology and Performance, Treasury Transformation, Deloitte) and Melania Maior (Head of Treasury Customer Solution Advisory, SAP) – who also shared an ability to explain the work in both a simple and engaging manner. Chatting to the 65+ members attending as we enjoyed the post-talk drinks and canapes it was interesting to hear the range of experience and confidence in applying AI tools in day-to-day treasury work, as well as a clear consensus that its widespread use is now only a question of when and how fast. This is probably also a good opportunity for me to remind you of the ACT’s own short online course on Generative AI in Corporate Treasury (in collaboration with the Centre for Finance, Technology & Entrepreneurship).
From a single topic, members-only evening we remained in London for the following week’s ACT Cash Management Conference on 19 March, where we had our highest attendance for this annual conference with over 250 delegates. A packed programme covered the evolving UK payments landscape, and whether physical cash has a future in an increasingly digital world, as well as technical sessions on cash forecasting techniques and navigating interest rate fluctuations in a volatile economy. Of course, AI and wider treasury automation also featured – rather a theme at the moment. Again, it was lovely to chat to so many members throughout the day, and I was struck by how many of you talked about the importance of being able to meet with other treasury practitioners in person and exchange ideas on new technologies, treasury challenges and problem-solving. I am hoping this theme will continue when much larger numbers of us gather at ICC Wales in Newport next month for the ACT Annual Conference on 20 & 21 May.
At this point on my March members’ tour I ventured outside of London for a pleasant drive out to Cirencester on 20 March. The active South-West ACT Treasury Network had invited me to join their regular ‘roundtable’ meeting where a lively group of treasurers from across different sectors and based in a 25-30 mile radius of Cirencester come together to put their current treasury issues, questions and problems on the table and hear from their peers any thoughts or solutions. It was such an interesting evening, reminding me of the real-life operational aspects of treasury work - and also how willing ACT members are to help each other and be generous with their knowledge and experience.
The month ended with our annual celebration of all that is best in treasury delivery with our 28th Deals of the Year awards (back in London) on 27 March. It is one of the highlights of my year to have the pleasure of co-presenting these highly regarded and coveted awards and to see complex & innovative deals and teams of every size and sector recognised for their outstanding performance. This year we also gave the Chair of the Judges, Lynda Heywood, a proper send-off as she steps down as Chair after five years as a judge.
Thank you to all the ACT members and allies who attended (and made possible) this breadth of events in March. I really enjoyed meeting so many of you across such different occasions.
