The Future of Corporate Treasury

6 Treasury and Trade Solutions machine-recognized patterns on inbound flows. As forecast cash flows are inherently typically wrong, gaining insights into the accuracy of historical forecasts by currency is critical to determining whether the future forecasts provided are reliable and actionable. Encouragingly, the survey shows that emerging technologies are more than just a buzzword to many corporates. A total of 44% of respondents indicate that they are currently pursuing big data, artificial intelligence or other intelligence-based technology within their treasury; 34% indicate they are looking to employ robotic process automation to their processes in a bid to drive automation. Approximately two-thirds of companies that participated in the survey seem to be engaged and experimenting with digital, yet only 14% have a digital strategy at the treasury level. One reason for this wait-and-see approach for some may be that many companies are still focused on getting the basics right using existing proven techniques and constructs. As more and more financial flows move from “batch” to “real time,” treasury leaders will need to take a fresh look at how they organize and manage treasury functions — from liquidity management and financial risk mitigation, to better preparation for cyber threats — to ensure investments in technology properly support more highly interconnected processes. The tipping point for treasury to overcome the investment hurdles required to digitize to the point of full automation of operational tasks may then arrive, as the ”always-on” economy encourages central banks to move to a 24/7 real- time settlement paradigm. Possible new sourcing models We expect new sourcing models to emerge as the opportunity to automate treasury starts to take hold and as corporates start to consider their digital strategy on how to best future- proof technology investment in order to achieve the future digital aspirations for their treasury. Those who have invested in ERP and TMS technologies to support their treasury operations can expect to enjoy significant digital upgrades through their existing technology (ERP/TMS) partners. In addition, many of these corporates are likely to be on a journey to centralize cash and risk as shown in Figure 3. Figure 3: Many paths may be adopted to achieve future digital treasury aspirations Source: Citi Treasury Advisory Group. Future treasury Securely, horizontally connected across the internal and external ecosystem through API . . .and DLT? Data-powered, rules-based, machine-enhanced decisioning through AI. Legacy journey to centralization structures for more efficient and effective liquidity and risk management. Opportunity potential EFFICIENT SMART INTEGRATED Treasury journey steps Multiple paths may be needed to treasury of the future