In this episode, hosts Paul Barnhurst and Glenn Hopper discuss the realities behind the AI hype cycle and how it's playing out in finance, from inflated ROI expectations to unscalable AI tools and organizational chaos, Paul and Glenn unpack what’s working, what’s failing, and why so many companies are stuck. With no guest this week, the duo shares their honest takes on the state of AI, its practical limits in financial workflows, and how companies are fumbling both bottom-up adoption and top-down implementation. This one’s a mix of hot takes, technical insight, and just enough despair to keep things real.

In this episode, you will discover:

• How bottom-up AI adoption is outpacing executive-led rollouts in finance.
• The problem with inflated expectations and what’s really causing AI project failures.
• Why Excel tools powered by AI are promising, but limited by context windows.
• How governance and data issues are crippling enterprise AI strategies.
• What OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, and Microsoft’s latest moves mean for the AI landscape.

AI isn’t a magic solution; it’s a powerful tool that still depends on good data, realistic goals, and a bit of patience. Paul and Glenn make it clear that while the hype is loud, real progress takes thoughtful implementation and education. The future of AI in finance looks promising, but only for teams willing to do the work.

Join hosts Glenn and Paul as they unravel the complexities of AI in finance:

Follow Glenn:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gbhopperiii

Follow Paul:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thefpandaguy

Follow QFlow.AI:

Website - https://bit.ly/4i1Ekjg

Future Finance is sponsored by QFlow.ai, the strategic finance platform solving the toughest part of planning and analysis: B2B revenue. Align sales, marketing, and finance, speed up decision-making, and lock in accountability with QFlow.ai.

Stay tuned for a deeper understanding of how AI is shaping the future of finance and what it means for businesses and individuals alike.

In Today’s Episode:

[01:56] - AI Hype Cycle Meltdown

[04:50] - AI Tools in Excel

[07:33] - Bottom-Up vs Top-Down Adoption

[11:33] - Why AI Projects Fail

[14:38] - Change Management Gaps

[17:23] - Context Window Limitations

[20:30] - Learn the Basics of AI

[23:11] - Oracle, Nvidia & OpenAI Deals

[30:07] - Microsoft Adds Anthropic to Copilot

[34:24] - Copilot Improvement & Wrap-Up

In this episode of Future Finance, Hosts Glenn Hopper and Paul Barnhurst sit down with Franz Faerber, Co-founder and CTO of Everest Systems, and one of the key minds behind SAP HANA. Franz shares his remarkable journey from leading SAP’s real-time database revolution to building Everest, a next-generation ERP platform designed from the ground up to embrace AI and modern business needs.

Franz Faerber is the Co-founder and CTO of Everest Systems, a next-gen AI-native ERP company. Before Everest, Franz spent over 26 years at SAP, where he served as Executive VP of Technology and was the original architect behind SAP HANA, one of the most advanced in-memory databases in the world. His work helped transform data processing and analytics for thousands of global enterprises. Now, at Everest, he is on a mission to revolutionize ERP from the ground up, embracing AI and agile development to tackle the inefficiencies of traditional systems.

In this episode, you will discover:

• Why the ERP space is finally ready for disruption, and how Everest is leading that charge.
• How Everest built a fully functional inventory management system in just four months without writing a single line of code.
• The role of AI in accelerating ERP development, reducing costs, and enabling mass personalization.
• Why Franz believes the future of ERP lies in integration, automation, and adaptability.

Franz Faerber’s insights offer a compelling vision for the future of ERP, one where AI, speed, and simplicity are no longer optional but essential. His journey from SAP HANA to Everest showcases what’s possible when innovation meets experience.

Follow Franz:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/franz-faerber/

Company - https://everest-systems.com

Join hosts Glenn and Paul as they unravel the complexities of AI in finance:

Follow Glenn:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gbhopperiii

Follow Paul:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thefpandaguy

Follow QFlow.AI:

Website - https://bit.ly/4i1Ekjg

Future Finance is sponsored by QFlow.ai, the strategic finance platform solving the toughest part of planning and analysis: B2B revenue. Align sales, marketing, and finance, speed up decision-making, and lock in accountability with QFlow.ai.

Stay tuned for a deeper understanding of how AI is shaping the future of finance and what it means for businesses and individuals alike.

In Today’s Episode:

[02:18] - Meet Franz Faerber

[03:53] - The SAP HANA Revolution

[09:00] - Leaving SAP for Everest

[10:39] - Why Build a New ERP?

[18:36] - Dev & Release Cycles at Everest

[21:20] - What Sets Everest Apart

[25:48] - Leadership & Vision

[29:32] - Chess, Books & Strategy

[33:20] - Final Thoughts

In this episode of Future Finance, hosts Paul Barnhurst and Glenn Hopper welcome Jeff Seibert, CEO and founder of Digits, a cutting-edge accounting platform. Jeff shares how Digits is transforming the finance world by automating accounting workflows and providing real-time visibility into financial data. He explains how integrating modern technology into the general ledger (GL) and other accounting processes is streamlining the financial close and eliminating inefficiencies that have long been part of traditional systems.

Jeff Seibert is the founder and CEO of Digits, a groundbreaking accounting platform. Previously, he was Twitter's Head of Consumer Product and appeared in the Emmy-winning Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma. Jeff co-founded Crashlytics, acquired by Twitter in 2013 and now owned by Google. A self-taught programmer, he started coding at 13 and graduated from Stanford with a B.S. in Computer Science. Jeff is also an angel investor in over 100 startups and was named one of Insider’s Top 100 Seed VCs.

Expect to Learn:

• The difference between traditional and AI-native accounting systems
• How Digits uses machine learning for near-perfect transaction classification
• Why legacy systems struggle with AI and how Digits solves it
• How predictive models enable real-time financial insights
• Jeff’s predictions on AI’s future in finance, automation, and reconciliation

Jeff Seibert provides a fascinating insight into the future of finance, showcasing how AI can transform the accounting space from a slow and manual process to one that’s fast, predictive, and automated. His journey from self-taught programmer to CEO of a company revolutionizing accounting highlights the power of innovation in today’s tech-driven world.

Follow Jeff:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jseibert/

Website - https://jeffseibert.com/

Company - https://digits.com/

Join hosts Glenn and Paul as they unravel the complexities of AI in finance:

Follow Glenn:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gbhopperiii

Follow Paul:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thefpandaguy

Follow QFlow.AI:

Website - https://bit.ly/4i1Ekjg

Future Finance is sponsored by QFlow.ai, the strategic finance platform solving the toughest part of planning and analysis: B2B revenue. Align sales, marketing, and finance, speed up decision-making, and lock in accountability with QFlow.ai.

Stay tuned for a deeper understanding of how AI is shaping the future of finance and what it means for businesses and individuals alike.

In Today’s Episode:

[00:00] - Introduction to Jeff Seibert

[02:25] - What Inspired Jeff to Start Digits

[05:24] - How Did Jeff Overcome the Data Gap

[08:11] - Did You Expect the Digits Timeline

[12:38] - AI Agents in Classification

[16:50] - The Future of Real-Time Accounting

[18:43] - Wrapping Up with Jeff Seibert