Building Reliable Data Foundations for AI in Finance: SAP Roundtable in Auckland

The Brief
As part of SAP’s ongoing engagement with senior finance leaders, Clutch curated a targeted roundtable exploring one of the most urgent challenges in AI adoption: data reliability. The session brought together finance executives navigating how to make AI actionable in environments where inconsistent, incomplete, or unverified data can undermine performance and trust.

The Work
Clutch worked with SAP to deliver a tailored peer discussion in an intimate setting, enabling open dialogue around data governance, AI readiness, and practical strategies to improve data quality in finance operations. The roundtable provided a confidential space for leaders to compare challenges and share successful approaches.

The Outcome
Auckland Roundtable at Onslow: 15 senior finance leaders attended from leading organisations including One NZ, Toyota Finance, NZ Opera, and Barfoot & Thompson.

Event Highlights
Key discussion points included:

• Reliable Data Foundations for AI Finance
  How finance teams can improve accuracy, completeness, and provenance to maximise the value of AI across forecasting, planning, and automation.
  
  
• Mitigating Data Reliability Risks
  Attendees discussed the real-world consequences of inconsistent or degraded data—and how governance frameworks and validation processes can prevent long-term issues.
  
  
• Reliable Data for Effective AI Automation
  The group explored where AI delivers the most value when fed with high-quality data, and how to measure and continuously improve data integrity for critical finance processes.
  
  

Conclusion
This roundtable demonstrated the importance of peer-led conversation around the foundational challenges of AI in finance. By focusing on data reliability—not just AI potential—Clutch and SAP delivered a session that resonated with senior finance leaders looking to drive trustworthy, effective automation across their organisations.