How AI Agents Are Transforming Global Business Services

The finance function is undergoing its most significant transformation in decades. Global Business Services (GBS) organizations are becoming strategic powerhouses that drive business agility, data quality, and real-time decision-making. At the heart of this evolution are AI agents that work alongside human teams to revolutionize finance processes from the ground up.

From Transaction Processing to Strategic Partnership

In an exclusive interview featured in Handelsblatt's Artificial Intelligence Special, Dr. Uli Erxleben, founder and CEO of Hypatos, outlines how modern GBS organizations are evolving from transaction processors to value creation partners. Instead of reactive reporting, CFOs now gain access to continuous insights that make risks visible earlier and cash flow more predictable.

"AI agents are becoming digital colleagues that autonomously handle standard tasks while documenting every decision," explains Erxleben. "This gives CFOs something entirely new: a finance function that doesn't just react. It acts."

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The Practical Impact on Finance Processes

What does this transformation look like in practice? AI agents are already revolutionizing core finance processes:

• Accounts Payable: Agents read invoices, match data, and post entries directly. All with complete audit trails and transparent reasoning.

• Order-to-Cash: Automated monitoring of payments, dunning letter creation, and responses to standard inquiries streamline cash collection.

• Financial Reporting: Agents prepare reconciliations and flag variances before they become risks, enabling proactive financial management.

This results in a digital operation that runs 24/7, with human teams intervening only when it truly matters. For CFOs, this means an organization that remains controllable in real-time, always.

Building the GBS Organization of Tomorrow

Technology alone isn't enough. Erxleben emphasizes that successful transformation requires robust governance and new skill sets. Organizations need:

• Centers of Excellence to define rules, policies, and monitoring frameworks

• New roles: Agent supervisors, AI explainability coaches, and process product owners

• Upskilled teams who can interact with agents and validate their outputs

• Trust mechanisms: Four-eyes principles, escalation paths, and audit-ready decision documentation

The Platform Question: Build, Buy, or Integrate?

For high-volume operations, Erxleben recommends proven standard platforms that bring security, integration capabilities, and scalability. The key isn't choosing between build or buy. It's creating a platform capable of end-to-end thinking with open interfaces to email, document management systems, and ERP platforms.
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"What matters is field-level access control and seamless integration," notes Erxleben. "Complementary custom development makes sense where differentiation creates competitive advantage."

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Getting Started: The Fast Track to Measurable Results

Organizations can launch their GBS transformation quickly with a clearly defined use case, typically in Accounts Payable. Hypatos' approach delivers results in four to six weeks:

1. Model processes and refine work instructions

2. Connect systems and test with subject matter experts

3. Implement hypercare with KPIs for throughput time and first-pass yield

4. Build the business case with stakeholders from Finance, Procurement, and IT

5. Scale systematically across countries, languages, and document types

The Continuous Close Is Within Reach

The vision of continuous close, once a distant aspiration, is now approaching reality. With AI agents handling routine work, finance teams can focus on scenario planning, forecasting, and working capital optimization. Decisions become faster and more confident. The finance function transforms from a transactional back office into an intelligent nerve center mirroring markets, supply chains, and cash flows in real-time.

Read the Full Interview

Dr. Uli Erxleben's complete insights on the future of Global Business Services are featured in Handelsblatt's Artificial Intelligence Special Edition (October 16, 2025). The in-depth German interview explores governance frameworks, implementation strategies, and the evolving role of finance in the age of intelligent automation.

As organizations that start early set industry standards and gain competitive advantage, understanding these transformation patterns has never been more critical for finance leaders.

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