Treasury’s Turning Point: What AI Actually Looks Like in the Real World
This article is written by our partner, Nilus “AI won’t replace you. But a person using AI might.” That quote set the tone at TMANY’s Future of AI in Treasury roundtable, co-hosted by Nilus and Redbridge. And it hit home. Because here’s the truth: AI in treasury is no longer theoretical. It’s not a slide deck or a distant roadmap. It’s already reshaping how finance teams forecast, reconcile, report, and act. At this roundtable, treasury leaders got honest about what they’re trying, what’s actually working, and what’s still standing in the way. The Shift Is Here, And It’s Personal Treasury leaders aren’t chasing buzzwords. They’re chasing hours, clarity, and confidence. What surfaced again and again was how everyday pain points are ripe for transformation, and how much time is lost trying to manually solve problems that AI is now equipped to handle automatically. Here’s what attendees want AI to fix first: These are not hypothetical use cases. They’re the daily friction points slowing down strategic work. And the message from the room was clear: if AI can lift the load, it should. Inside the Roundtable: What We Heard The roundtable, co-led by Nilus Co-Founder & CEO Daniel Kalish and Redbridge’s Bridget Meyer, was equal parts reality check and roadmap. It wasn’t about whether treasury should adopt AI; it was about how to get it right. Here’s what’s already in motion: But the room wasn’t blind to the hurdles. In fact, naming the barriers sparked some of the most tactical conversations: The most resonant insight? Treasury isn’t resistant to AI. It’s resistant to hype. Teams are ready, but only if the tools respect their complexity and prove ROI fast. Where Nilus Fits: AI That Drives Action At Nilus, we’ve always believed AI in treasury must do more than generate insights. It must drive action. That means: When you pair that with real-time cash visibility, actuals-to-forecast reconciliation, and continuous liquidity optimization,, you don’t just save time. You unlock faster, better decisions across the org. Strategic Takeaways for Treasury Leaders Here are five questions to bring back to your team this quarter: And if you’re not sure where to start: AI doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing. It starts with one well-scoped experiment. The Bottom Line The TMANY roundtable made one thing clear: Treasury teams aren’t waiting for a perfect roadmap. They’re learning, experimenting, and adapting together. If you want AI to work for treasury, it has to work with treasury. That means respecting the complexity of your data, the nuance of your decisions, and the stakes of getting it wrong. More from Nilus Join our Treasury Community Treasury Masterminds is a community of professionals working in treasury management or those interested in learning more about various topics related to treasury management, including cash management, foreign exchange management, and payments. To register and connect with Treasury professionals, click [HERE] or fill out the form below. Notice: JavaScript is required for this content.
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Climate Risk: The Next Frontier in Treasury Strategy
Based on the Treasury Masterminds Podcast with Marcus Cree, FIS Corporate treasurers have spent the past decade wrestling with geopolitical shocks, broken supply chains, inflation, and volatile FX markets. Just when you thought the to-do list couldn’t get any longer, here comes the next heavyweight risk class marching straight into treasury: climate risk. Most treasurers still place climate somewhere between “new ESG reporting templates” and “update DE&I statement” on the priority chain. Nice to have. Someone else’s problem. A topic for sustainability teams who love PowerPoints a bit too much. But climate is no longer a PR conversation. It’s a financial one. And the numbers are already hitting the P&L.hjj This podcast episode with Marcus Cree, risk management specialist at FIS, pretty much hammered that home. If you missed the Podcast, you can listen to it below: Why Climate Risk Is Suddenly a Treasury Problem Marcus cuts through the noise: climate change isn’t about melting ice caps, it’s about probability shifts. A higher likelihood of loss events affects pricing, insurance, credit spreads, and—yes—cash flow. Treasurers are already feeling it through: Climate risk doesn’t sit next to market, credit, and liquidity risk. It sits inside each of them. Just as the Basel Committee has laid out for banks: Climate isn’t a new silo. It’s a new dimension. From Hurricanes to Cash Flow: Turning Events into Financial Exposure The examples Marcus shared weren’t abstract. Germany’s river flooding knocked out a door manufacturer. A global car company took a share price hit. Wildfires and hurricanes across the US disrupted entire industries. Ports shut down for days create ripple effects that last months. And yes, sometimes one ship sideways in Suez is enough to wreck liquidity cycles everywhere. Climate events disrupt supply chains. Disrupted supply chains disrupt payment cycles. Disrupted payment cycles disrupt liquidity. Treasury is the last stop on that chain. Unfortunately. But VAR Models Only Look a Few Days Ahead… Right? Classic treasury VAR models look at maybe 1–10 days. Climate projections look at 25, 50, and even 100 years. So how do they meet? Simple: Treasury instruments’ price today based on long-dated expectations. Forward curves are built on assumptions about many future quarters. If climate risk changes those assumptions—higher volatility, higher credit risk, higher break probabilities—then the price today shifts too. Banks are already factoring in those forward risks. Higher expected flooding in 2040 → higher credit spread now. If banks are doing it, treasurers need to understand it. What Happens If You Ignore It? Marcus is brutally honest: This isn’t about reputational risk. Nobody is cancelling a company because they dislike your climate disclosures. But the financial consequences? Supply chain fragilities that won’t show up in any traditional model. Climate ignorance becomes financial mismanagement. Treasurers don’t have to become climate scientists. But you can’t price risk you refuse to see. So, Where Should Treasurers Start? Marcus gives a surprisingly reasonable entry point: Treasury doesn’t own climate risk. But treasury owns the financial impact of climate risk. Big difference. Treasury’s Long-Term Blind Spot Most teams live in a 13-week cycle. Cash, liquidity, FX, debt—everything is short-term execution. The problem is: the world that shapes those short-term numbers has already changed. Banks are modelling: Treasury teams can’t stay in their bubble anymore. If you don’t understand the business and supply chain, you can’t understand the risk. Climate impact is no longer fifty years away. It’s sitting quietly inside your financing costs today. A New Role for Treasury This shift is uncomfortable, but also a massive opportunity. Treasurers who embrace climate-adjusted forecasting, scenario planning, and credit analysis will: It’s not ESG. It’s financial survival. Final Thought Climate risk might feel overwhelming and abstract. But Marcus brought it back to something treasurers do understand: Every risk can be priced. The real question: Are you the one doing the pricing—or is someone else doing it for you? Also Read Join our Treasury Community Treasury Mastermind is a community of professionals working in treasury management or those interested in learning more about various topics related to treasury management, including cash management, foreign exchange management, and payments. To register and connect with Treasury professionals, click [HERE] or fill out the form below to get more information.