Finance edition

IT consultancy Dynamic People asked 317 IT and business decision-makers at medium and large Dutch organisations where the line is for AI that acts on its own. 61 percent think AI should never decide alone on financial actions above a certain amount. The limit named most often is 10,000 euros (29 percent), followed by 50,000 euros (22 percent). Another 18 percent think AI should never make a financial decision on its own at all. People also want to keep control over supplier contracts (53 percent), dismissals (51 percent) and salaries (45 percent). The sharpest figure comes further on: at organisations where AI already does act on its own, 79 percent see a human step in only after damage has already occurred. That is exactly what your job is for: a booking or payment that can no longer be undone. It is not a law, but it is a useful figure to bring to the table when management asks whether the AI can not just do something itself. An AI agent really acts: it gets rights in your accounting or payment system. The question then is up to what amount it may act. You arrange that in the rights themselves and in the approval step. Many organisations build in that step only afterwards, so it no longer works as a brake. A high limit is tempting because every exception costs time, but look instead at what one mistake costs and how fast you discover it. Set the limit low and raise it only once the check beforehand is proven to work.

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