PODCAST: What Autonomy Means for Accounting with Alexander Hagerup of Vic.ai

The difference between automation and autonomization

Feb 6, 2023 | This week’s guest on the AI in Financial Services podcast is Vic.ai Co-founder and CEO Alexander Hagerup. Vic.ai is a software as a service that offers full autonomy in accounting workflows, specifically in invoice processing and helping to streamline approval processes in a broad range of financial services sectors. In conversation with Emerj Senior Editor Matthew DeMello, Alexander explains what AI autonomy can look like and what it takes to remove human beings from the decision-making process across accounting workflows. Later, he pulls apart a number of applicable use cases in the real estate and fintech startup space.

About the guest

Alexander Hagerup, CEO at Vic.ai, is a serial tech entrepreneur with a strong passion for artificial intelligence. His company focuses on streamlining the accounts payable process, using AI technology to autonomize invoice processing. Prior to launching Vic.ai, he founded two other technology companies; his last one was funded by Northzone Ventures and later acquired by NASDAQ-listed J2 Global Inc., in 2014. He has a finance and accounting background and is a former board member of 24SevenOffice.com, the largest cloud accounting & ERP system in the Nordic region.

About the host

Matthew DeMello is a diversely experienced web and multimedia producer, skilled in managing expansive audio, video, and online print projects from initial planning to final production. Interested in putting powerful solutions in the hands of those solving the world's biggest problems.

"A great pleasure talking with Alexander Hagerup about document processing in the #finserv space. But the bigger headline here might be the difference between automation (streamlining repetitive tasks with software and "elevating human judgment" as it is often called) and autonomization (humans just supervise the process and hit "approve"). This is a noteworthy distinction in how we talk about workflows and the future of work. Alex does a great job explaining the difference and the technology behind autonomization on this episode - and even if you have no proximity to accounting nor AI, this is enlightening from a labor perspective." - Matthew DeMello

Episode Website

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