Buy or Build? The strategic imperative
AI-driven solutions are set to revolutionize financial operations, spanning forecasting, risk management, fraud detection, and process automation. For CFOs, the decision of whether to build this transformative technology in-house or procure it from a third party carries profound implications. While developing internally may appear attractive, opting for pre-packaged, best-in-class Finance AI solutions is not just the more prudent path, but a strategic imperative.
The true cost of DIY development
While the upfront investment in a third-party solution may seem substantial, the true costs and risks of internal development extend well beyond the initial budget.
These encompass the considerable expense of recruiting and retaining a specialized team of data scientists and engineers – a talent pool both scarce and highly compensated. In addition, internal projects face a high likelihood of failure; data shows that enterprises partnering with experienced AI vendors achieve success rates twice as high as do-it-yourself initiatives.
The hidden and fluctuating costs of a self-built system, combined with its elevated risk of failure, pose a far greater financial threat than the clarity and stability of a fixed-price contract with a proven provider.
For example, Profluo’s platform can be deployed in minutes, with customizations handled through configuration rather than custom code. Most integrations are plug-and-play, and the Finance team can be fully onboarded within an hour. This approach minimizes both the cost and the risk of implementing new technologies alongside existing workflows.
Moreover, the Profluo team’s deep domain expertise ensures that customer workflows are fully understood and properly configured, while customer data is seamlessly harmonized with Profluo’s Agents’ canonical models.
Staying focused on core competencies
Beyond financial risk, the decision to build in-house can undermine a company’s ability to maintain a competitive edge. Unless engineers are fully dedicated to Generative AI architecture on a full-time basis, they will inevitably fall behind the rapid pace of technological innovation.
Vendors, by contrast, structure their entire business models around speed and reliability, enabling continuous innovation and delivery of up-to-date solutions. An internal project, from conceptualization to deployment, can take considerable time, delaying the realization of benefits and diverting valuable engineering talent. Internal resources are better focused on developing the products and services that truly differentiate the company in the marketplace, rather than recreating foundational technologies already available as superior external services.
In Profluo’s case, LLM-powered semantic matching engine is actively used and continuously enhanced across the platform for critical use cases requiring high accuracy when processing ambiguous data. The same LLM architecture also powers other business features, such as contract understanding. This broad application ensures best-in-class innovation at the most efficient cost.
When managing complex document interaction patterns at scale, companies require reliable infrastructure to monitor solutions and activities for document import and export. Profluo’s integrated document layer provides detailed visibility into how files are uploaded, how financial documents are processed and exported, and by whom, when, and where.
Access to expertise and continuous innovation
A dedicated vendor serves as an innovation engine, with a business model built on deeply understanding the complexities of financial data and continuously improving their algorithms.
Drawing on collective intelligence from a broad customer base, vendors can quickly identify and implement new features and security updates, delivering a level of robustness and forward-looking functionality that an internal team would struggle to match. Attempting to replicate this depth of focused expertise in-house is not only inefficient but also distracts the finance department from its core mission: safeguarding the company’s financial health.
For example, Profluo’s Record-to-Report Agent has processed over 35 million data points, performing line-item automatic accounting postings with an impressive 98% accuracy rate.
On the other hand, Profluo’s Source-to-Pay Agent brings extensive domain expertise in 2-way matching (invoices against contractual agreements) and 3-way matching for ambiguous cases (such as incorrect or missing order numbers, catalog item predictions for matching, semantic alignment of line-item descriptions) as well as complex cases (including foreign exchange fluctuations, call-off agreements, and non-standard fees).
Risk mitigation with proven solutions
Finally, risk mitigation is a paramount concern for any CFO. The risks tied to internal development are significant and include project failure, scalability limitations, and cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
A custom-built system may lack the rigorous testing and security protocols of a commercial solution, exposing the company to both operational and reputational risk.
Reputable AI vendors, by contrast, invest heavily in security, compliance, and professional support, providing a level of assurance that internal projects cannot match. By adopting a battle-tested, externally maintained solution, a company can offload these risks and allow the finance team to concentrate on strategic analysis and value creation.
Choosing to purchase Finance AI solutions is therefore a mature strategic decision – one that reduces risk, optimizes resources, and ensures the finance function stays at the forefront of technological innovation.
Profluo exemplifies this approach through its cloud-scalable platform, powered by a robust back-end framework designed to maximize AI Agent performance, and through its stringent security practices, including encryption of data and documents (in transit and at rest), strict data isolation, ISO 27001 certification, and continuous monitoring.
The bottom line
For CFOs, the decision is clear: building in-house means higher costs, greater risk, and slower innovation. Buying proven Finance AI solutions ensures speed, resilience, and future-proof performance, keeping Finance at the center of strategic value creation.
Make the strategic choice today! Partner with Profluo and transform your Finance team into a high-performance, AI-powered function that drives growth and resilience. Book a demo now and see how fast you can move from complexity to clarity.
