Episode 1: How to Build an AI Treasury Copilot for Automation & Decision-Making—Low/No Code

Introduction

AI-powered automation is transforming treasury operations by reducing manual tasks, improving forecasting accuracy, and enhancing decision-making. With today’s no-code and low-code tools, you can build a Treasury Copilot that automates key treasury functions without needing IT support.

This first guide combines structured AI strategies with a hands-on approach to building an AI Treasury Copilot, specifically focusing on Cash Flow Forecasting as an example.

1. Define the Scope & Objectives

Before building your AI Treasury Copilot, define the tasks it should automate. AI can enhance various treasury functions, including:

✅ Cash Flow Forecasting – Predict future cash balances using historical data and real-time inputs.

✅ Liquidity Management – Analyze bank balances, investments, and credit facilities.

✅ Payments & Reconciliations – Identify mismatches and anomalies in transactions.

✅ Risk Management – Monitor FX risks and market fluctuations.

✅ Treasury Reporting – Generate AI-driven reports with dynamic dashboards.

✅ Regulatory Compliance – Ensure adherence to financial regulations.

2. Choose Your AI Tools & Platforms

You don’t need to build AI from scratch. Instead, leverage existing platforms that offer AI capabilities:

Core AI Components

• Microsoft Copilot (Excel & Power Automate) – For AI-driven data analysis, automation, and reporting.
• ChatGPT (API or Custom GPTs) – For answering queries and analyzing treasury data.
• Power BI & AI Insights – For interactive dashboards and predictive modeling.

Automation & Integration Tools

• Power Automate – Connects Excel, emails, and banking platforms for workflow automation.
• Coupa Treasury AI & RPA – Automates treasury workflows.
• Zapier – Links multiple treasury tools for seamless integration.
• Python & Pandas – For advanced AI-driven financial analysis.

3. Data Sources & Integration

Your AI Treasury Copilot needs access to accurate financial data. Common sources include:

• Bank Statements – Retrieved via API or SWIFT connectivity.
• ERP Data (SAP, Oracle, Coupa) – Extracts treasury transactions and payment data.
• Market Data – Exchange rates, interest rates, and financial news via APIs (Alpha Vantage, Bloomberg).
• Spreadsheets & Reports – Data from Excel, CSV, or Google Sheets.

To integrate these sources, use:

• Power Query – For structured data imports.
• Python APIs – For financial data retrieval.
• RPA Bots – For scraping or automating file imports.

4. Automate Treasury Workflows with AI

Example: AI-Powered Cash Flow Forecasting

A practical use case of an AI Treasury Copilot is cash flow forecasting. Here’s how to build one without coding:

Step 1: Structure Your Cash Flow Data

Create an Excel file (“CashFlowData.xlsx”) with the following structure:

Save this file on OneDrive or SharePoint for automation access.

Step 2: Set Up an Automation in Power Automate (Cloud Flow)

Now, we’ll create a workflow to automatically update the Excel file with daily cash balances.

1️⃣ Go to Power Automate and select “Create” > “Automated cloud flow”.
2️⃣ Trigger: Choose “When an email arrives” (if your bank sends daily balance reports).
3️⃣ Action: Add “Extract Table from Email Body” to grab balance details.
4️⃣ Action: Add “Update Excel Row” to add the extracted data into your “CashFlowData.xlsx”.

✅ Now, your cash flow data updates automatically without manual input!

Step 3: Use AI to Analyze and Predict Cash Flow

Now that we have the data, let’s build an AI-powered forecast.

🔹 Add ChatGPT to Power Automate

1️⃣ Go to Power Automate, create a new step, and select “HTTP Request”.
2️⃣ Choose “Call an AI model” and select GPT-based text analysis.
3️⃣ Send the last 30 days of cash flow data as input to ChatGPT.
4️⃣ Configure ChatGPT to generate a cash flow forecast summary like:

Example AI Output:
“Based on the last 30 days, your average daily cash inflow is $190,000, and outflow is $175,000. You are expected to have a closing balance of $520,000 by next Friday.”

✅ Now, AI is automatically analyzing cash flows for you!

Step 4: Automate AI-Generated Reports

1️⃣ Add “Send an Email” step in Power Automate.
2️⃣ Set the recipient as yourself or your team.
3️⃣ Paste the AI-generated forecast into the email body.
4️⃣ Schedule the flow to run every morning.

✅ You’ll receive an AI-generated cash flow forecast in your inbox daily.

Step 5: Interact with Your AI Treasury Copilot

Use Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT for real-time cash flow insights.

• In Copilot in Excel, type: “Summarize the cash flow trends for the past 3 months.”
• In ChatGPT, upload the Excel file and ask: “What is the predicted cash balance in 2 weeks?”

✅ AI provides instant insights to assist decision-making!

5. Deploy & Optimize the AI Treasury Copilot

Deployment Options

• Excel & Power Automate – Best for quick automation.
• Power Apps – For a structured AI-powered treasury dashboard.
• Custom GPT – Train a ChatGPT model specifically for your treasury data.

Monitoring & Continuous Improvement

• Use Power BI dashboards to track AI performance.
• Refine AI rules based on user feedback.
• Test AI-driven forecasts against real-world data to improve accuracy.

Final Result

Your Treasury Copilot will now:
✅ Automatically collect cash flow data
✅ Predict future cash flows
✅ Generate AI-powered reports
✅ Allow you to ask cash flow-related questions anytime

If you found this episode valuable, don’t miss the next one here!