"Come l'intelligenza artificiale sta influenzando il controllo di gestione: Evoluzione della figura del ruolo del controller"

The object of analysis in this study aims to examine how the role of the controller is evolving within organizations and how this, along with the tools used by them, will be impacted by the use of artificial intelligence. In a first phase, this study aims to identify and analyze the specific role that controllers play within companies in the management control process. It analyzes the main conceptual tools and various methodologies used to effectively plan, control, and manage financial resources for the continuous development and growth of the company, ensuring sustainable success over time. Subsequently, the focus shifts to a detailed analysis of the well-known and closely interdependent tools of budgeting and forecasting, through which controllers seek to plan, monitor, and review the economic and financial performance of the company, aiming for effective and efficient management of the corporate entity. In this regard, we sought to study how emerging technologies of artificial intelligence and machine learning are influencing and will improve the budgeting and forecasting process. We attempted to analyze to what extent the accuracy of forecasts made using these technologies can surpass current levels achieved by humans, ensuring higher levels of effectiveness in the forecasting phase. In other words, we sought to understand how much more precise artificial intelligence can be compared to humans in predicting potential economic and financial scenarios that companies must face. In doing so, we wanted to examine how the advent of these new technologies may impact the role of the controller today and how it is evolving and will continue to change in the not too distant future, given the rapid changes we observe daily. Based on this, we analyzed possible future scenarios dictated by technological progress in the field of management control and the controller's role. We also explored the advantages that artificial intelligence can bring to the tools used by controllers and, on the other hand, the potential threats that professionals in this field may have to address in order to balance the increased benefits and risks that these technologies could bring to the entire corporate system. However, despite many companies using artificial intelligence in various fields and departments, and despite the significant advantages it is believed to bring to management control and especially the forecasting phase, it remains a relatively underutilized tool in the subject of our study. There is still too little empirical evidence to determine how much it can actually improve management control through these technologies. Like any technological advancement, this also takes time to be fully implemented and unleash its full potential.