Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the finance function at an unprecedented pace. Every week seems to bring another announcement about how AI can approve payments, reconcile accounts or predict cash flow.
It’s an exciting future. Amid all the excitement, though, one phrase keeps standing out to me: “Human in the Loop”, or “HITL” as I call it. I wonder if that acronym will catch on?
Rather than removing people from financial processes altogether, the most successful organisations will use AI to automate the routine while ensuring humans retain control over decisions that matter.
For finance leaders, that’s not just good practice. It’s good governance. Accounts payable is a case in point. It’s long been repetitive and manual, exactly the kind of work AI excels at, and that will keep improving quickly. But automation alone isn’t enough.
Finance isn’t just about automation: it’s about trust
Unlike many business processes, finance handles some of an organisation’s most valuable data, including sensitive commercial information. Mistakes with this data carry major consequences for business leaders.
An incorrectly coded invoice can distort financial reporting. An incorrectly approved payment could result in fraud. A missed compliance check can trigger regulatory penalties. AI can dramatically reduce these risks, but it cannot eliminate them. That’s why the concept of Human in the Loop remains so important.
What does ‘Human in the Loop’ really mean?
Human in the Loop doesn’t mean manually checking every invoice. Instead, it means your e-invoicing partner uses AI to speed up the rollout and integration of your supply chain, while still relying on skilled, capable and trusted consultants to check every supplier integration before go-live.
It also means your e-invoicing partner uses AI to triage and resolve self-service support issues across the supply chain, while intelligently escalating only those that need experienced human judgement. More generally, rather than replacing finance professionals, AI frees your team to focus where their experience and judgement matter most.
Why security matters more than ever
As organisations adopt AI, the volume of financial data flowing between suppliers, buyers and ERP systems will increase significantly. That makes security, and a trusted partner for your AP automation project, even more critical. Your business needs confidence that:
- Invoice data hasn’t been altered
- Suppliers are genuine
- Documents originate from trusted trading partners
- Sensitive financial information stays protected
- Transactions are fully auditable and compliant
Compliance isn’t optional: the rise of government mandates
Governments around the world are introducing mandatory electronic invoicing and real-time tax reporting. You might have seen the UK Government’s own announcement: from April 2029, B2B e-invoicing will be mandatory, using the Peppol network. These initiatives will require e-invoicing to be:
- Digitally validated
- Securely exchanged
- Fully traceable
- Compliant with national tax regulations
AI may help interpret and analyse invoices, but compliance requires trusted infrastructure that meets regulatory standards.
Why Open ECX matters more than ever as your trusted AP automation partner
As AI becomes embedded within finance processes, businesses will still need trusted platforms to connect buyers, suppliers and ERP systems securely. This is where we continue to play a vital role. We already connect 17,000+ businesses securely, reliably and compliantly, and that infrastructure becomes even more valuable in an AI-enabled world.
Artificial Intelligence will undoubtedly redefine finance over the coming decade. It will automate repetitive work, improve accuracy and enable faster decision-making. However, it doesn’t remove the need for trust, governance and secure digital infrastructure.
As regulation increases and cyber threats continue to evolve, organisations will still depend on trusted networks that can securely exchange, validate and manage financial documents. That’s why Human in the Loop, or HITL, will remain essential, and why organisations like Open ECX will continue to play a critical role: not by competing with AI, but by providing the secure, compliant and trusted foundation that lets your team use AI with confidence.
AI enables scale. People build trust.
Final thoughts
At Open ECX, we see Artificial Intelligence as a force multiplier, not a replacement for judgement.
For more than ten years, we’ve helped organisations connect buyers and suppliers through secure, compliant digital trading. As adoption of e-invoicing accelerates, driven by government mandates and the growing digitalisation of finance, AI is helping us onboard new suppliers faster, without cutting corners on security or accountability.
Our people provide the expertise, governance and accountability that businesses expect when exchanging billions of pounds in financial transactions. That combination, AI for scale and people for trust, is what makes Human in the Loop a real competitive advantage, not a limitation
As AI continues to evolve, our goal isn’t to remove humans from the process. It’s to make sure every human interaction is focused where it adds the greatest value.
