AI Governance & Implementation for CFOs

Help Your Finance Function Implement AI Your Auditor Can Sign Off On

AI is already shaping forecasts, provisions and the numbers that reach your board. The model doesn’t sign the accounts. You do. I help CFOs decide where AI belongs, implement it, and govern it.

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25
Years in regulated finance
€658M
Capital forecasting model built
€105B
Portfolio reporting led
“Schokker maps COSO ERM against the EU AI Act, ISO 42001 and NIST AI RMF in a single architecture, which is the work nobody else has done.” Brad Wolfe · Three-time NASDAQ CFO
Leonard Schokker

Leonard Schokker

Founder & AI in Finance Advisor

Former MT member, Individual Life, at Athora Netherlands. Insurance finance runs on models built for uncertainty. I apply the same probabilistic thinking to AI. Now I advise CFOs on the governance and control architecture around AI, with the rigour regulated finance demands.

Capital, risk & controls in regulated finance
Author, The CFO AI Playbook
Contributing author, FP&A Trends Group
Moderator & speaker, Insurance Investor Live Benelux
MIT: 95% of firms get no AI P&L impact
BCG: Only 10% median AI ROI vs 20% targets
HBR: Back-end AI produces the highest ROI
Gartner: Most failures are foundation, not technology
The Problem

Why 90% of Finance AI Never Scales

The promise is clear. The reality in most finance functions is not.

The Promise

  • 45%
    lower cost and 57% faster forecasts for top-performing finance teams
    FP&A Trends, 2025
  • 87%
    of CFOs believe AI will be crucial to finance operations in 2026
    Deloitte, 2026
  • 61%
    of CFOs say AI agents are critical to compete in the current economic environment
    Salesforce, 2025

The Reality

  • 45%
    of FP&A time is spent on data cleaning and reconciliation
    FP&A Trends, 2025
  • 22%
    of organisations have a single, structured data source
    FP&A Trends, 2025
  • <10%
    have fully scaled AI
    McKinsey, 2025
The gap

AI doesn’t scale in finance without explainability, controls and audit trails.

That’s the gap I help CFOs close →
How I Can Help

Advisory Services for Finance Leaders

The method is in the book. The assessment applies it to your finance function; the retainer sees it through to live, auditable AI.

Starting Point

AI Readiness Assessment

Fixed fee · 4–6 weeks
The CFO AI Playbook, applied to your finance function. I take your team through the Monday Moves and deliver your AI maturity roadmap, starting with the gaps an auditor would find first.
  • Stakeholder interviews across finance leadership, structured by the Monday Moves
  • Process mapping: where AI belongs, where automation is the better choice, where judgement stays
  • Governance gap analysis against one architecture: COSO ERM, with the EU AI Act, ISO 42001 and NIST AI RMF inside it
  • Your AI maturity roadmap, with prioritised use cases
  • Executive readout session
Start with the Assessment
Recommended Path

Implementation Advisory Retainer

Ongoing · Follows the Assessment
Hands-on advisory support as you move from recommendations to live AI implementation—with the governance that regulated finance demands.
  • Monthly structured advisory sessions
  • Implementation accountability & review
  • Governance & audit-readiness guidance
  • Access to the Playbook’s frameworks and templates
  • Direct access to Leonard for escalations
Start with the Assessment
Alongside Your Team

Fractional Finance Transformation Support

Part-time or interim · Flexible term
Senior finance capacity for a transformation already under way, with AI governance built into how the new processes run.
  • Interim or part-time finance leadership through the change
  • Forecasting, reporting and control redesign
  • AI introduced with controls and audit trails from day one
  • A hand-over that leaves your team running it
Discuss Your Situation
Coming Soon

Self-Serve Course

Self-paced
A structured self-paced programme for finance professionals who want to build their AI implementation capability independently.
  • The Playbook’s frameworks, distilled into modules
  • Use-case selection methodology
  • ROI measurement templates
  • Governance & audit readiness checklists
  • Community access
Free Diagnostic Tool

Is Your Finance AI Ready for Audit?

Take the 5-minute assessment to discover exactly where your finance function stands—and what to fix first. You’ll receive a personalised scorecard with prioritised recommendations.

Take the Free AI Scorecard
Featured Training

Match Process and Technology

One of the most common—and costly—mistakes in finance AI implementation is selecting the wrong type of technology for the task. This clip explains the deterministic vs probabilistic distinction and how to apply it in practice.

What You’ll Learn

  • Why most AI tool selections fail from day one
  • Deterministic vs probabilistic process categories
  • How to match technology type to task type
  • Practical examples from the finance function

About This Training

Filmed at a recent finance leadership event. Part of the broader AI implementation methodology taught in Leonard’s advisory practice.

Want the Full Framework?

Book a Discovery Call
Leonard Schokker – Founder, QuipuCFO
25
Years in
Finance
About Leonard Schokker

Finance Discipline Meets AI Rigour

After 25 years in insurance and finance leadership—including serving as MT member at Athora Netherlands and leading a €658M capital forecasting model at a.s.r. asset management bridging IFRS 17 and Solvency II—I transitioned to independent consulting to apply systematic analysis across multiple domains.

Following an inspiring trip to Peru, I discovered Quipu—the Incan system for recording complex information using knotted strings. Just as the Incas organised complexity through structured methodology, I help finance leaders cut through the noise of fragmented AI advice.

That work comes together in The CFO AI Playbook. Drawing on academic studies and leading consulting frameworks, it gives finance leaders a practical architecture for responsible AI adoption: where AI creates value, where automation is the better choice, and where human judgement must remain central, all governed so it stands up to audit.

MT Member, Athora Netherlands Individual Life
€658M capital forecasting model at a.s.r. asset management (IFRS 17 & Solvency II)
Capital management, risk & controls across insurance, asset management and banking
Moderator & speaker, Insurance Investor Live Benelux
MSc Financial Economics · Executive MBA, Rotterdam School of Management
Author, The CFO AI Playbook (available on Amazon)
Contributing author on AI in finance, FP&A Trends Group
Connect on LinkedIn
Published In

Contributing Author, FP&A Trends Group

I write periodically for FP&A Trends Group, the high-profile international think tank on modern financial planning and analysis. My articles cover AI implementation in finance: governance, operating models and the people side of an AI-first finance function.

All articles
1 Oct 2026Series · Part 3 of 3

Measuring the Invisible: How CFOs Must Evaluate FP&A Talent in an AI-First Function

A practical framework for measuring FP&A talent, AI agents and human-agent performance separately in an AI-first finance function.

Read on FP&A Trends
25 Jun 2026Series · Part 2 of 3

Rebuilding the FP&A Talent Pipeline for AI

Redesigning talent pipelines before AI automates the early-career tasks where finance judgement was traditionally built.

Read on FP&A Trends
23 Jun 2026Series · Part 1 of 3

FP&A Role Design for Agentic AI

Why FP&A Agent Managers become essential as AI agents move into forecasting, scenario analysis, controls and financial decision-making.

Read on FP&A Trends
17 Feb 2026Governance

40% of Agentic AI Projects Fail by 2027: How FP&A Succeeds

Implementing trustworthy agentic AI by matching process types to technology, embedding governance controls and strengthening data foundations.

Read on FP&A Trends
Available Now

The CFO AI Playbook

AI your auditor can sign off on.

A framework-based guide for CFOs on AI adoption and governance, drawn from 75+ academic and consulting sources.

AI is already shaping forecasts, provisions and the numbers that reach your board. When the auditor, the regulator or the board asks how a figure was produced, the accountability sits with you. The model doesn't sign the accounts. You do. This book gives you the governance to carry it.

  • One governance structure: COSO ERM as the frame, with the EU AI Act, ISO 42001 and the NIST AI RMF inside it
  • Controls over AI in financial reporting, built to stand up to audit
  • Where AI creates value, where automation is the better choice, and where human judgement must stay
  • Governing agentic AI, model validation and vendor selection as a risk-allocation decision
  • Monday Moves: chapter self-assessments that build into your own AI maturity roadmap

Read the method in the book, or have me apply it to your finance function.

Order on Amazon Start with the Assessment
The CFO AI Playbook: Designing Audit-Ready AI Systems, by Leonard Schokker
Available Now
“It is the reference I would hand a CFO who has to certify something on Monday.” Brad Wolfe · Three-time NASDAQ CFO
“The CFO AI Playbook stands out because it moves the conversation beyond AI adoption and into the decisions finance leaders now need to make.” Larysa Melnychuk · CEO, FP&A Trends Group
“A pragmatic, no-nonsense approach for selecting appropriate use cases based on business impact and monitoring ROI.” Giel Dirkx · Interim Finance Director
“What stands out in Leonard’s approach is his focus on practical implementation, accountability and auditability.” Zoya Hassan · Commercial Finance Manager, ex-Big 4 Data Analytics
Inside the Book

Five pillars. Twelve chapters.

The full arc, from finance-led AI strategy through execution and governance to a personalised roadmap for your own operation.

I

Foundations

Why finance must architect its own AI strategy, choosing the right scope, and the organisational readiness that makes transformation stick.

II

Execution

Budgeting for uncertain outcomes with financial discipline, and AI-ready teams: 70% of the work is people and process.

III

Governance & Compliance

COSO, the EU AI Act, ISO 42001 and NIST in one structure, AI in financial reporting, and governing agentic AI.

IV

Implementation

Data quality and RAG, model validation and explainability, and buy, build or boost as a risk-allocation decision.

V

Digital Roadmap

Your Monday Moves come together as a personalised AI maturity roadmap for your finance function.

See the full chapter list and what finance leaders say →

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