AI will transform finance ops and India can build the brain: Accel’s Prasad and Malhotra

Bengaluru, July 22 Artificial intelligence (AI) is coming for finance operations — and India is uniquely positioned to build the category-defining companies that power this transformation. That’s the central thesis of a compelling new essay from Accel investors Anagh Prasad and Eknoor Malhotra, published on 'SeedToScale', Accel’s open-source content and community hub for founders.

In their piece, “AI is Coming for Accounting. India is Uniquely Positioned to Lead,” the authors argue that the traditionally complex and compliance-heavy world of accounting is on the cusp of a generational shift. Large language models (LLMs) and AI-native systems are now capable of handling core finance workflows — invoice capture, reconciliation, closing books, reporting — not just faster, but smarter.

“Accounting is a textbook example of where AI’s capabilities can be productised — reasoning over structured and unstructured data, chaining logic across systems, and adapting to compliance rules — all in a high-volume, high-context environment,” write Prasad and Malhotra.

But the real unlock, they argue, isn’t just the technology — it’s India.

“India has long been the financial operations back office to the world. Now, we can build the brain,” they write, referencing India’s deep bench of finance talent, decades of operational know-how from BPO and KPO firms, and a new wave of founders trained in AI and enterprise software.

The authors frame the opportunity as similar to earlier SaaS inflection points: “Think of what Freshworks did for CRM or what Zoho did for productivity tools. We believe India can build the world’s most valuable companies in AI-for-Finance.”

The piece also serves as a call to arms for early-stage founders. Rather than bolting AI onto existing workflows, Prasad and Malhotra advocate for ground-up reinvention: tools that reason, explain, and act—what they call “agents, not forms.”

This shift coincides with rising demand among global CFOs to increase reporting cadence, improve accuracy, and cut costs — all while contending with shrinking finance teams. “This is creating a wedge for AI to prove itself — not just as a shiny demo, but as core to business continuity,” they write.

Their conclusion is both urgent and optimistic: “The building blocks are in place — what’s needed now is imagination and execution.”

For founders, operators, and investors alike, the message is clear: the future of finance will be automated and intelligent. And with the right ambition, India might just build the systems that power it.

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