Abhishek Nanda is a finance and technology professional with M&A, investing, and strategy & operations experience at leading firms such as Advantive, Revalize, Partners Group, and Microsoft. During his career, he has sourced and executed deals worth over $5 billion in cumulative enterprise value. He joins us to share more about his recent book, Finance Reimagined: Digital Tools and AI for Planning, M&A, and Investing
SC: Abhishek, thanks for joining us today. Your book traces the evolution of finance automation from spreadsheets to AI. What led you to write this comprehensive book tracing the history, present, and future of digitization in finance?
Abhishek Nanda: Over my career, I’ve had a front-row seat to the intersection of automation and finance, M&A, and investing. As I watch AI and technology continue to change how we work, what struck me was that there was little in-depth coverage of how finance has and is evolving with technology. I wanted to give seasoned practitioners a detailed roadmap that bridges history with practical application and that was the genesis for this book.
SC: You start with spreadsheets in 1979. Why go back that far?
AN: Because understanding where we’ve been gives us the perspective to see where we might be going next. When VisiCalc launched in 1979, it was revolutionary as it ushered in dynamic financial models which lowered the barriers to analysis and forecasting. Excel followed in 1985 and became the backbone of finance. While we take these tools for granted now, finance today would have looked very different without these innovations. Each subsequent wave of digital tools such as ERP systems, business intelligence tools, and now AI & machine learning are building on that foundation. History tells us that with each new wave of automation doesn’t just improve productivity, but it changes the nature of work and the impact you can have on the business.
SC: Speaking of what’s next, you devote significant attention to AI in M&A and private equity. Can you give us a concrete example of how AI is changing deal-making?
AN: Absolutely. Take deal sourcing, which has traditionally been a game of numbers involving outreach to as many potential targets as possible. While sheer outbound sourcing volume is still critical, firms are now using AI to filter the target universe and focus their outreach efforts on selected companies. In addition, firms are using AI to monitor target companies and decide if announcements related to leadership, products, or competition could trigger a potential transaction. Having worked with tools such as Grata, I have seen first hand how AI-based search is fundamentally changing our ability to discover, analyze, and target the most attractive prospects.
SC: What about the limitations of automation and AI? You have talked about human judgement and oversight in the book.
AN: This is critical. I’ve seen teams sometimes over-rely on AI assumptions and outputs. For instance, I have seen how AI-based tools are now creating relatively good financial models but due to lack of complete context, these models often don’t reflect the strategic backdrop. Teams now need to focus their efforts on the “last mile” where they should still deeply evaluate financial drivers and assumptions and confirm accuracy to ensure models reflect real world considerations and plans. We need to implement human review at critical decision points and foster a culture where challenging AI outputs is encouraged.
SC: Looking ahead, what’s your biggest prediction for finance and investing in the next five years?
AN: We’re moving to an era where AI will be natively embedded in business and finance functions. The firms that will succeed won’t just use AI tools—they’ll redesign their operating models around human-machine collaboration. This means real-time forecasting instead of quarterly budgets, AI-enabled templates for due diligence, and autonomous systems that flag risks.
SC: Final question: who should read this book?
AN: Anyone in finance or investing who wants to lead rather than react. CFOs navigating digital transformation. Private equity professionals competing for deals. FP&A teams building next-generation planning capabilities. Even board members who need to understand what questions to ask about their firm’s AI strategy.
SC: Abhishek Nanda, thank you for your insights.
AN: Thank you, SC.
