In this episode of FP&A Unlocked, host Paul Barnhurst sits down with David Den Boer to debate the future of enterprise performance management, Excel, and AI. They explore whether traditional EPM platforms are being disrupted, how AI could reshape forecasting and finance workflows, and why governance, transparency, and accountability still matter.

David Den Boer is the CEO and Founder of Column5 Consulting and Darwin Analytics. He began his career as an EPM administrator at a Fortune 500 company and later worked with OutlookSoft, which was acquired by SAP and became part of SAP BPC. With more than 20 years of experience in EPM, David works with large enterprises on performance management and develops practical solutions designed to help organizations get more value from their EPM environments.

Expect to Learn:

Why Excel and EPM platforms may be harder to replace than expected.
How AI is changing the build-versus-buy decision for finance technology.
Where AI can support forecasting without removing human accountability.
Why reproducibility, auditability, and governance still matter.
How finance teams should balance AI innovation with existing EPM systems.

Here are a few relevant quotes from the episode:

“There’s really no benefit to avoiding Excel.” - David Den Boer
“Everyone has to have an AI strategy as far out as they can see, which might be six months.” - David Den Boer

David explains that AI can significantly reduce the cost of building and extending finance solutions, but large organizations still need deterministic calculations, multi-user workflows, auditability, and clear accountability.

Follow David:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daviddenboer/
Website: https://column5.com/

Disclosure: Portions of this episode (such as the introduction or promotional segments) use AI-generated voice narration produced under human editorial review.

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Earn Your CPE Credit

For CPE credit, please go to earmarkcpe.com, listen to the episode, download the app, answer a few questions, and earn your CPE certification. To earn education credits for the FPAC Certificate, take the quiz on earmark and contact Paul Barnhurst for further details.

In Today's Episode:

[00:00] - Trailer

[03:46] - What Great FP&A Looks Like

[04:08] - Is Excel Dead?

[06:50] - Is EPM Dead?

[14:18] - Build vs. Buy

[18:40] - AI-Led Forecasting

[26:22] - Reproducibility & Auditability

[31:33] - The Cost of Change

[39:06] - AI & EPM Together

[45:24] - Skills & Closing Thoughts

Will AI Replace Enterprise Performance Management? | David den Boer

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Will AI Replace Enterprise Performance Management? | David den Boer