Basware customers focus on trust as AI expands in finance

Basware said customers representing USD $1.4 trillion in combined revenue are focusing on trust as they expand the use of artificial intelligence in finance. The discussion emerged at a meeting in Dublin attended by more than 80 global organisations.

Finance leaders are shifting their attention from whether AI can perform tasks to whether its decisions can be trusted, defended and kept under control when used across invoice and payment processes.

The issue comes as AI adoption rises across the sector. The Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority reported that 80% of surveyed UK financial services firms have deployed AI agents, increasing scrutiny of how much autonomy companies should allow in critical business functions.

Basware tied the concerns raised by customers to its own transaction data and research. Its 2026 Finance Performance Report draws on 2.5 billion invoices, 6,500 enterprise customers in more than 190 countries and more than USD $10 trillion in combined spend. According to the report, 96.5% of AI-driven coding and approval-routing decisions among best-in-class organisations are completed correctly without human intervention.

That still leaves questions about the minority of cases that fail, particularly in finance departments where errors can affect compliance, payments and supplier relationships. Executives at the Dublin gathering said those edge cases are becoming central to boardroom discussions as companies consider broader use of autonomous systems.

"Together, the customers in the room represent $1.4 trillion in revenue, but across industries and geographies they are asking remarkably similar questions: how do we unlock the value of AI while maintaining trust in the decisions it makes? Basware is helping customers put trust at the center of enterprise AI: AI that finance teams can control, defend and trust. We have delivered more than 150 innovations shaped with customers, reflecting the challenges they are solving today and the opportunities they expect AI to unlock next," said Jason Kurtz, Chief Executive Officer of Basware.

Customer input has contributed to more than 150 product and platform changes, according to Basware. The Dublin meeting was the first time its VIP and NextGen customer groups had been brought together, giving users a shared view of its product roadmap and a chance to influence development priorities.

Customer concerns

Kira Mondrus, Chief Marketing Officer of Basware, said customer concerns were focused less on AI's theoretical potential and more on accountability when systems make mistakes.

"The questions customers raised throughout the event were not about what AI can do. They were about what happens when it gets something wrong. Those are the right questions, and finance leaders deserve answers backed by evidence, not promises," said Mondrus.

The emphasis on trust reflects a wider shift in enterprise software buying, with finance chiefs looking for clearer evidence on governance, auditability and responsibility rather than broad claims about automation.

For Basware, the debate is closely tied to invoice lifecycle management, where AI is used to code invoices, route approvals and support payment controls. These are routine tasks at scale, but they sit close to regulated reporting, fraud prevention and supplier management, raising the stakes for any system errors.

The company also used the customer event to discuss how its acquisition of Trustpair extends oversight across the invoice-to-payment process. Basware said the deal strengthens financial integrity controls, although it did not disclose further operational or financial details in the announcement.

User feedback

One customer at the gathering said peer discussion was a significant part of the event's value, especially as finance teams work through similar questions across industries.

"As AI becomes more important across finance, we need to know that it can be controlled, that its decisions can be defended and that we can trust the outcomes. This year's VIP event gave us the opportunity to discuss those questions openly with Basware and other finance teams facing many of the same challenges. That exchange is valuable because we learn from one another and have a direct voice in shaping what comes next," said Dave Francis of Global Business Services at BrandSafway.

Basware serves more than 6,500 customers worldwide and said its systems draw on data from 20 million suppliers and 40 years of industry experience. That scale gives it a large base from which to test AI tools, but it also puts pressure on vendors to show that automated decisions can be reviewed and justified when challenged by auditors, regulators or internal finance teams.

Mark Johnston, Chief Customer Officer of Basware, said the company's customer programmes were designed as much to gather criticism as to present product plans.

"The value of VIP and NextGen is not simply what we share with customers. It is what we learn from them. Customers challenge our thinking here, and we turn their insights into measurable value. Trust does not come from AI alone. It comes from combining AI with more than 40 years of industry expertise, compliance knowledge and experience of the real challenges finance teams face. That combination of scale, experience and open discussion is what makes this community so valuable," said Johnston.