The treasury function is changing. We all know, for instance, that it’s earned a seat at the main strategy table. So, now what? Now this: treasury teams are stepping into the spotlight as strategic partners, using data, AI, and payments modernization to drive business value.

Energized by these changes, attendees of the 2025 TMANY New York Cash Exchange Conference will attend seeking guidance about how to optimize the trend. To that end, we caught up with Bottomline VP of Product Management, Leo Gil, for a timely talk about new directions for treasury management and its elevated importance for organizations today.

Gil explained that treasury teams are now under pressure to provide real-time insights that help companies become more resilient and mitigate risk. That puts them between a rock (macroeconomic forces) and a hard place (demanding boards, CEOs, and CFOs).

“External and internal pressures are forcing the treasury team to extend more into providing guidance on liquidity, risk exposure, and capital allocation,” he said. The days of disparate spreadsheets and after-the-fact reporting are fading fast. Instead, Treasury is expected to deliver timely, contextual insights that inform executive decision-making.

Whether between sessions at the TMANY New York Cash Exchange or in everyday operations, one thing treasury teams are watching closely now is interest rate volatility.

In the past, low and stable interest rates made forecasting straightforward. Now, with monetary policy in flux and uncertainty prevailing, Treasury must be prepared for multiple outcomes. Gil emphasized the importance of agility as the interest rate drama plays out.

The best advice is to be ready for anything. “Do you have the right tools in place to be able to scenario-plan these different situations that may happen?” Gil asked, denoting a prime concern. An ability to model and respond to varying outcomes is a key competency.

 

Optimizing Liquidity with Data and Technology

Turning to liquidity strategies across global operations, the foundational role of transparency comes up a lot.

“It all starts with having centralized cash visibility across all of your assets,” Gil said.

This means consolidating information about cash, loans, and financial instruments in a single, automated platform to enable quick decision-making. Real-time data is essential, as is the ability to forecast accurately by integrating ERP and treasury data.

Gil cautioned against “boil the ocean” solutions that require cumbersome implementations. Instead, he advocated for a modular, incremental approach.

“What can I do today,” he said, “or with the least amount of investment of effort and time, knowing that eventually I can build on it?” This agile mindset allows treasury teams to deliver value quickly and scale their capabilities over time.

 

Technical Decisions

When evaluating treasury management systems (TMS), there’s now a trend toward modular, cloud-native solutions “that tend to have a quicker time to value,” Gil said.

The goal for realizing value “…is to achieve full cash visibility, centralized forecasting, and streamlined payment processes…” as quickly as possible.

Gil also recommended subscription-based models that allow organizations to start small and expand as needed. With a subscription-based model and a modular approach, Treasury can justify further investment and be better equipped to adapt to change.

Also, and importantly, these moves position treasury to be uniquely valuable to payments in several ways. As treasury teams become more involved in payment flows, they take on greater responsibility for managing risk, including fraud and compliance with sanctions.

“Having the ability to manage those workflows where there are the proper controls for approvals for payments leaving the organization, proper detection of potential misuse of funds, and proper detection of sanctions issues” is now essential, Gil said.

That puts Treasury teams on the front lines of helping companies mitigate various forms of payments risk in an increasingly complex financial environment.

 

AI, Automation, and Next Steps for Treasury

No conversation feels complete this year without addressing the 800-pound super intelligence in the room – AI and automation. As it pertains to treasury operations, the key is to use AI as an extension of the treasury team, Gil said, and not as a replacement.

“AI is another member of the treasury team,” as Gil sees it. As such, one of its most promising use cases for AI is cash forecasting. “Understanding the different patterns of cash and payments across the organization using AI tools can help provide more accurate forecasts and additional data points to treasury,” he said.

Fraud detection is another area where AI helps treasury show off its enhanced value.

By recognizing unusual payments or deviations from established behaviors, AI can alert treasury teams to potential fraud and innocent errors alike, according to Gil: “We’re looking at recognizing these patterns and building knowledge across the organization.”

Taken together, it underscores the fact that treasury is at a crossroads. Embracing data, AI, and technical agility, treasury teams are now doing important strategic work. To expand further on these gains, Gil said B2B treasury must be more data-driven and collaborative.