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Choosing AI for finance is a consequential decision: finance leaders need to weigh the promise of faster analysis against the requirements for accuracy, security, auditability, and predictable costs. In this GrowCFO Show episode, Lyndon Stickley and Rob Steele of iplicit discuss how CFOs can assess the AI market without being swept up in hype or delaying necessary finance-system changes.

They compare the current AI investment boom with the dot-com era and consider how uncertainty can make CFOs hesitate when modernizing legacy systems. Stickley and Steele distinguish AI features from the underlying software architecture, emphasizing the importance of a stable cloud foundation and a finance ledger that produces consistent, auditable results.

Their practical guidance is to apply AI selectively: use it for analysis, forecasting, modeling, and identifying unusual patterns, while keeping core bookkeeping and ledger processes controlled and dependable. Before committing, finance leaders should also evaluate security, resilience, long-term costs, vendor track record, customer support, and staff readiness.

About Lyndon Stickley

Lyndon Stickley is a seasoned, ‘hands-on’ serial entrepreneur, having built and sold six companies during the last 35 years. He has a strong technology bias within his portfolio and has been involved in developing businesses from start-up to 400+ employees. With a particular focus on Sales and Marketing, he is expert in building high-performance teams and developing growth strategies for delivering service-orientated propositions. He was instrumental in assembling iplicit’s founding team and GTM strategy, starting out in 2016 as non-executive director, and assuming CEO position in 2022.

About Rob Steele

Rob Steele’s career in finance software began at 18 when he co-founded Exchequer Software and grew it, without outside investment, into a multi-million-pound business, acquired by IRIS Software in 2005. After supporting a number of start-ups in various industries after this, he joined iplicit as CEO in 2018, when the business had just six employees. He later moved into the CFO seat in 2022 to steer the business through a sustained period of hyper-growth.

Key topics covered:

• Lyndon Stickley compares the AI investment surge with the dot-com bubble, warning that high expectations and investment do not guarantee that every vendor will endure.
• The speakers say AI marketing labels such as “AI-native” may not explain how a finance product actually works; CFOs should investigate the architecture behind the claims. 
• They stress that the ledger should remain accurate and auditable, with AI used around core bookkeeping rather than trusted to make unverified financial entries. 
• AI is presented as a stronger fit for probability-based work—including forecasting, modeling, variance analysis, and fraud detection—than for deterministic accounting tasks. 
• Finance leaders are advised to assess security, scalability, token-related costs, vendor stability, and access to human support before selecting a system. 
• Rob Steele recommends training staff to use AI responsibly and efficiently, including ways to avoid unnecessary credit consumption.

Links

• Lyndon Stickley on LinkedIn
• Rob Steele on LinkedIn
• Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn
• GrowCFO Mentoring

Timestamps: 

• 00:06:22 — Lyndon Stickley discusses AI market hype and draws parallels with the dot-com bubble.
• 00:09:37 — The speakers explore why CFOs are moving away from legacy systems and why AI-related noise can complicate decisions.
• 00:12:03 — They discuss AI software labels and explain why finance needs a dependable, deterministic ledger.
• 00:18:02 — The conversation addresses AI security, resilience, scalability, and potentially variable usage costs.
• 00:33:00 — Rob Steele describes AI as a useful analyst for forecasting and reporting, but a poor substitute for dependable bookkeeping.
• 00:39:00 — The discussion covers choosing a cloud-based finance partner, planning for future needs, and evaluating service and support.
• 00:51:46 — The guests recommend training staff to use AI efficiently and responsibly.

Find out more about GrowCFO

If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favorite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode.

GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. Join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars. Premium members can also access our extensive training center and CFO Digital Toolkit. You can enroll in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programs here.

You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

AI-Based Conversion Rate Optimisation

Krisztian Kiraly, International Partnership Manager at OptiMonk, explains why most e-commerce stores lose 97 out of every 100 visitors, and how personalised on-site messages, from subtle sticky bars to exit-intent pop-ups, can win more of them back. Kevin asks whether AI-made creatives all look the same, and Graham asks whether a pop-up can ever sell a high-ticket product.

Summary of the Podcast

Krisztian is based in a small town around 45 minutes from Budapest. He has worked in digital marketing and e-commerce for more than ten years, including five years running his own agency in Hungary, and now looks after OptiMonk’s agency and affiliate partners around the world.

Founded around 12 years ago, OptiMonk is an on-site messaging platform used by roughly 30,000 websites and online stores. Its philosophy is simple: show the right message to the right person at the right time. The conversation covers personalisation with first-party data, OptiMonk’s new agentic campaign builder, the “double squeeze” facing online retailers, and what happens when more of your website visitors are AI agents rather than people.

Key Takeaways

• Most visitors leave empty-handed: average e-commerce conversion is only 2–3%, so about 97 in 100 visitors leave without buying.
• Convert the traffic you already have: with acquisition costs rising sharply, Krisztian argues the better investment is converting existing visitors, not buying more of them.
• Personalisation drives results: messages tailored to traffic source, new or returning visitors, purchase history and the exact product being viewed typically lift conversion by 10–40%.
• Reach the abandoners you can’t email: only around 10% of cart abandoners have a known email address. Exit-intent messages reach the other 90% while they’re still on the site.
• Psychology first: the hosts agree that pop-ups must be built on an understanding of the customer journey, or they are just another annoying interruption.

How OptiMonk Works

• Once connected to a site, OptiMonk starts monitoring visitor behaviour using first-party data.
• Formats range from intrusive to subtle: classic pop-ups, sticky bars, sidebars and small corner triggers. Visitors can always choose to engage or ignore them.
• Around 10% of campaigns now use looping video backgrounds, which are newer and more eye-catching.
• A 10% sign-up rate from a pop-up is considered normal.

AI and Agentic Features

• OptiMonk’s agentic builder lets users describe a campaign in plain English. The AI creates the creative to match the site’s design, fonts and colours, then sets up targeting and optimisation.
• Users can also connect their own ChatGPT or Claude agent through MCP.
• Kevin raised the concern that AI creatives can look generic. Krisztian agreed, and said supplying your own brand guidelines and assets makes the output more distinctive.

Proof and Measurement

• A large Hungarian spirits retailer with millions of monthly visitors increased revenue by 12% through AI-optimised product pages and on-site messaging.
• The dashboard reports click-through, conversion and “assisted revenue” from visitors who engaged with a campaign. A/B testing is built in, including testing a campaign against showing nothing at all.
• Pricing is based on traffic volume only, with no feature limits between plans. Plans start at around $179 a month.

The Double Squeeze on E-Commerce

• Online retailers are squeezed from above by rising acquisition costs. Krisztian cited a 222% rise in average US customer acquisition cost over five years.
• From below, Amazon, Temu and Shein are taking market share aggressively, especially in Europe.

The Future: When Visitors Are AI Agents

• Krisztian expects agentic commerce to change on-site messaging significantly, as more website visitors become AI agents shopping on someone’s behalf.
• Kevin noted it is already happening, with people asking Claude and ChatGPT to research products for them.
• On high-ticket items, Kevin’s view is that a pop-up alone is unlikely to close a £3,000 sale, but understanding timing and the customer journey can still add value.

Working with Krisztian

You can find out more at optimonk.com and connect with Krisztian on LinkedIn.

The Next 100 Days Podcast Co-Hosts

Graham Arrowsmith

Graham founded Finely Fettled in 2014 to provide data from The UK High Net Worth Database to marketers targeting affluent and high-net-worth customers. He’s the founder of MicroYES, a Partner for MeclabsAI, creating lead generation AI Agents & Workflows and introducing the MeclabsAI Platform. Graham is an inCruises Independent Partner, and is building up interest from people around the world in the World’s Largest Travel Membership – inCruises. You can sign up and access 21,000+ cruises, hotels and tours by clicking HERE

Kevin Appleby

Kevin specialises in finance transformation and implementing business change. He’s the COO of GrowCFO, which provides both community and CPD-accredited training designed to grow the next generation of finance leaders. You can find Kevin on LinkedIn and at kevinappleby.com