This is the first issue of our APM newsletter, which will cover our latest learnings, practices, and thoughts at Openvale Group for improving performance management capabilities amid the AI paradigm shift.
Today I’m excited to share the full breadth of our approach below. Eighteen months ago, this vision was just a theory. As of now it’s a proven reality, and it will only get better from here.
We committed to this ambitious vision based on several key assumptions:
FP&A needed to move closer to the data to drive better planning outcomes.
Productivity tools like Excel would be improved, not replaced, by AI.
Business analytics, FP&A, and BI functions were converging.
Specialized software tools were ripe for disruption and could be consolidated for cost savings.
Microsoft Fabric’s open nature would provide maximum surface area for AI advancements.
All of the above have transpired:
Fabric has proven to be an accessible platform for finance practitioners and data engineers alike. Merging medallion architecture and modeling dramatically increases the speed of information.
Productivity tools have been supercharged with AI, and AI can now produce better deliverables than humans given the right context (the core goal of APM). APM integrates directly with these universal tools.
We have built bridges with BI and IT teams and combined data engineering, AI engineering, and solution consulting into one team.
Consolidating not only specialized EPM tools but visualization, workflow, and ETL tools has realized 50–90%+ savings for APM clients.
Most importantly, the benefits of an open platform like Fabric combined with AI advancements are now abundantly clear.
“I now understand why you all went with Fabric, even though it’s a bit clunky,” remarked one finance leader. He had just used Claude and a custom reporting MCP that we built on top of Fabric to generate an interactive budget dashboard that far surpassed anything we could have configured on our own.
We have deployed an executive management reporting agent and are following quickly with ‘Tech support’ agents and ‘Builder’ agents - here’s a sneak peek:
And therein lies the ultimate value of APM. On top of the cost savings and increased speed and visibility, the platform is not ours, it’s yours. Fully accessible, portable, and customizable by you, and for you, from the models to the MCPs.
It’s the power to build and produce with the help of AI, not just consume. It’s the difference between AI being a capital investment and an operating expense.
Eighteen months ago, our clients asked if we would rebuild Anaplan. That was never our goal. Our goal was to provide the blueprint, foundation, and scaffolding to build the performance management platform that they wanted, not just another software tool.
We will share much more as we advance on this journey. Now that we have broken into the agentic layer, the potential for APM is vast!
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