Smartofant – the smart AI Assistant for FP&A
Productive Business AI for CFOs, FP&A experts and business units
Smartofant is the AI assistant developed by smartpm.solutions.
It combines modern AI technology with clearly defined controlling processes – from analysis and planning to secure execution. Smartofant analyzes variances, explains root causes, creates scenarios and supports CFOs and FP&A experts in making well-founded, transparent decisions – including governance and seamless system integration.
FP&A experts and business users interact with Smartofant in natural language – directly within the dashboard. Typical questions such as “Show me cost categories that deviate from plan” are immediately understood and processed. Smartofant activates specialized AI agents and delivers reliable, data-driven answers based on existing enterprise planning and controlling data.
Smartofant automatically considers user roles and permissions, functional responsibilities, budget limits and planning rules. It provides concrete recommendations, while approvals and final control always remain with the user.
Smartofant operates exclusively on enterprise data within the existing system landscape.
No data leaves the company environment.
What value does the Smartofant AI assistant deliver for CFOs and FP&A teams?
AI-driven variance analysis
Automated analysis of cost, revenue and OPEX variances, including driver analysis and AI-generated recommendations.
Driver-based root cause analysis
AI identifies and explains price, volume and combined driver effects – transparent for FP&A and business units.
AI-Based Forecasting
Forecasts, scenarios, and simulations based on actuals and plan data – optionally in a sandbox
Integrated governance workflows
Supports approval processes, controlled write-back to the planning system and full traceability via versioning.
Smartofant combines the strengths of AI assistant and AI agent – secure, reliable, scalable
Smartofant is not a single chatbot, but an orchestrated AI assistant powered by specialized agents for analysis, planning, governance and execution.
The AI assistant guides users through the process, while dedicated AI agents perform operational tasks. Smartofant understands business questions, analyzes enterprise data, provides meaningful recommendations and executes approved actions – always under user control.
AI Assistant
- Understands user questions
- Guides users through processes
- Orchestrates specialized agents
- Requests approvals
- Explains results and implications
AI Agent
- Retrieves data
- Calculates forecasts
- Validates documents
- Executes workflows
- Writes back approved changes to the system
Smartofant connects directly to relevant systems such as the controlling and planning software, asks targeted clarification questions, and ensures transparency, security and control. Embedded in the familiar Power BI interface, it supports FP&A experts, CFOs and business teams in natural language – without additional systems and without black boxes.
How Smartofant Works in Performance Management and FP&A – Selected Use Cases
Use Case 1: Target-Driven Forecast Adjustment
Use Case 1 Description: An FP&A expert asks a business-related question in natural language. Smartofant analyzes the relevant data, identifies key drivers and variances, and proposes concrete forecast adjustments. All recommendations are explained transparently and submitted for approval.
After approval, Smartofant creates a new forecast version in a sandbox environment and implements the approved changes in a controlled way within the system. In the background, Smartofant orchestrates specialized AI agents for analysis, planning and governance – while decision-making authority always remains with the user.
Value delivered: early transparency, actionable recommendations instead of pure analysis, better decision quality, and more time for steering rather than data preparation.
Use Case 2: Supporting Sales Cost Center Planning
Use Case 2 Description: The sales department is guided through the cost center planning process without requiring FP&A expertise. Smartofant automatically identifies the assigned cost center, planning period and budget limits, and proposes plausible plan values.
The proposed values are reviewed by the business unit and then released for review by corporate FP&A. Approvals, versioning and implementation are handled in a controlled manner within the system. This results in reliable planning instead of rough estimates, reduced workload for FP&A and full transparency throughout the process.
Where does the name of the AI assistant come from?
Our mascot is the blueprint for the Smartofant AI assistant.
Smartofant is not only a technological innovation, but also the well-known blue mascot of smartpm.solutions. As a friendly elephant, he represents our values: intelligence, reliability and a collaborative mindset – and he always has an open ear for FP&A experts.
Whether at trade fairs or conferences, Smartofant is always there: a crowd favorite who welcomes people with open arms and creates a positive atmosphere.
Learn more about our fluffy team member on our team page.