What is it like to work on the finance team at AI and computer vision company Metropolis Technologies? In a word — acceleration.
“Our strongest competitive differentiator is our enterprise-wide integration of AI, extending from our front-line recognition software deep into our back-office operations,” said Vice President Thomas Colwell. “We are actively constructing the controllership of the future by embedding generative AI directly into daily financial workflows.”
According to Colwell, this enterprise-level adoption of AI is the company’s strongest competitive differentiator — and one of the reasons he thinks prospective candidates should consider his employer as a safe bet for future growth.
“The proof lies in our operational speed and scalability,” he said.
Colwell shared with Built In how the company uses scalable technology to speed up the financial department and the smart bets Metropolis is making next.
Metropolis Technologies, Inc. is an artificial intelligence company whose computer vision platform enables checkout-free payment experiences for the real world.
Which metric or milestone best captures strength this year? Why is it credible?
Cutting our monthly financial close cycle in half, from sometimes up to 20 business days down to 10, best captures our momentum this year. We achieved this through backfilling several key open roles during a hiring sprint in April that allowed us to also complete our annual audit one month earlier this year.
This milestone is credible because it directly accelerates business decisions. Speeding up our close cycle gives senior leadership more timely access to performance data, which as we continue to make progress in reducing close cycle time will create a more real-time decision-making tool.
Where are you strongest competitively — and what proof backs that?
Our strongest competitive differentiator is our enterprise-wide integration of AI, extending from our front-line recognition software deep into our back-office operations. We are actively constructing the controllership of the future by embedding generative AI directly into daily financial workflows.
The proof lies in our operational speed and scalability. Our controllership team has begun to use tools like Gemini to draft standard operating procedures, map complex workflows and automate reconciliation logic. As we roadmap and integrate our financial systems, embrace an AI-first environment and simplify our workflows over the next 18-24 months, we will be able to scale and support our growth initiatives efficiently and effectively.
What expansion bet excites you — and which leading indicator will you watch?
Starting in H2, the controllership will be developing our 2027 annual opperating plan and technology roadmap, focusing on modernizing our core technology stack through an integrated enterprise resource planning platform. This infrastructure upgrade creates a scalable foundation to support our long-term growth initiatives in other verticals to ensure we continue to be the leader in the recognition economy.
