Fintech · AI · SaaS
Month-end Insights Email
Automating a high-pressure monthly FinOps workflow by turning a 10–40 hour email preparation process into a 30-second assisted workflow.
Leadership brief
- Problem
- FinOps teams spent 10 to 40 hours per customer preparing monthly insight emails during their busiest operating window.
- My role
- Lead Product Designer partnering with FinOps, product, engineering, and internal users to simplify the workflow without losing review control.
- Key move
- Started with a narrow automation that generated the core email, then expanded the workflow through feedback into notes, requests, audit signals, and review support.
- Outcome
- Reduced month-end email preparation to around 30 seconds before custom requests, freeing the team to focus on higher-value financial work.
- AI
- Fintech
- SaaS
- Bookkeeping
Problem Statement
Month-end insights email
At the start of every month, the Zeni FinOps team emails all its customers about their monthly insights. The process involves three steps: the preparer drafts the email and sends it to the reviewer, the controller for final approval, and then to the customers.
This process takes a long time and sometimes has human errors.
Research
FinOps teams often face heavy workloads during the beginning and end of each month, leading to stress and time constraints. An analysis of team activities using Clockify data revealed that the month-end email took up a substantial amount of time for all team members.
This highlighted a gap in efficiency, prompting a decision to automate the process to alleviate workload pressure and optimise time management during peak periods.
Ideation
Testing & Iterations
Final Solution
Instead of building a fully-featured solution from the start, we focused on creating a basic version and iterated based on user feedback. Initially, we developed a feature that pulled relevant numbers and generated a monthly email. This simple solution showed clear success, so we added enhancements from small tweaks like editing the subject line to bigger updates like a custom text box for notes and requests.
With the success of early versions, we expanded the feature by integrating an audit bot to analyse key metrics, allowing the FinOps team to improve company scores. We also added a customer request section, making it easier for the team to track past and pending requests. These additions have made the feature a comprehensive solution, saving significant time by reducing the need to navigate multiple platforms.
Reflection & Learning
Rather than immediately building a traditional solution, we paused to understand the team’s challenges and rethought automation from a fresh perspective.
This approach led to a significant breakthrough: month-end emails, which used to take 10 to 40 hours depending on the customer, now take just 30 seconds, excluding any custom requests. This massive time saving was a big win, freeing up the team to focus on more impactful work and helping the company achieve its automation goals effectively.
