At the 2025 Finance Indaba, Mercedes-Benz CFO Taryn Woodbridge shared how empowering finance teams to experiment with artificial intelligence (AI) tools, without waiting for IT, sparked a cultural shift, reduced fear of digitalisation and boosted efficiency across the organisation.
At this year’s Finance Indaba in Sandton, one of the most compelling discussions came from Mercedes-Benz CFO Taryn Woodbridge, who reflected on how her team turned fear of digital transformation into a movement of innovation and confidence. Speaking during a panel session, Woodbridge emphasised that workforce readiness is only one side of the digital transformation equation, overcoming fear is the other.
“In our journey, we knew that we needed to be more digitally focused, more AI-driven, and this was a strategic objective of ours. But it seemed to be taking time. I saw the fear, and there wasn’t much appetite. It wasn’t about forcing it, we needed a cultural and mindset shift,” she said.
To achieve this, Taryn identified what she called AI change agents – curious, tech-savvy team members eager to go beyond their job descriptions. “We found those nuggets in our team, people who had a curiosity to explore. We gave them the tools, created a safe space and the transformation began from there,” she explained.
This approach gave birth to Digi Days, an initiative aimed at empowering finance professionals to build their own automation tools rather than waiting for lengthy IT development cycles. “We wanted to run with the sentiment in finance: we’re not going to wait for IT, why not do it ourselves?” said Taryn.
“We created a platform for experimentation, and on our first Digi Day, two years ago, team members showcased robotic process automation (RPA) tools they had built on their own. It was a wow moment, jaws dropped.”
The success of the first Digi Day set off a wave of excitement and self-learning. Team members began upskilling independently through YouTube tutorials and company learning platforms, developing low-code and AI-driven solutions that streamlined manual processes.
Recognising and amplifying internal talent
One of the standout examples came from a former Youth Employment Service (YES) programme participant with an actuarial background, who approached Taryn with an idea to reinvent the company’s budgeting and forecasting process. With her support, he developed an AI tool named Sybil, designed to predict forecasts using run rates and historical data from Mercedes-Benz’s SAP system.
“When we trialled Sybil in our last planning period, it reduced four weeks of planning down to just a few minutes,” Taryn revealed. “The accuracy compared to human forecasts was within a two percent range and as a CFO, I’m very happy with that. I like to work 80-20, and this was an outstanding result.”
The young innovator has since been promoted and now represents South Africa in Mercedes-Benz’s global AI forums, highlighting how grassroots innovation can elevate both individuals and the business as a whole.
Taryn said the key to sustaining this momentum lies in recognising and amplifying internal talent. “We showcase what our people are doing, especially our trainees. Many of them are teaching us things and that’s what makes it so exciting,” she said.
Through initiatives like Digi Days, Mercedes-Benz finance has not only automated time-consuming tasks but also created a culture of curiosity and empowerment. “We’ve unlocked the fear that you need to be an IT specialist to drive digitalisation. It starts small, builds confidence and before you know it, you have a movement,” Taryn said.
