# # 167 I built an AI agent finance department (full build)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/build-with-ai-6407453/167-i-built-an-ai-agent-finance-department-full-build
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/build-with-ai-6407453/167-i-built-an-ai-agent-finance-department-full-build.md
Podcast: [Build With AI](https://stenobird.com/podcast/build-with-ai-6407453)
Published: 2026-05-27T01:19:18+00:00
Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/e22d8c08
Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/e22d8c08/bfc06e09.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/build-with-ai-6407453/episodes/167-i-built-an-ai-agent-finance-department-full-build
Duration seconds: 2624

## Resource

I brought on Mike Dion, a senior corporate finance professional who has helped automate more than 100,000 hours of work out of finance processes, to walk through how to build a fully functional AI agent finance department inside N8n — from scratch, with no coding background required. We build a CFO agent named Charles, give him a team of specialist sub-agents (FP&A, Accounting, and Treasury), and watch the delegation logic in action as Charles routes questions to the right specialist instead of answering everything himself. Mike also breaks down how to use ChatGPT to write your own system prompts, why you should give the CFO a reasoning model while using cheaper models for the sub-agents, and how to publish the finished chat so your whole team can access it. By the end of this episode, you'll have everything you need to replicate this AI finance department in under 45 minutes. Timestamps 00:00 – Intro 00:03 – What we're building: AI CFO inside N8n 00:23 – Mike's background and 100,000 hours of automation 00:52 – Why N8n over Make, Zapier, or Power Automate 02:00 – Setting up the chat trigger and naming the CFO 05:00 – Using ChatGPT to write the CFO system prompt 08:52 – Choosing the right AI model and saving on token costs 13:27 – Building the FP&A sub-agent (and what FP&A actually does) 16:36 – Adding the Accounting agent with code interpreter 19:25 – Building the Treasury agent 33:21 – Successful routing to FP&A and Treasury agents 38:19 – Publishing the chat and embedding it in Slack, Teams, or a website 39:22 – Mike's philosophy: train your team to build, don't just build for them 41:14 – Where to find Mike and his free Finance Automation Insider newsletter Key Points Using ChatGPT to write your own N8n system prompts is one of the fastest ways to g…

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## Transcript

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