ATFM episode 41: Advancing financial management through AI and automation

In this episode of the “All Things Financial Management” podcast, presented by SDFM and Guidehouse, Danny Bethke joins host Angel Wang to share his nontraditional career journey and passion for helping others work smarter through technology. They explore how AI, automation, and hands-on training are helping the Department of the Navy reduce repetitive work, support auditability, and give financial managers more time to focus on analysis, strategy, and mission priorities. Danny also discusses how citizen developer programs are helping translate these tools into meaningful impact.

Danny Bethke's story

Oh yeah, absolutely. So honestly, my background's probably a little unconventional to most people. I didn't go to school right away. I think that really helped with my interest in doing AI. I think it really helped evolve my curiosity in technology. It really helped with my trust with technology. I just love helping people. And so I think it's why I love this job so much, and working in AI and automation, I think those three things are the grounding root for it all. They're the foundation.

So for example, before I went to school, I started doing various different jobs. I worked at Best Buy, I did landscaping, I did HVAC. And I remember one time when we were installing a new HVAC unit in this one customer's home, and then we went to go install the thermostat. And it was the first time I had seen a thermostat that had Wi-Fi capability built within it. And I just thought, how amazing is that? For someone to be able to no longer have to walk all the way downstairs or all the way across the room or upstairs or from outside, or even you're at the grocery store and you want the house to cool down when you're back from your run to the groceries. You're able to control that from basically anywhere as long as you have access to the app and access to Wi-Fi. And that really drove, I think, a strong curiosity in technology for me.

And then I realized HVAC's not for me. I need a retirement plan. So I went to school. And when I was in school, I had to do an internship for a software company. And while I was working for that software company, they had a rule where you could only get your checks through direct deposit. And me, I was kind of like a dinosaur back in the day. I'm not who I was now, where I had this trust in technology. And I would actually go to the bank either late Friday or Saturday mornings and stand in line for three hours to get my check cashed. And then I would go, like a dinosaur, put my check and my cash underneath my pillow or in my closet, in my underwear drawer, underneath my bed. But when I got the direct deposit check set up and that very first time that it came in and it was just instant and I got the money in my account, it was like a whole new world opened to me. It immediately instilled trust in me, immediately instilled trust with that technology, and really allowed me to not be set in the ways that I was.

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