Julien Villemonteix is the CEO of UpSlide, a Microsoft 365 add-in on a mission to boost productivity for finance professionals. As the company’s first employee, Julien wrote the original code for UpSlide’s technology over 14 years ago. Today, he’s steering the business through its next phase of growth.

Passionate about emerging technologies, Julien is fascinated by how they’ll shape the future of work for financial and professional services industries. With automation and AI having the power to make work less stressful and reduce ‘banker burnout’, he believes businesses shouldn’t hesitate to take the plunge into transformative tech.

UpSlide helps some of the most well-known companies in financial and professional services to boost productivity, while improving brand consistency across their corporate documents. With expertise from the tech, finance and design fields, UpSlide supports clients like KPMG, UniCredit, BNP Paribas, Rothschild & Co. to improve processes and empower their staff to focus on more rewarding tasks.

UpSlide was founded 14 years ago – how have you seen the automation/software landscape change over this time and how have you stayed apace?

Over the past decade, the automation and software landscape has shifted from task-based tools to intelligent, AI-driven systems that streamline workflows, enhance decision-making, and enable greater scalability across industries.

We have been guided in innovation by the incredibly valuable long-term relationships we have with clients in the financial and professional services industries that drive the evolution of our product. We’ve developed new features, such as our Power BI to PowerPoint Link, alongside these clients as we really understand what their pain points are and what is keeping them awake at night. The same stands for future innovations; we’re looking at everything AI can do for our clients and making sure what we’re developing is industry-specific and high quality, so that it will meet the challenges coming over the horizon.

For businesses looking to invest in AI/automation software – what’s your biggest advice on what to look for in a vendor to ensure they see ROI?

The most important factor, and the real driver of ROI, is finding a vendor that knows your business inside out and works closely with you to ensure effective implementation and high adoption. Having strict SLRs during the vendor selection process, and looking for vendors that offer a strong partnership model, not an “off-the-shelf” solution with no ongoing support is key. By choosing an industry-specific vendor you’ll also find features, support and services that are tailored to your unique needs.a

However, one strategy that isn’t going to work for companies in 2025 is standing still. We’ll continue seeing more companies exploring AI and other transformative technology – given that 85% already believe it’s key to remaining competitive. Therefore, fortune will favor the brave, and those businesses willing to take the plunge with these investments will attract both clients and top industry talent. Taking a hesitant approach to investing in transformative technology could enable competitors to get ahead.

UpSlide’s software and services are built to help complex, regulated industries like financial and professional services – what do you think are the biggest challenges they face today?

There’s increasing competition in the market with lots of bigger firms moving into the mid-market, which means firms with less resources need to do more with less to keep up and win business.

In addition, a rise in mergers and acquisitions in the market has seen big firms dominating key industries. Automation and AI software is helping businesses by doing much of the heavy lifting – completing time consuming processes in a fraction of the time and allowing people to spend their time at work doing more valuable tasks.

With many big challenges facing these industries, automating some of the smaller, time-consuming tasks is key. Being able to build documents faster and stay on brand through growth is key to retaining clients, enhancing reputation and ultimately increasing revenue.

What’s one specific example of how automation can make a real impact?

In the investment banking world, creating impactful pitchbooks has always been key to winning mandates and request-for-proposals (RFPs). However in the past, analysts and associates would have spent hours poring over a pitchbook, creating content, making amends and proof-reading it before sharing with senior team members. Technology has changed this forever with automation becoming a key tool for successful deal teams.

By plugging automation software into the pitch deck creation process, they can refresh data in realtime at the click of a button, optimize design and ensure brand elements are consistent and clear. The evolution of pitchbook creation is just one example of how technology is impacting the dynamics of the investment banking industry, saving huge amounts of time and creating valuable efficiencies.

What does the future look like for UpSlide?

We’re at a really exciting stage of our growth journey. We’ve been working behind the scenes on our product roadmap to ensure we continue to be the go-to solution for companies looking to enhance their document generation processes with AI-driven automation. We’ll continue cementing relationships with our clients and partners in the financial and professional services industry and help them to meet challenges that lie ahead with features that provide real value from day one.

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