June 2026 | The Astute Update
- Astute Dimension
- Jul 13
- 5 min read
Will planning platforms become the trusted context layer for agentic AI?
Another month has brought another wave of AI announcements. Much of the focus this year is shifting from tools that simply answer questions to agents that can work within business systems.
We are also seeing progress in connecting these agents to data, business context and business logic. At the same time, vendors are placing greater emphasis on how agents can operate within existing security models, permissions and governance controls.
The month’s highlights
Jedox is introducing Jedox MCP, giving AI agents controlled access to planning data, business logic and workflows.
Agentic AI continues to gather momentum, with more vendors embedding AI directly into finance and planning processes.
Workday, Snowflake, Anaplan, Board, Microsoft and Oracle announced new capabilities focused on governed agents, trusted data, controlled access and finance- or planning-specific use cases.
Gartner reported that finance AI adoption is high, but its impact remains limited. Its June guidance recommended that finance teams develop more structured AI roadmaps.
Together, these announcements show that AI integration across EPM, finance and planning platforms is advancing. The question is whether these capabilities will translate into meaningful and measurable value for finance teams.
Why governed business context matters
AI is becoming more capable. Organisations increasingly want it to explain budget variances, review forecasts, recommend actions and support planning decisions.
The more relevant business context AI receives, the more useful and reliable its responses are likely to be.
The challenge is that planning data is not just another dataset. It includes business rules, assumptions, hierarchies, approval processes and security permissions that have often been developed over many years. Without this context, even a highly capable AI model can produce answers that are incomplete, inaccurate or misleading.
Governance becomes especially important when AI is used across an organisation. Planning systems often contain sensitive information, such as employee details used in compensation planning or key account data used in sales planning. Not everyone has, or should have, access to this information.
The aim is to ensure that AI uses the right data for the right purpose and shares information only with people who have the appropriate authority.
Jedox MCP connects AI to trusted planning data
Jedox’s main announcement this month was the introduction of Jedox Model Context Protocol, or Jedox MCP.
MCP is an open standard that allows AI applications and agents to connect with enterprise systems. Through Jedox MCP, AI tools can access planning models, KPIs, dimensions, hierarchies and business logic while continuing to respect the permissions and governance controls already applied to users.
In practical terms, organisations can connect tools such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, Claude and custom AI agents to their Jedox planning environment.
Key benefits include:
Greater flexibility to work with different AI models rather than relying on a single provider.
Stronger integration between planning, reporting and enterprise AI initiatives.
Access to business logic and planning context, rather than raw data alone.
Continued use of existing security, permissions and audit controls.
What else happened across the market?
Gartner reported that 84% of finance organisations have implemented or plan to implement AI, but only 7% say they are achieving a high or very high level of business impact.
These figures highlight an important distinction: adopting AI is one thing; embedding it into business processes and generating measurable value is another.
Workday launched Agent Passport to test, verify and monitor enterprise AI agents.
Snowflake expanded Horizon Catalog to strengthen governance, security and business context for AI workloads.
Anaplan announced 12 preferred implementation partners to accelerate CoModeler and Agent Studio deployments.
Board introduced new AI agents for supply chain and merchandising planning.
Microsoft positioned Copilot in Excel around trusted financial data and transparent calculations.
Oracle released four ERP agents covering ledger, expenses, payables and payments.
Final Thoughts
June’s announcements show that AI is becoming more closely integrated with finance, planning and other enterprise systems. The emphasis is shifting from what AI models can do on their own to how they can work with trusted data, business logic, permissions and established processes.
For finance and planning teams, this is where the opportunity becomes more practical. Planning platforms already bring together many of the assumptions, hierarchies, workflows and controls that shape business decisions. That puts them in a strong position to provide the context AI needs to support more useful and reliable outcomes.
Whether planning platforms become the trusted context layer for agentic AI is still an open question. The more immediate test is whether these new capabilities can move beyond adoption and experimentation to deliver measurable value for finance teams.
Thanks for Reading!
We trust this edition kept you informed with the latest developments, from technology updates and platform enhancements to independent analyst recognition and planning insights.
Warm regards,
Astute Dimension
Helping you translate planning into performance.
References
Jedox, “Jedox MCP: Connect enterprise AI to trusted planning data”, 2026. Used to explain how Jedox MCP connects AI tools and agents to planning data, business logic, workflows and governance.
Gartner, “Gartner Says CFOs Need Structured Finance AI Roadmaps”, 8 June 2026. Used to frame the gap between finance AI adoption and measured impact.
Workday, “Workday Launches Agent Passport to Test, Verify, and Continuously Monitor Every AI Agent in the Enterprise”, 2 June 2026. Used as evidence of the shift toward agent verification and monitoring.
Snowflake, “Snowflake Advances Trusted AI with Snowflake Horizon Catalog Centralizing Governance, Context, and Security Across the Enterprise”, 2 June 2026. Used to support the theme that governed context is becoming core AI infrastructure.
Anaplan, “Anaplan Expands AI Delivery Ecosystem with 12 Preferred Partners to Scale Anaplan CoModeler and Agent Studio”, 23 June 2026. Used to show that planning AI is moving into implementation and delivery ecosystems.
https://www.anaplan.com/news/anaplan-extends-ai-delivery-ecosystem-with-twelve-preferred-partners/
Board, “The Future of Planning Isn’t Another Chatbot: Board Introduces Supply Chain and Merchandiser Agents for Agentic Continuous Planning”, 24 June 2026. Used to show agentic planning moving beyond finance into supply chain and retail planning.
Microsoft, “Copilot in Excel: Built for the era of Frontier Finance”, 25 June 2026. Used to connect finance AI to Excel, trusted data and calculation traceability.
Oracle, “Agentic AI in ERP—four agents you can use today”, 22 June 2026. Used to show finance agents becoming generally available inside ERP workflows.
https://blogs.oracle.com/fusioninsider/agentic-ai-in-erp-four-agents-you-can-use-today
