Vena

Vena is a long-established planning platform for teams that will not give up Excel, and its AI agents are an add-on to that proposition. For accountants the draw is familiar spreadsheets with proper controls underneath.

What it does well. The Excel-native design lowers training cost, which matters because most planning rollouts stall on adoption rather than technology. The agents cover planning, reporting, scenarios and analytics, and the vendor says the platform connects to Claude, OpenAI and Copilot through MCP. Security detail is better than average: the trust page names SOC 2 Type II, SOC 1 Type II and SOC 3, and customers can choose Canadian, US or EU hosting. Traction is clear, with named customers such as Schuh, Cencora and London Luton Airport, a 4.5 G2 rating cited by the vendor, and analyst recognition from Nucleus Research.

Where it falls short. Pricing is not published; there is a platform pricing page, but the content we read shows no figures, and demos rather than trials are the route in. Customer metrics such as faster planning cycles are the customers' own claims. The trust page says ISO 27001 belongs to the data centres it uses, not to Vena itself, and GDPR is described as procedures, not a certification. Ownership and funding are not stated on the pages we read. As with any planning platform, building models properly takes implementation time.

Best for. Mid-market and enterprise finance teams and the accountants who support them, especially where Excel is entrenched. In a trial, rebuild a budget with real data, test an agent on a variance question, and confirm audit trails for changes.

Verdict. A dependable choice for Excel-centred planning, with AI that augments rather than replaces the workbook. Compare Planful for a web-first approach, and Cube for another spreadsheet-linked platform. Ask for a reference customer of similar size, and get implementation scope, internal time needed and renewal terms in writing, because those costs decide whether the platform pays back. Plan time for model design and user training before the first live budget cycle.