The CPA Breakfast forum gathered to explore the influence of digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI) on the accounting and finance profession. The event served as a platform to honour CPA members in Sri Lanka while also spotlighting a critical discussion.

Here are our key takeaways:

Accountants: From Number Crunchers to Strategic Partners

The discussion emphasised that accountants are far from obsolete. The automation of routine tasks is not a threat, but enables the re-positioning of accountants as trusted business partners exercising professional judgement on corporate ethics, strategic analysis, predictive reporting, and business adviosry.

In this way Accountants are to be critical to the effective growth of companies and the economy.

Navigating the AI Hype Cycle: The Path to Real Value

As with every new wave of technology, there’s a heightened, inflated expectation surrounding AI implementation, with promises of transformative change at every turn.

And while the power of AI is undeniable, businesses must approach implementation with a balanced perspective to appropriately leverage this power.

This means:

• Giving AI time to stabilise and mature as a concept and practice.
• Investing time and resources now to prepare the workforce for the inevitable impact of AI is crucial. This involves organisational unlearning and recalibration, enhanced security measures, and employee training.

In essence, AI is a long-term investment that requires patience and strategic planning. Expecting immediate transformative results can lead to disappointment. To fully capitalise on AI, accountants must commit to a learning process and embrace experimentation.

Workforce Readiness

We were reminded throughout the discussion that AI is not a new concept. It’s been integrated into our daily lives for years, powering tools like Google Maps, predictive text, and chatbots. What has dramatically changed is its accessibility. It’s now open to anyone with an internet connection, and we have control over what we do with it.

The impact of AI is now determined by the people who design, implement, and utilise it. And therefore, the success of AI initiatives depend on the ability of companies to effectively prepare their teams.

Building a culture of trust, open dialogue, and psychological safety is essential in creating a positive and productive environment for AI adoption. 

Here is how companies can achieve workforce readiness:

• Communication:
  • Everyone involved needs to be on the same page in sharing the news and fully support the reason for AI implementation.
  • All individuals should feel safe to discuss topics like work displacement and redundancy.
  • Role clarification on how AI will augment or change existing roles. This will help individuals understand their future within the organisation.

• Training
  • Clear and accessible training on AI concepts, it’s capabilities, limitations, security and ethics.
  • Opportunities for employees to develop new skills that complement AI, such as data analysis, ethics, and critical thinking.
  • Mentorship, coaching, and career counselling, to assist individuals in navigating the transition.

Open AI literally means it is open for experimentation. Accountants can use it however they see fit, and its effective use will result in a significantly higher position of importance.

It’s a level up.

Through effective communication and training, we can build an industry of people at all levels who feel safe and ready to express themselves, take risks, and work together. This will enable us to find the best solutions to further finance and accounting as a discipline entirely.

The Path Forward

True transformation requires all players of the economy moving together with purpose.

This is the only way to embrace change fully and effectively. Here are some key considerations:

• Education: Public and private institutions should prioritise digital literacy from the earliest stages of schooling.
• Industry: Companies must share their industry knowledge, real-world challenges, and practical applications of technology.
• Government: Public sector investment in digital infrastructure and training should match the pace of the corporate sector to drive overall economic growth.
• Regulation: Regulatory bodies must develop policies and practices that support AI, digital innovation and information security.

This point in the conversation offered a macro perspective on AI application. Through aligning efforts across sectors, we talked about how we can accelerate digital progress and build a future where technology benefits all of society.

The dialogue concluded with an eye-opening message often lost in corporate white noise.

AI is simply a tool. It is not the be-all and end-all of business.It’s important for us all to focus ourselves and our efforts on the overall goals of our businesses. What core problems are we trying to solve? Now we must use AI to help us solve these problems. And that is how we give it purpose.