Episode 27

Is AI Changing Your Firm Or Just Speeding Things Up?

AI is everywhere in accounting right now. Vendors claim transformation. Conferences promise disruption. Firms report adoption. But how much of this is real strategic change and how much is just efficiency improvement dressed up as transformation? In this episode, Rob Brown explores a critical leadership question: Where is AI genuinely reshaping accounting firm direction? This episode separates true structural change from surface-level productivity gains, helping firm leaders diagnose whether their AI adoption is strategic or accidental.

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/nTC9Bk9Wf7M

Thank you to our Season Partners for making this series possible.

Fieldguide is the AI-native platform for audit and advisory enabling human and AI collaboration to scale capacity, improve quality and transform how firms operate. fieldguide.io

Karbon is the global leader in AI-powered practice management software for accounting firms. Their research into how technology is reshaping firm performance is essential reading for anyone leading a firm in 2026. karbonhq.com

Digits is the AI-powered financial intelligence platform helping accounting firms and their clients make faster, smarter decisions with their numbers. digits.com

Accounting Voices is a senior sense-making platform for firm owners, managing partners and senior operators navigating the forces reshaping accounting firms. Host Rob Brown convenes structured conversations with leaders across the profession to interpret what AI, private equity, consolidation and leadership pressure mean in practice.

This season, AI Reality Inside Firms, brings together senior accounting firm leaders answering the same five structured questions about how AI is actually landing inside firms, separating execution from narrative.

Find all episodes on your preferred podcast platform or on the Accounting Voices YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@accountingvoices

To find out more or to explore season partnership opportunities, connect with Rob on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrown

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About the Podcast

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Accounting Voices
Accounting Voices is a senior conversation platform for accounting firm leaders navigating AI, private equity, consolidation, talent pressure and relevance.

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About your host

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Rob Brown

Rob Brown is the founder and host of the Accounting Voices Podcast, the flagship solo show of the Accounting Voices Network. Each episode offers sharp analysis and commentary on the trends, ideas and people shaping the global accounting profession.

Through this Accounting Voices Podcast, Rob helps accounting firm leaders, decision makers and professionals stay relevant and make sense of disruption in areas like AI, automation, M&A, private equity and soft skills beyond the tech. His perspective blends clarity, insight and curiosity, making complex issues relevant and practical for professionals and decision makers across accounting and finance.

He also leads two monthly panel shows, Accounting M&A and Accounting AI, which bring together senior voices to explore consolidation, strategy and the impact of technology on firms and people.

Rob is the author of the bestselling book Build Your Reputation (Wiley) and a TEDx speaker whose talk The Personal Brand of You has more than 400,000 views. Over his career he has hosted and moderated more than 1,000 conversations with accounting and fintech leaders worldwide.

Based in Nottingham UK, Rob is a stroke survivor living with epilepsy, a black belt in kickboxing, a decent chess player and an average player of four musical instruments.