Why AI fluency, professional judgment and smarter workforce design will shape the next era of accounting
Executive Summary
There is a curious contradiction emerging across the accounting profession in Australia and New Zealand.
Accountants are embracing artificial intelligence with growing enthusiasm, yet the profession is simultaneously discovering that technology alone does very little to resolve the deeper questions surrounding capability, trust and the future of professional work.
That distinction matters.
CA ANZ reported in 2025 that more than 70% of Chartered Accountants worldwide were already using AI tools, while 76% wanted to integrate them further. The organization responded by launching an AI Fluency Playbook designed to help members use generative AI strategically, ethically and effectively.
The signal is clear: AI adoption is moving rapidly.
The more interesting question is what firms are building around it.
For years, technology adoption could largely be treated as an organizational decision. A firm purchased software, trained its people and incorporated it into the workflow.
AI is different because its value depends heavily on how professionals interact with it.
CA ANZ’s 2025 work on AI fluency emphasizes the importance of capability development, ethical oversight, critical thinking and an adaptive mindset. Its research and professional initiatives suggest that accountants will increasingly need to understand not only how AI works, but also when its outputs should be questioned.
That is particularly important in a profession built on trust. An AI system can accelerate analysis. It cannot replace professional accountability.
This becomes especially relevant as AI begins influencing financial information and decision-making.
CA ANZ and ACCA recently reported that 93% of finance professionals surveyed were concerned about the integrity and verifiability of AI-generated insights, citing issues including hallucinations, inaccurate outputs, incomplete datasets, lack of transparency and bias. In Australia and New Zealand, 70% of respondents reported having only basic or no generative-AI skills.
Those findings point toward a different kind of workforce requirement.
The accountants who create the most value in an AI-enabled environment may be those who combine technical competence with skepticism, judgment and the ability to interpret information in context.
In other words, the human contribution becomes more important precisely because technology is becoming more capable.
This has implications for how firms structure their teams.
As AI takes on more repetitive and data-intensive activities, professional teams may have an opportunity to reorganize around higher-value work: client relationships, interpretation, advisory services, quality control and professional judgment.
At the same time, standardized processes can increasingly be supported by technology and distributed teams, allowing firms to extend capacity without requiring every new unit of work to be absorbed by the same pool of local professionals.
CA ANZ and Deloitte’s 2025 work on digital reporting provides an interesting illustration of this broader direction. Their Australian roundtable identified a potential A$7.7 billion annual productivity uplift by 2030 from digital transformation, while 89% of participating leaders supported a digital reporting mandate.
The implication extends beyond reporting.
As work becomes increasingly digital, geographical boundaries become less relevant to some activities, while professional judgment and client trust remain deeply human.
This creates an opportunity to think differently about growth.
A firm does not have to choose between investing in technology and investing in people. The stronger model may involve doing both, while redesigning the relationship between them.
AI can reduce repetitive effort. Better processes can make AI more useful. Targeted training can help professionals exercise better judgment around AI-generated outputs. Additional talent capacity can support standardized work while local professionals focus on clients and higher-value services.
The result is a firm that is more capable rather than simply larger.
And that distinction may become increasingly important as competition for skilled professionals continues.
As Australian and New Zealand firms consider the next stage of their transformation, three questions may be worth asking:
The answers will look different for a five-person practice and a national firm. The underlying principle is the same: technology becomes more valuable when the organization is designed to use it well.
The future of accounting in Australia and New Zealand will undoubtedly involve more AI.
But the firms that benefit most may not necessarily be those that adopt the most tools. They may be the firms that become best at combining technology with human judgment, trusted relationships and intelligently designed work.
AI fluency, in that sense, is becoming more than a technical skill. It is becoming part of the operating model.
Global Staff Connections works with accounting and finance organizations across Australia and North America to explore practical approaches to workforce capacity and evolving operating models. Our perspective is that technology, professional expertise and carefully structured global talent can complement one another when the work is designed thoughtfully and appropriate oversight remains firmly in place.
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