CPAs and the double-edged sword of technology

As organizations generate larger and larger amounts of data, traditional accounting practices like audits are increasingly difficult to perform effectively without the help of technology like AI. And while AI presents CPAs with the opportunity to expand skillsets and manage massive datasets, it also comes with significant risks. In this episode, David McGuffin speaks with professional accountant Rachel Kirkham ​​about how she navigates a path between the opportunities and risks of AI in her role as Vice President of Analytics and Data Science for the accounting tech firm MindBridge. She says a key risk is the potential for biases to creep into the ways data is collected and interpreted. Rachel tells David, “There are a bunch of different things that you have to think about and there are techniques to mitigate against biases but it's about being aware of them as a data scientist. An awareness that this is something that you actually need to explicitly consider and manage as a risk.” The narrow wedge bet