How firms make AI adoption work for them
Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting
Cathy Rowe leads the vision and strategy for the professional tax and accounting business, with a focus on delivering innovative, cloud-based solutions that increase customers’ productivity and profitability. She has more than 25 years of experience in the tax and accounting profession, including with small and Big Four firms. She holds a patent for blockchain innovation and has won several industry awards.
Q Is AI replacing accountants or redefining their value?
A AI is helping firms address one of their biggest challenges: balancing growing client expectations with limited professional capacity. While much of the public conversation focuses on whether AI will replace jobs, the greater opportunity for CPA firms is using AI to significantly reduce routine work. By automating tasks like data collection, document processing, and elements of compliance preparation, firms are freeing professionals to focus on higher-value activities like tax planning, business strategy, and advisory. The future belongs not to firms that use AI to replace talent, but to those that use AI to amplify talent.
Q Why is advisory growth so closely tied to technology modernization?
A Most firms recognize the value of expanding advisory services, but many professionals spend the majority of their time on compliance-related work. AI helps change that equation. When routine processes become more efficient, firms gain capacity to engage clients throughout the year rather than only during filing deadlines. The time saved can be redirected toward strategic conversations, identifying planning opportunities, managing risk, and helping clients make more informed business decisions. Advisory growth begins by rethinking how compliance work gets done.
Q What technology priorities should firms focus on as they adopt AI?
A Firms seeing the greatest success with AI are building a strong technology foundation rather than simply adding more tools. That starts with connected systems that bring together tax, financial, client, and workflow data in a unified environment. Equally important is AI that delivers meaningful intelligence, surfacing insights, potential risks, and planning opportunities that support more proactive client service. Finally, firms need trusted AI capabilities that provide transparent, explainable recommendations grounded in authoritative sources. As AI becomes more embedded in firm operations, technology that is connected, intelligent, and trustworthy will deliver the greatest long-term value.
Q What role does change management play in AI adoption?
A Technology alone does not create transformation. Firms that realize the greatest value from AI are redesigning workflows, investing in training, and helping professionals develop new skills that support advisory-focused work. Many are also creating new career paths and revisiting engagement models to encourage year-round client relationships. Effective change management ensures that AI becomes part of how work is performed rather than simply another tool added to existing processes.
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