Accounting Voices

Accounting Voices is a senior leadership platform hosted by Rob Brown that interprets the forces reshaping accounting firms across North America and beyond. This "AI Reality Inside Firms" series brings together influential accounting leaders to answer the same five structured questions about how AI is actually landing inside firms. No hype. No vendor narratives. Just honest leadership perspective...

Accounting Voices is a senior leadership platform hosted by Rob Brown that interprets the forces reshaping accounting firms across North America and beyond. This "AI Reality Inside Firms" series brings together influential accounting leaders to answer the same five structured questions about how AI is actually landing inside firms. No hype. No vendor narratives. Just honest leadership perspective...

Accounting Voices is a senior leadership platform hosted by Rob Brown that interprets the forces reshaping accounting firms across North America and beyond. This "AI Reality Inside Firms" series brings together influential accounting leaders to answer the same five structured questions about how AI is actually landing inside firms. No hype. No vendor narratives. Just honest leadership perspective...

Accounting Voices is a senior leadership platform hosted by Rob Brown that interprets the forces reshaping accounting firms across North America and beyond. This "AI Reality Inside Firms" series brings together influential accounting leaders to answer the same five structured questions about how AI is actually landing inside firms. No hype. No vendor narratives. Just honest leadership perspective...

Accounting Voices is a senior leadership platform hosted by Rob Brown that interprets the forces reshaping accounting firms across North America and beyond. This "AI Reality Inside Firms" series brings together influential accounting leaders to answer the same five structured questions about how AI is actually landing inside firms. No hype. No vendor narratives. Just honest leadership perspective...

Accounting Voices is a senior leadership platform hosted by Rob Brown that interprets the forces reshaping accounting firms across North America and beyond. This "AI Reality Inside Firms" series brings together influential accounting leaders to answer the same five structured questions about how AI is actually landing inside firms. No hype. No vendor narratives. Just honest leadership perspective...

Accounting Voices is a senior leadership platform hosted by Rob Brown that interprets the forces reshaping accounting firms across North America and beyond. This "AI Reality Inside Firms" series brings together influential accounting leaders to answer the same five structured questions about how AI is actually landing inside firms. No hype. No vendor narratives. Just honest leadership perspective...

Accounting Voices is a senior leadership platform hosted by Rob Brown that interprets the forces reshaping accounting firms across North America and beyond. This "AI Reality Inside Firms" series brings together influential accounting leaders to answer the same five structured questions about how AI is actually landing inside firms. No hype. No vendor narratives. Just honest leadership perspective...

This episode is a deliberate break from the format. Before interviewing senior accounting firm leaders, Rob Brown brings together five companies working at the centre of AI adoption inside firms. They are building the tools, working with leadership teams and seeing how AI is being applied in practice. The goal is not to explain AI. It is to test assumptions. Across the discussion, the panel explor...

Five episodes. Five questions. One series. We started with the frame: 98% of firms are using AI, only 21% have a documented strategy, and that gap is where firms either differentiate or drift. We asked where AI is genuinely reshaping firm direction and what separates real transformation from surface adoption. We named four mistakes firms keep making and the strategic cost of each one. We identifie...

This episode addresses Question 4 of the five-question series: where is AI creating the greatest internal tension inside firms? The previous episodes established what genuine reshaping looks like, what firms are getting wrong, and which decisions matter most. This episode names what happens when those forces land inside a firm with real people, real power dynamics and real stakes. Three tensions a...

In this episode of Accounting Voices, host Rob Brown explores one of the most critical questions facing firm leaders today: how AI is changing not just technology choices, but the structural decisions that determine whether firms move ahead or fall behind. While 98% of accounting firms are already using AI, only 21% have a documented strategy. That gap is where competitive advantage is being creat...

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FgS2rJttm7I 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. The...

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 tru...

In this episode, we explore what’s actually happening inside firms right now as artificial intelligence begins to change strategy, talent models, partnerships, operating structures, and decision-making at every level. While nearly 98% of accounting firms are already using AI in some form, only about 1 in 5 have a documented AI strategy. That gap is where the biggest risks and opportunities exist....

There’s a deeper tension shaping the future of accounting firms and most leaders aren’t talking about it openly. In this episode of the Accounting Voices Podcast, Rob Brown dives into one of the most critical strategic questions facing firm leaders today: 👉 Are you building short-term partner income… or long-term enterprise value? As AI, private equity, and industry consolidation reshape the prof...

There’s a deeper tension shaping the future of accounting firms and most leaders aren’t talking about it openly. In this episode of the Accounting Voices Podcast, Rob Brown dives into one of the most critical strategic questions facing firm leaders today: 👉 Are you building short-term partner income… or long-term enterprise value? As AI, private equity, and industry consolidation reshape the prof...

This is Part 3 of the Leadership Under Pressure series on Accounting Voices. For more than a decade the accounting profession has repeated the same message. Advisory services represent the future. But AI and automation are now forcing a deeper question Is advisory truly embedded in accounting firm operating models or is it still aspirational. In this episode Rob explores: 1. Why advisory is not si...

AI transforming accounting firms… or quietly breaking their leadership pipeline? In this first episode of a 5-part leadership series, Rob Brown explores a critical issue facing the profession: AI is not just improving productivity in accounting firms. It is stress-testing leadership models. If AI removes the grind, what replaces the apprenticeship? Drawing insights from conversations on the Inside...

In this episode of Accounting Voices, Rob Brown discusses key predictions for the accounting profession in 2026 based on insights from 48 industry leaders. The conversation covers themes of automation, revenue shifts from compliance to advisory, the integration of AI in accounting practices, talent sustainability, and the ongoing trend of consolidation within the industry. The episode emphasizes t...

In this episode of Accounting Voices, Rob Brown discusses the evolving landscape of leadership in the accounting profession. He emphasizes that technical excellence is no longer sufficient for leaders, who must now embrace emotional literacy, adaptability, and strategic thinking to navigate the complexities of modern business. The conversation highlights the importance of trustworthiness, effectiv...

In this episode of Accounting Voices , we continue our Reflections 2025 series with a different kind of question: What moment actually changed how leaders think about the accounting profession? Across 48 conversations, a clear pattern emerged. 2025 became the year the profession was forced to look in the mirror — and many leaders didn’t like what they saw. This episode explores the assumptions tha...

In this episode of Accounting Voices , Rob Brown shares the most honest reflections yet from 48 industry leaders, partners, and practitioners. After asking one tough question, “What disappointed you in 2025?” , a clear pattern emerged. The problem wasn’t a lack of technology. It wasn’t AI. And it wasn’t ambition. It was execution. From shiny new tools layered onto broken processes, to decision par...

In this powerful episode of Accounting Voices, Rob Brown reveals the findings from an ambitious project: interviewing 48 senior leaders across the accounting profession and asking them the same five questions about the year that changed everything. This episode focuses on Question 1: What defined 2025? And the answer is uncomfortable but critical: 2025 was not a year of progress. It was a year of...

In this episode, Rob Brown discusses the evolving landscape of accounting firms, emphasizing the importance of understanding the type of firm one wants to become amidst rapid changes driven by technology and market dynamics. He highlights five key signals affecting leadership and firm relevance, including the discomfort surrounding AI, the challenges of the partnership model, and the pressures fac...