Dragnet: AI and the CPA

Two partners. One logic and data — “Just the facts.” The other guided by instinct, ethics, and professional judgment. Together, they are doers working towards a common goal to get the job done

Easy to see who is who. You, the CPA is The Certified Human in the partnership.

Certified Human Oversight and Agency

Expect the regulators to catch up. “Certified Human” mandates are coming in which frameworks that require human involvement in audit trails, risk assessments, and client-facing decisions. Why? Because trust still has a pulse.

Gartner is studying this and predicts there will be an "AI-Free" Trust revolution. Similar to "gluten-free" or "organic" labels. Just this year California has enacted laws to establish "commonsense guardrails" for the AI industry.

Even in my own experience of watching hundreds of YouTube videos I do not watch AI Avatars even if the content is good as something just seems off, not genuine. I personally would love to see a label on videos.

James Cameron, the acclaimed filmmaker has a prelude to his big Avatar movie that is a disclaimer that none of it was made with AI.

These are examples of Certified Human Oversight. A key role now and more importantly in the future.

Human-in-the-Loop

When attending the Gartner conference this year (2025) there was a heavy emphasis by every vendor (200+) in AI and the use of agents.

AI handles the grind, rote tasks, processes and procedures with guardrails. You handle the the tasks above that such as financial planning and strategy. Have a human do this only works because it is done by understanding your client, their feelings, their appetite for risk, what they believe in and future goals.

In Anthropic' s State of AI Agents 2026 report it states: The widespread use of agents is shifting employee time from rote execution toward strategic work, relationship building, and skill development.

Before firms hand full autonomy to agents, they’ll need to pilot and log every decision, clear accountability, human-in-the-loop. That’s not red tape; it’s reputation insurance. When things go wrong (and they will), regulators and clients won’t ask “what happened?” They’ll ask “who was watching?”

This is where you and AI work together. Leveraging each other's skills providing maximum benefit.

What the CPA Brings

Here’s what you supply to the newly forged duo:

• Ethical ballast. AI’s fast, but it can’t feel consequence. You weigh compliance, fairness, and long-term trust.

• Relational intelligence. Clients want counsel, not code. You still translate complexity into confidence.

• Pattern recognition with purpose. Algorithms see patterns; you see priorities.

• Accountability. You carry credentials and liability which is exactly the “Certified Human” authority that AI lacks.

AI gives you leverage. You give it legitimacy.

When that balance is right, something clicks, work gets smarter, clients get served, systems get safer.

You are still the partner who closes the case. Don't fear AI, educate yourself, understand what it can bring to your skillset. Ignoring it is not an option either.

Finally, to quote another funny duo movie: "Did we just become best friends?"