Be wary of the 'great AI proposal', accounting firms told

He urged small firms to do their due diligence when choosing an AI tool and to speak with other professionals about what they have done and the success they have had.

“Speak to … people that [have] developed [AI], don’t just get swept up in the marketing spill of the great proposal’. Actually speak to customers who have had success to validate the numbers that have been talked about in terms of time-saving and efficiencies.”

He also urged small firms to understand where their people are at and whether they are willing to adopt his new technology.

“Finance people … [are] inherently creatures of habit and depending on where we are in our careers, we may or may not want to pick up and adopt new technologies,” he said. 

“It's easy for the younger generation coming through to adopt technology, [but] it's more challenging for those that are more experienced."

However, Urry said that AI provides an opportunity to reimagine processes rather than merely linear improvements to existing ones. "Firms should sit back and assess their processes and understand where the biggest opportunity is for AI, and ultimately decide whether they are in the business of developing their own solutions via an LLM or if their time is better spent partnering with someone who has tackled all the AI development challenges at scale, and they can continue to focus on the client," Urry told Accountants Daily. 

Urry said that although AI vendors can create a single use case or pilot that may seem to work, there are further considerations to take into account if they want to use it reliably or at scale, stressing the importance 'of doing your due diligence'. 

Editor's note: This story has been updated since publication.