AI has made accounting cool again, as productivity gains take some of the “boring” tasks off employees’ plates and make the profession more attractive to Gen Z looking for stable, high-paying work. But the technology is also creating a new challenge for the industry: convincing clients that the human expertise behind the work is still worth paying for.
Ernst & Young is betting that it is. The Big Four professional-services giant is planning to spend $100 million to reward U.S. employees who develop “future-focused” human skills, such as business acumen, judgment and adaptability, and experiment with technology to drive innovation and improve client services.
