Thomson Reuters study finds Governance needs to catch up to AI-adoption

Tax and accounting firms are moving quickly to put trusted AI tools in professional hands, but Thomson Reuters data just released suggests that governance has fallen well behind day-to-day use. 

In the Thomson Reuters study, the data shows that 60.8% of tax/audit respondents say their firm has provided access to fiduciary-grade AI tools and that they use them. At the same time, 57.2% use AI daily or multiple times a day, while 35.4% say they use AI tools not authorized by their organization at least occasionally.​

That creates a clear trust challenge.  95.2% of tax/audit professionals see it as essential or very important that AI outputs are grounded in authoritative, verified content — underscoring why firms need more than general-purpose AI access. They need AI systems that can be governed, checked and defended.​

Elizabeth Beastrom, president of Tax, Audit & Accounting Professionals at Thomson Reuters said, “Tax and accounting firms have moved quickly to get AI into professionals' hands, but access alone is not enough. In a profession built on accuracy, compliance and trust, firms need to ensure the tools their people use are grounded in authoritative content, governed appropriately and capable of being checked and defended. The next phase of AI adoption is about reducing shadow AI risk while still enabling innovation — and that means giving professionals trusted, fiduciary-grade tools that support both speed and accountability.”  

The takeaway is that the AI challenge for tax and accounting firms is shifting from access to governance. Professionals need tools that support speed and innovation, but in high-stakes tax and accounting work, those tools also need to support accuracy, accountability and trust.

Readers can find the Thomson Reuters study HERE. 

​Disclosures:

This feature was adapted from Thomson Reuters furnished press content. Source materials were adapted by Insightful Accountant solely for educational purposes. Insightful Accountant is not responsible for any of the original content furnished by Thomson Reuters.

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