It’s easy to assume that being good at accounting is enough to stay valuable as AI keeps improving, but I’m not sure that’s true anymore.
Something personal got me thinking hard about this recently, and it changed how I look at hiring and development.
In this episode, I share what I think future-proofs both you and your team.
Listen below.
0:55 I’ve been spending time with Claude Code recently, and it’s genuinely impressive. It can build tools and automate processes, and some firms are already using it to reduce headcount, not just workload. That scared me more than I expected.
1:51 I asked what skills might keep a human competitive no matter what happens with tech. The answer felt worth pinning to our fridge, where my daughter and I see it daily. Five skills: clear communication, problem solving, initiative, comfort with technology, creativity.
3:13 AI still falls short in a few key areas, and that’s likely where a firm’s real edge lives. It can hand you options, but it can’t tell you which one actually fits.
4:38 Much of what counts as accounting work is just execution: process, numbers, output. AI is probably going to handle more of that over time, and that’s likely a good thing.
6:02 When routine work is automated, value tends to come from people who bring judgment and energy to what automation can’t cover. And initiative shapes the client experience too.
7:35 Value here isn’t the standard playbook. It’s noticing what others missed and saying it with confidence. AI can piece together patterns, but real reframing still seems human.
8:41 Maybe I’m overreacting about AI, and we’ll figure it out like every generation before us has. Still, these skills would hold up in any era.
