The real AI divide in accounting is between the fearful and the fearless
February 19, 2025
Two accounting firms, same size, same market, same tools. One is scaling rapidly, rolling out new services, and attracting top-tier clients. The other is stagnating, weighed down by inefficiencies, hesitant to change.
The difference isn’t budget or headcount. It’s mindset.
The Karbon AI 2025 report lays it out clearly: the biggest gap in AI adoption isn’t between big and small firms—it’s between those that embrace AI and those that hesitate.
AI Isn’t a Budget Issue—It’s a Mindset Issue
The assumption that AI adoption is limited to firms with deep pockets is misleading. While larger firms tend to have greater access to cutting-edge tools, the fastest-growing AI enthusiasm is happening at both extremes of the firm size spectrum. Small firms with 1-3 employees have seen a 26% year-over-year increase in AI enthusiasm, while large firms with 201+ employees report a 33% increase. Meanwhile, mid-sized firms (51-200 employees) are showing a rising level of skepticism—a 6% increase from last year.
This divide is not about who can afford AI—it’s about who is willing to engage with it. Most firms already have AI capabilities built into their accounting software, yet only 37% invest in AI training for their employees. That means even firms that technically have access to AI aren’t using it to its full potential.
Instead of budget, the biggest barrier is fear—fear of getting it wrong, fear of disrupting established workflows, and fear of making mistakes in front of clients. The firms moving forward aren’t necessarily the most well-funded. They’re simply the ones willing to experiment, iterate, and build AI fluency over time.
The Fearful Are Waiting while the Fearless Experimenting
The hesitant firms have a consistent narrative: AI isn’t reliable enough yet. It isn’t accurate enough. It poses compliance risks. Data security is a major concern. While these arguments hold merit, they miss the bigger picture—AI is already here, and it’s evolving whether firms are ready or not.
The report found that 70% of accountants remain concerned about AI’s impact on data security. These concerns are valid, but AI-positive firms aren’t letting them become roadblocks—they’re managing risk while still moving forward. Instead of waiting for perfect AI, these firms are testing AI in low-risk areas, like transcribing meetings, summarizing emails, and automating scheduling.
One of the most significant shifts in AI adoption over the past year has been the explosion of AI-powered meeting transcription tools. The report found a 12% year-over-year increase in firms using AI for meeting summaries, action items, and client follow-ups. These are high-efficiency, low-risk applications, making them an easy entry point for firms looking to dip their toes into AI without disrupting core operations.
The Cost of Hesitation
The fear of AI is costing firms more than they realize. According to the report, firms that invest in AI training save an average of 66 minutes per employee per day. Over the course of a year, that translates to 52 hours of additional productivity per employee—the equivalent of more than a full workweek per person.
That lost time has tangible consequences. AI-positive firms are using their extra capacity to expand into advisory and consulting services, differentiating themselves from compliance-focused competitors. They’re automating repetitive processes, allowing them to maintain profit margins even as traditional firms struggle with rising labor costs. Most importantly, they’re redefining client expectations—offering faster response times, real-time financial insights, and proactive business recommendations instead of just retrospective reports.
The hesitation to embrace AI isn’t just about missing out on efficiencies. It’s about losing competitive ground. As AI-driven firms push forward, they create a new industry standard—one that demands greater speed, precision, and strategic value from accountants. Clients notice when a competitor is faster, more responsive, and more insightful, and they won’t wait around for lagging firms to catch up.
How Fearless Firms Are Closing the AI Trust Gap
The firms leading AI adoption aren’t necessarily more tech-savvy than their competitors. They simply have a different approach to learning and implementation. They don’t see AI as an all-or-nothing proposition—they start small, iterate, and expand.
One of the clearest trends from the Karbon AI 2025 Report is the correlation between AI training and enthusiasm. Firms that offer AI training see significantly higher levels of confidence and lower levels of skepticism. In contrast, firms that don’t invest in AI education see widespread fear and hesitation among their employees.
AI-positive firms follow a three-step approach:
Start Small – Instead of diving into AI-driven financial analysis, they begin with low-risk applications like email automation, document summaries, and chat-based research.
Set Guardrails – They establish clear AI ethics and security policies, ensuring that AI tools are used responsibly and transparently. This minimizes compliance risks while maintaining trust among employees and clients.
Reframe the Narrative – They position AI as an assistant, not a replacement, reducing internal resistance and reinforcing that AI exists to enhance human expertise, not eliminate it.
The firms executing this strategy aren’t just adopting AI—they’re building a culture of innovation. They’re encouraging employees to test, adapt, and improve AI workflows over time, ensuring that the firm as a whole grows more confident and capable in its use of technology.
[Accountancy Age]
