EY's People-First Bet and CPA Bonuses

Will AI actually take accountants’ jobs—or just change what their work looks like? Blake and David unpack the gap between AI hype and reality, from a LinkedIn challenge that found zero accountants replaced by AI to how firms like PwC and EY are shifting strategy. They also explore probabilistic audit opinions, AI agents in accounting workflows, and what professionals can do now to stay ahead.

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• (00:00) - TAP 479
• (02:27) - Auditor Karaoke Protest
• (03:58) - Baby Where My Audit
• (07:14) - Reactions and Afroman
• (10:19) - Probabilistic Audit Opinions
• (14:57) - BDO Lawsuit and Liability
• (18:52) - Super Micro Fraud Signals
• (24:19) - Deterministic AI Checklists
• (30:16) - Checklist Driven AI Agents
• (31:28) - How LLMs Differ From Brains
• (33:00) - Puzzle Functions And Guardrails
• (36:06) - Prompting For Clarifying Questions
• (36:48) - UNC MAcc Sponsor Break
• (38:30) - PwC Goes AI First
• (41:46) - EY Bets On CPA Talent
• (43:27) - AI Exposure Index Reality Check
• (47:40) - Will Accounting Jobs Disappear
• (50:23) - Coan Paradox And Rising Standards
• (52:43) - AI As A Career Upskill
• (55:20) - Who Is Losing Work To AI
• (56:23) - Livestream Chat And Wrap Up

Show Notes

Massachusetts Auditor DiZoglio Performs "Baby Where the Hell Is My Audit" Parody

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/16/metro/diana-dizoglio-auditor-legislature-audit-democrats/

Afroman Wins Defamation Lawsuit Filed by Ohio Police Officers

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/afroman-wins-lawsuit-ohio-police-raid-music-videos/

Would You Take a Probabilistic Audit Opinion?

https://www.accountingtoday.com/opinion/would-you-take-a-probabilistic-audit-opinion

BDO Faces Investor Lawsuit That Could Impact Other Firms

https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/bdo-faces-investor-lawsuit-that-could-impact-other-firms

Super Micro Computer Co-Founder Charged With Smuggling Nvidia AI Chips to China

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/19/politics/super-micro-computer-founder-charged-ai-chips-china

Puzzle Launches AI Close for Accountants 

https://puzzle.io/blog/puzzle-accounting-ai

PwC CEO: You Cannot Opt Out of AI

https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/pwc-ceo-you-cannot-opt-out-of-ai

EY Doubles CPA Exam Bonus to $10K 

https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/ey-doubles-cpa-exam-bonus-to-10k

Anthropic AI Labor Market Impacts Report 

https://www.anthropic.com/research/labor-market-impacts

Microsoft AI Chief Gives It 18 Months for All White-Collar Work to Be Automated

https://fortune.com/2026/02/13/when-will-ai-kill-white-collar-office-jobs-18-months-microsoft-mustafa-suleyman/

Only 14% of UK Finance Leaders See Traditional Accounting Skills as Valuable for Next Generation

https://www.theglobalrecruiter.com/only-14-per-cent-of-finance-leaders-see-traditional-accounting-skills-as-valuable-for-next-generation/

Accounting and Tax Staff Worry AI Threatens Jobs

https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/accounting-and-tax-employees-feel-ai-threatens-job-prospects

AI's First Substitution: Freelancers (Ramp Economics Lab) 

https://ramp.com/velocity/ai-labor-market-impact-freelancers

Record Number of Companies Are Ditching Old CEOs for Younger, Less Experienced Executives 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fired-record-number-companies-ditching-152914066.html

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