Stroll into most accounting corporations as we speak, and you will see an attention-grabbing disconnect. Employees are experimenting with synthetic intelligence instruments like ChatGPT, Copilot or vendor-built automations, whereas many agency leaders nonetheless aren’t touching them. In reality, a 2024 RightWorks survey discovered that
That hole is a management threat. If you happen to’re not digitally fluent, you threat being outpaced by your individual workforce and, extra importantly, by your rivals.
Digital fluency is about having the ability to navigate, consider and lead in a digital-first world. And the numbers present now we have work to do. Based on knowledge compiled by
- 57% of accountants lack superior Excel or Energy BI modeling expertise; and,
- Solely 34% of entry-level accountants are proficient with superior applied sciences.
These gaps have an effect on your agency’s capacity to remodel as a result of your agency is just as prepared for change because the individuals in it.
What’s digital fluency?
Consider digital fluency as the mixture of expertise, mindset and flexibility that means that you can use know-how strategically. The core components of digital fluency embrace:
- Digital mindset. Digitally fluent corporations view enterprise challenges via a digital lens and envision technology-enabled options.
- Technological literacy. Crew members perceive basic ideas, capabilities, dangers and limitations.
- Frequent language. When leaders and employees share the identical digital vocabulary, you bridge data gaps, scale back communication boundaries, and make it simpler to assemble necessities and implement options.
- Steady studying tradition. Digitally fluent corporations nurture an surroundings that encourages experimentation, data sharing and staying present with rising applied sciences.
Digital fluency is not simply “good to have.” It drives progress and competitiveness. In reality, Accenture analysis exhibits that digitally fluent firms had been
Leaders must catch up
Your employees are already exploring and adopting digital instruments and utilizing AI, whether or not or not management is concerned. That creates threat for the agency. With out steerage, workers could underutilize instruments and depart potential worth untapped.
It additionally creates a cultural divide. If employees see leaders as lagging, it erodes credibility and slows adoption of firm-wide initiatives.
As leaders, your position is not to be probably the most technical individual within the room. The objective is to create the circumstances for fluency throughout the agency. Meaning:
- Conducting digital readiness assessments to grasp the place your persons are as we speak.
- Appointing digital champions. These are revered friends with a pure curiosity for know-how who can mentor others.
- Investing in ongoing coaching. Karbon’s 2025 State of AI in Accounting Report discovered that corporations that prepare workers in AI release the equal of seven weeks of capability per 12 months, per individual. That is not simply effectivity, it is technique.
From concern to fluency
For a lot of leaders, the hesitation round AI and digital instruments stems from concern: concern of misuse, concern of errors and concern of alternative. However we have to shift our mindsets from pondering of know-how as a alternative for experience to pondering of it as augmenting it.
Human-centric AI places individuals on the heart, utilizing know-how to speed up routine work, improve accuracy and free capability for higher-value consumer service. Whenever you body adoption as augmentation, you progress from nervousness to benefit.
This is a path ahead in case you’re unsure the place to start:
- Baseline your readiness. Use surveys or self-assessments to grasp digital consolation ranges throughout your agency.
- Begin small with prompts. Construct a library of efficient AI prompts to make use of in audits, tax and consumer communications. This reduces trial-and-error and accelerates adoption.
- Create no-penalty studying zones. Give individuals house to check, fail and study with out concern. Have a good time small wins to construct momentum.
- Champion success. Share tales of how know-how saved hours or improved consumer deliverables. Tales stick much better than metrics alone.
Keep in mind, you do not have to grasp each software. Set the imaginative and prescient, take away boundaries and create an surroundings the place digital fluency thrives. Whenever you do, your individuals might be higher ready to maintain tempo with know-how and unlock new methods to serve shoppers and develop the agency. Essentially the most profitable corporations would be the ones with leaders who step up when know-how evolves.
