By Steve Heathcote, CEO of Prime Global
At PrimeGlobal’s recent World Summit, member firms from across the world came together to openly share how they are experimenting with and implementing artificial intelligence within their practices. This wasn’t a theoretical discussion about the future – it was a candid exchange about real tools, real challenges, and real opportunities emerging across the global accounting profession. 
As I listened to member firms from Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia describe their approaches, one message stood out: AI is already reshaping how firms work, but adoption is progressing at different speeds and in different ways depending on local markets, regulation, strategic priorities, and access to talent.
Yet despite those differences, a shared sense of ambition and urgency filled the room. The accounting profession recognizes that the next decade will be defined not by whether AI is used, but how effectively and intelligently it is integrated.
Below is a reflection on what member firms from each region shared, highlighting the diversity of approaches — and the shared appetite for transformation.
United States: Innovation with business discipline
Pinion, a top 100 U.S. firm, shared how their AI journey began several years ago with the creation of an innovation team to identify, test, and implement tools across their service lines.
Their approach has been highly structured and strategic:
- Multiple platforms are being adopted and evaluated.
- AI is being developed for niche applications — for example, automating invoice extraction and agricultural accounting processes.
- Decisions are grounded in return on investment, with a threshold of achieving value within three years before full rollout.
Pinion’s leadership described AI not as a threat, but as a once-in-a-generation opportunity – a “golden age” in which accountants spend less time processing data and more time building client relationships and offering advisory insight.
Europe: Precision, regulation, and trust before scale
Several European firms shared that they are actively testing AI tools — but with caution and an emphasis on governance.
A delegate from Germany described how their firm is using specialist research-based AI trained on licensed tax and accounting literature rather than general-purpose models. These systems provide source-based responses, improving reliability and compliance.
European firms also emphasised:
- Structured data as a prerequisite to automation
- Accuracy over speed
- Human validation for all AI-supported processes
Some firms noted that they are intentionally waiting for the market to mature before investing heavily, particularly smaller firms considering the cost of customised solutions.
Asia: Rapid adoption and bold experimentation
Asia may be the most ambitious region when it comes to rethinking the role of AI.
Karan Gupta of SPNX (India) presented a compelling vision of a future where agentic AI systems execute workflows with minimal human intervention, using networks of “micro-workers” — bots dedicated to tasks such as OCR extraction, aggregation, and exception monitoring.
Key themes from Asia included:
- Developing small language models (SLMs) trained on proprietary firm expertise
- Creating data lakes as organisational AI infrastructure
- Investing now to become “AI-native” firms rather than layering AI on old models
Gupta also encouraged member firms not to build solutions in isolation, proposing that networks like PrimeGlobal could become shared centres of excellence to reduce cost and accelerate impact.
Australia: Moving faster through cloud readiness
Australian firms such as Hall Chadwick have embraced cloud platforms, enabling quicker adoption of AI-enabled tools. One example shared was the firm-wide decision to shut down legacy systems within a single week to complete a full cloud migration — an ambitious cultural and operational pivot that set the foundation for machine learning and automation capability.
Their approach reflects:
- Confidence in cloud as the foundation layer for AI
- Leadership-driven change management
- A belief that AI will be embedded within core systems rather than added as standalone solutions
Looking forward
Across the world, firms are at different points on the AI maturity curve, but as the technology continues to evolve, regional approaches will likely converge. Firms of all sizes across every continent stand to gain significantly from this technology revolution. The barrier to entry is remarkably low and the technology is accessible to solo practitioners in emerging markets just as it is to multinational firms with dedicated IT departments.
Whether a firm chooses to start simply by using ChatGPT to draft documents, integrate AI features already embedded in familiar accounting software, or build sophisticated custom agents for local workflows, the opportunity for meaningful efficiency gains and competitive advantage is universal.
The firms that will thrive in the coming decade are not necessarily those with the largest technology budgets, but those that approach AI adoption thoughtfully, maintain human oversight and professional judgment, and recognize that this transformative technology is now within reach of every practice, regardless of size or location.
PrimeGlobal is committed to helping our member firms stay ahead of the curve, experiment responsibly with AI, and deliver exceptional value in a changing world. With the launch of our Strategy 2030: Ready for Business, we have launched a new platform that enables far greater sharing and collaboration around AI, reinforcing its central role in shaping the future of our profession.
