ENG26SS204. The Firm of 2030 Is Not Today + AI, presented by Progress Sharefile (TCH, DCPA)

For years, firms have treated “transformation” like a technology upgrade. Move to the cloud. Automate more work. Get faster. Get more efficient.

However, that thinking will not get firms to 2030. AI doesn’t improve the traditional firm model — it breaks it. And the firms that survive won’t look like slightly better versions of what we have today. They’ll operate as accounting companies built around human judgment and embedded with AI and advisory that actually drives decisions.

This session will challenge some of the most comfortable assumptions our profession is still holding onto, including the idea that adding AI to existing workflows is enough. Learn how AI is reshaping firm economics, talent models, pricing, client experience, and leadership, and why advisory becomes the new operating system.

Attendees will walk away from this session understanding:
• Why AI breaks the traditional firm model, and why efficiency won’t save it
• What clients will actually pay for in the future
• How talent, career paths, and leadership must change
• What firms must start doing now to build toward 2030

This isn’t a tech talk; it’s a reality check. And this session is a roadmap for firms that want to stay relevant, differentiated, and trusted as the business of accounting changes faster than most firms are ready for.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify how AI is reshaping firm economics, talent models, pricing, client experience, and leadership.
• Recognize how talent, career paths, and leadership must change and what firms must start doing now to build toward 2030.