ICAI President: AI will assist chartered accountants in performing high quality audits

According to Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) President, Aniket Sunil Talati, artificial intelligence will assist chartered accountants in producing high-quality audits and increase the number of transactions being examined. He also emphasised that efforts are being made to provide the greatest skill sets to the organisation's members, as ICAI has more than 3.80 lakh members and over 8 lakh students.

There are many industries that use machine learning and artificial intelligence. In a recent interview with PTI, Talati stated that he believes AI will bring a significant change to the audit profession.

There is a lot one can look at in terms of transactions if there is a decent AI system. AI will inform you of any deviations or warning signs, and it will be extremely helpful to chartered accountants in providing high-quality audits, Talati further mentioned. 

Pitfalls can be addressed through AI 

"We are working with our members to train and upskill them to have the best skill sets to understand AI," Talati stated. The accounting industry transitioned from using paper ledgers, calculators, and computers over time. In a similar way, Talati claims that AI will transform many areas and enable chartered accountants to examine a larger variety of transactions. 

“There are pitfalls also and you need to be trained to understand AI. We are also working on technology tools for members to use in audit. Those also will get embedded with AI,” he noted. 

ICAI to collaborate with startups 

The ICAI President stated that the institute is attempting to collaborate with startups amid instances of worry over financial and governance issues at some of them and insisted that there is a strong regulatory structure to deal with aberrations. 

"We have an ecosystem of more than 90,000 startups, we as a country have developed a very strong ecosystem and a lot of unicorns have come in," he said. 

In 1949, an Act of Parliament established ICAI, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2049. It is now working on creating a vision document with IIM, Ahmedabad.