Latest / Chartered Accountants Global Update / Episode 7: Systems, Trust, and the Judgment That Ties Them Together

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Episode 7: Systems, Trust, and the Judgment That Ties Them Together · Chartered Accountants Global Update

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, I'm Antja Dirks from Chartered Accountants Worldwide.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast has been researched and drafted with the support of AI.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's then reviewed, shaped, and signed off by our human editorial team.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Even though we use AI to create this podcast, every story you hear is real.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Every person we profile is a real person doing remarkable things.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Every statistic is checked, every event is verified, every episode is approved by us, the human editors, who care deeply about this profession.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Technology we use with purpose, oversight, and professional judgment exactly how it should be used.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: So, without further ado, I'm gonna hand you over to Olivia.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Ansha.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome back to Chartered Accountants Global Update, the audio newsletter that keeps you connected to what matters across our profession.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: This is episode 7 of season 2.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Today I want to bring you two stories that look, on the surface, like they belong in different conversations.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: One is about a chartered accountant who left a conventional finance career to work on climate and social change.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: The other is about artificial intelligence and what it actually takes to keep client trust intact while we adopt it.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: Stay with me though, because by the end, I think you'll see they're asking the same question.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: How do we keep our judgment and our values firmly in the driver's seat?
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Let's start with the human story.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Kate Van der Merva's career doesn't follow the usual script.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: She studied social science in South Africa before qualifying as a chartered accountant here in Ireland, then spent years in pharmaceuticals and technology, including a stint at Google.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: Plenty of people would have called that a finished, successful career.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: Kate didn't.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: She went back to study, this time a master's in renewable energy and environmental finance at UCD's Smurfit Business School, and used it to move into sustainability work full-time.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Since then, she's been financial planning and analysis manager at Trochera, sat on the board of the Irish Social Enterprise Network, advised Friends of the Earth Ireland, and contributed to Chartered Accountants Ireland's Sustainability Working Group.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: She's about to take up a new role with Home Tree, a nature restoration charity.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: What I find more interesting than the CV itself is how she thinks about the work.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: Kate talks about systems thinking.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: Her view is that environmental and social goals aren't separate boxes to tick, they're deeply interdependent.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: And treating them as isolated line items is exactly how organizations miss the bigger picture.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: There's a line from her that stuck with me.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: She said, The existing system is dying.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: It is going to change, and what we do now will determine the new system that emerges.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: That's a bold claim, and it puts our profession squarely in the middle of the story.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Financial expertise isn't a nice to have for sustainability work.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: It's what makes credible climate and social action possible.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: Someone has to model the numbers, test the assumptions, and hold organizations accountable for the commitments they make.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: Kate's argument is that our qualification gives us the mobility to go and do exactly that, whether inside a listed company, a small enterprise, or a charity.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: And that collective action from accountants is what actually shifts outcomes at scale.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: She's also clear that part of the job is amplifying voices that don't usually get a seat at the table.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: If you're weighing up where your own skills could do the most good, her story is worth reading in full.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: We'll link it in the show notes.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: Now, from one kind of trust to another.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about artificial intelligence, because a new paper doing the rounds makes an argument worth hearing.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: The headline point is this.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: AI can genuinely strengthen how we work, but it does not and cannot replace professional judgment, skepticism, or ethical accountability.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: That responsibility stays with the chartered accountant, full stop.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't transfer to the software vendor, and it doesn't transfer to the algorithm.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: That matters because AI outputs have a habit of looking authoritative even when they're wrong, biased, or incomplete.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: The paper flags a fairly long list of risks worth knowing.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: Automation bias, where we start accepting AI findings too readily.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Data privacy gaps, when we don't fully understand how a vendor is storing client information, a gradual decline in professional skepticism as we lean on tools instead of our own critical thinking.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: Accountability gaps when something goes wrong and it's unclear who's responsible.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: And the black box problem, where an AI system can't really explain how it reached a conclusion, making that conclusion hard to defend to a client or a regulator.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: None of that is an argument against using these tools.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's an argument for using them properly.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: The paper frames trust in the AI era as resting on three pillars, human accountability and professional judgment, meaning a qualified person reviews and owns AI-assisted work always, robust governance, meaning clear, documented policies on what AI can and can't be used for, and cybersecurity and data protection, because weak controls will undo client confidence faster than almost anything else.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: If there's a practical takeaway for this week, it's this.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: Look at where AI is already being used in your organization, even informally, and ask whether your governance has kept pace.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: Confirm you understand how client data is being handled by any tool you're using, and be transparent with clients about where AI is playing a role in the work they're paying for.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: Professional bodies have a part to play too, keeping guidance current as the technology moves.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: But the front line of trust is still each individual accountant, exercising the same skepticism and care that's always defined this profession.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: So, two stories, one thread.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: Whether it's redirecting a career toward climate impact or deciding how much weight to give an AI-generated output, the constant is our judgment, our ethics, and our willingness to be accountable.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: The tools and the causes will keep changing.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: That part doesn't.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: Both articles are linked in the show notes.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening, and I'll be back with episode 8 soon.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: Take care of yourselves.