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Episode 9: What Six Difference Makers Can Teach Every Chartered Accountant · 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 going to hand you over to Olivia.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome back to Chartered Accountants Global Update, the podcast that keeps you connected to what is happening across the profession worldwide.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Today, we are looking ahead to something a little different.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Not a conference, not a report, but a celebration of the human side of this profession.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: On Friday, the 25th of September, Chartered Accountants Worldwide is hosting a special one-hour broadcast called Difference Makers Discuss, Best of Season 4.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: It brings together six standout conversations from across the year, hosted by Sinead Donovan, and it is free to register.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: But rather than just point you to the sign-up page, I want to spend the next few minutes sharing why these six stories are worth your time.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: Because they say something important about where our profession is headed.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Let us start with two stories about what happens when people decide to build something from nothing.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: Kingsley Akins built the largest Irish business network in any city in the world.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: It started as a 12-person dinner club in Sydney.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: 12 people.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: And from that small beginning came a global network built on something deceptively simple.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: A single letter to a stranger that turned into a professional relationship lasting 21 years.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: That is the kind of patience and follow-through that does not show up on a CV, but it changes careers.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: Then there is Asta Thackeray, who started a coffee meetup in London while pregnant during lockdown, knowing absolutely no one in the city.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: That meetup has grown into a network of around 2,000 parents.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: Her point is a good one for all of us.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Community is not reserved for people with big networks already.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: It is available to anyone willing to start small and stay committed.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: For accountants building client relationships or growing a practice, the lesson is the same.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: Influence rarely arrives all at once.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: It compounds one conversation at a time.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: Our next pairing looks at what it takes to perform under pressure, whether that pressure is personal or economic.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: Katrina Jennings qualified for the 2012 Olympic Marathon while working full-time at PWC.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: Think about that balance for a moment.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: Audit deadlines and marathon training, both demanding total commitment, both happening at once.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: Her story is a reminder that resilience is not about avoiding pressure.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: It is about deciding which commitments matter enough to carry simultaneously.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: On a much larger scale, Manuel Rodriguez, CFO for African Operations at EDP Mozambique, shared how the Escolia du Povo project, that translates to the People's Choice, is reaching 55,000 maize farmers, 14,000 soybean farmers, and 7,000 families rearing chicken.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: The financial innovation at the heart of it is simple but powerful, shifting farmers from annual payments to payments every 35 days.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: That single change in cash flow timing is transforming household economies.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: It is a great example of financial structuring in service of real, measurable human impact.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: Our final pairing tackles the question so many of us are asking right now.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: What happens to professional judgment as AI takes on more of the work?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: Nick Remer, co-founder and CEO of The Envigilator, brings a nuanced view on where AI belongs in academic and professional assessment.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: His central principle is one worth repeating: humans must retain decision-making authority.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: AI can support the process, but it should not replace the judgment call.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Lisuaniso Namatama makes a similar point from the audit side of the profession.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: Professional judgment and risk assessment require human presence.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: Honest, difficult conversations with a client cannot be automated.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: They require someone in the room who can read what is not being said as much as what is.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: Taken together, these two conversations land on the same conclusion.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: Technical skill and AI tools matter, but they do not replace the accountant's judgment.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: If anything, as automation handles more of the routine work, that judgment becomes more valuable, not less.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: Six speakers, six very different stories, but one thread running through all of them.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: The qualities that create lasting impact, connection, resilience, judgment are the ones that are hardest to automate and easiest to undervalue.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: If any of these stories resonated, the full best of season 4 broadcast airs Friday, the 25th of September, at 6 pm BST.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: Hosted by Sinead Donovan, and registration is free.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: We will have the link in the show notes.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: That is it for this episode of Chartered Accountants Global Update.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening, and we will be back next time with more from across the profession.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: Take care.