In March 2025, Jennifer faced a challenge: Her firm wanted to implement artificial intelligence for workpaper population, but nobody on the team had done it before. They could hire a consultant for $50,000 and hope for the best, or they could figure it out internally and risk failure.
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She posted one question inside the Audit Leadership Circle: “Has anyone successfully implemented AI workpaper tools? What actually works?”
Within minutes she received:
- Three implementation guides from firms that had already done it;
- Two invitations to Zoom for walkthroughs;
- A vendor comparison spreadsheet;
- RFP templates; and,
- An invitation to see a live deployment at a firm 90 minutes away.
She didn’t need a consultant. She needed a community of peers who were six months ahead.
By June, her firm implemented AI workpaper automation across 15 audits. Time savings: 25% per audit. Error rates dropped. Staff satisfaction went up because formatting work disappeared.
Why transformation fails when firms go alone
I’ve observed hundreds of firms attempt transformation over four decades. Most don’t fail because the concept is wrong — they fail because they try to transform in isolation.
The solo transformation curve looks like this:
- Month 1–2: Excitement and optimism.
- Month 3–4: Implementation struggles and resistance.
- Month 5–6: Doubt and second-guessing.
- Month 7–8: Quiet abandonment.
The technology wasn’t the problem. Isolation was.
When you don’t know if a problem is normal or fatal, you quit too soon. Community flips the dynamic: Problems become solvable because someone else has already solved them.
Community & Crowd
In our first article in this series (
Community & Crowd is the force multiplier that makes them achievable.
In ExO language, “community” means engaged peers co-creating value, while “crowd” means external resources, expertise, and capabilities that you tap into. In the language of the accounting profession, “community” is peer audit and tax leaders sharing playbooks, while “crowd” is clients, vendors, and experts shaping new services
Firms that transform leverage both.
The three dangers
In that first article, we identified the three dangers facing firms — and Community is the antidote to all three.
- Danger 1: The lack of transformation plan. When a firm is operating alone, it’s guessing. In community, it can choose from 10 or more working playbooks.
- Danger 2: Outdated business model. A firm alone will struggle to price advisory or adopt fixed fees. In community, it can see exactly how peers do it.
- Danger 3: Talent development crisis. In a single firm alone, staff resist AI due to fear. In community, the firm learns the messaging, training, and sequencing that works.
No single firm can experiment fast enough alone. One hundred and fifty firms can.
Where clients fit
Transformation isn’t purely internal. Clients drive it. Here are two crowd moves firms are using:
- Client advisory boards: Clients articulate their needs directly to the firm.
- Pilot clients: Clients help co-create new advisory services and validate pricing for the firm.
When advisory offerings come from client co-creation, adoption increases and sales friction drops.
Where vendors fit
Vendor relationships are shifting from software procurement to product co-design.
Firms participate in beta programs, roadmap feedback sessions, joint pilots, and early accessThis . benefits the profession when firms shape the tools they use.
Getting started
At your next leadership meeting, ask each leader: “Who are our peers in transformation, and what are we learning from them?”
If the answer is “nobody,” the firm is transforming alone — and slowly.
If you want to leverage community, start here:
- Days 1–30: Identify three peers who are six to 18 months ahead.
- Days 31–60: Run one collaborative pilot (audit, tax, or advisory).
- Days 61–90: Establish a feedback loop and resource exchange.
The outcomes: speed, confidence, and fewer unforced errors.
Think — plan — grow!
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