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Dubai: AI cannot replace chartered accountants, says ICAI president

He elaborated digitalisation is happening in India at an exceptional pace where even the smallest vendors are now taking the UPI system and ATM

Chartered accountants (CAs) cannot be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI), but CAs with the knowledge of AI will definitely replace a CA without the knowledge of AI, said Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal, president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

Agarwal was speaking on the first day of the Envisage – Profession, Bharat and World Economy conference organised by the ICAI’s Dubai Chapter on Saturday.

He said the Institute has created a committee to come up with solutions to help and train students with this new technology. He elaborated that a CA GPT has been developed by the Institute which can answer students’ questions at a fraction of a second.

Many professionals fear that AI will make them redundant and replace them. However, they also believe that the daily chores of finance professionals will be automated, therefore, their role will be enhanced to carry out much more complex roles and key decision-making.

“There are 950,000 students at the institute and 44 per cent are girls pursuing chartered accountancy. In the last 20 years, the participation of women and girls in finance and accounts has been unprecedented. When a country becomes a developed economy, the women’s participation has exceeded that of men. And India is also on the right trajectory where more and more girls are coming into our profession,” Agarwal said during the keynote speech at the 42nd annual international conference.

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“Many Western companies have been relocating to India, so there are a good number of opportunities for chartered accountants in India. But CAs have a huge responsibility and they have to live up to expectations of fast-changing dynamics.”

He elaborated that digitalisation is happening in India at an exceptional pace where even the smallest vendors are now taking the UPI system and ATM.

“Every transaction is recorded. The more data is generated, so more opportunities are coming up for chartered accountants. But there is a catch. The catchline is that there is a data and certification that CAs have to give, but we have to be mindful when certifying the data that whether ethical reporting is being done by us or not,” he told his professional community members during the opening address.

In addition, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE’s Cabinet member and Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence; Satish Kumar Sivan, consul-general of India to Dubai and Northern Emirates; Rajesh Somani, chairman of ICAI’s Dubai Chapter; Swami Brahmaviharidas of BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi; Ankur Aggarwal, chairman and founder of BNW Development; Manoj Muntashir, an Indian lyricist and poet also spoke at the conference.

While delivering an inaugural address through a recorded video, Sheikh Nahyan said the recent dramatic expansion of AI capabilities is opening new opportunities and challenges to all businesses and all segments of society.

He added that the UAE fully participates in the world economy and has become the centre of global economic activities.

“The global financial services industry is undergoing major changes… The UAE and India are fully engaged and both countries are strong participants of the global economy. Both countries are leaders in the use of modern tech and shared interests,” he added.

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