The Rules of AI Engagement

For national accounting and consulting firm Weaver, staying connected to technology’s purpose is as vital as the work of the technology itself

Technology plays a role in the modern business landscape that cannot be overstated, from emerging platforms that boost sales and visibility to new frameworks such as artificial intelligence (AI) and digital automation. Asking the right questions about technology can prove essential to enabling continued success, growth, and innovation.

Many accounting firms have grown from their accounting origins to become technology consultants to their clients and business partners because accounting is the language of business.

“The reason goes back to our key methodology: Technology is an enabler for business. Having an embedded capability to understand the language of the business makes your technology practice 10 times more effective,” said Morgan Page, partner-in-charge, Digital Transformation and Automation Services for Weaver. A Houston-based firm with offices across the country, Weaver is the largest independent accounting firm headquartered in the Southwest. It has also received recognition as a Pacesetter in Growth by Accounting Today, and recognized as a top workplace in multiple cities across the U.S.

Beginning the Journey

Working with organizations at all stages of their digital transformation journey, Page helps Weaver’s clients define and deliver results that are sustainable, scalable, and aligned with their needs. With experience across many different applications and methodologies, Page has successfully helped organizations identify and implement the best solution for their operations, whether they have billion-dollar annual revenues or are just starting up. From business intelligence solutions to low-code app development, and even traditional data warehousing, his teams plug in with the client to support their goals and initiatives, bringing a unique translation ability and understanding between their business and technology teams.

Page describes the democratization and availability of data as his primary focus as so many business goals ultimately demand quality data. Need better and quicker decisions? Utilize data-driven decisioning. Want end-to-end process automation? Find the data to feed the models. AI without quality data is just a con man, confidently telling you what you want to hear regardless of truth or accuracy.

“How do organizations build and develop the data capability to support their business vision and goals? It’s a process, and there’s a lot of wild promises out there right now. It’s really hard to kind of see through that chaff and just have someone tell you, ‘Here’s what it’s going to take to get there,’” Page said.

Defining what AI means for a specific organization is his starting point. The term “AI” is often used to describe analytics, such as robotic process automation (RPA), machine learning, prescriptive or descriptive analytics, and predictive analytics. “Depending on where they are at in their data journey and the maturity of their technology stack, an AI ask may be a two-year process, but that doesn’t mean they can’t capture value faster,” Page said.

Organizations may differ on the definition of AI, primarily because of the tasks they perform, the technological maturity of the stakeholders and the outcomes they seek from those tasks. “The business side creates bucket terms – where they throw all the similar concepts into one whether they match the definition or not. RPA is a perfect example. Five years ago, everything was RPA,” Page added. “Today, that transition to everything is AI. So, in order to ask the right question, to make sure you’re communicating on the same wavelength, that bucket term needs to be defined depending on the needs of the business.”

Riding the Rollout

Leveraging technology advancements can mean that AI is functionally doing the work previously done by employees. “The advent of AI and the increase in the capabilities of our technology mediums has changed computers from the place where we go to do work to the place we go where work is done,” Page said.

“Now it’s transitioned to the model that it is actually doing the work for you, and it’s saying everything’s fine here, and this is good to go to the next step. That’s created the digital core, which is essentially a cohort of full-time employees that are working for you.

“When you roll out a digital core element, it’s essentially giving someone staff. You wouldn’t hire staff for somebody and say, ‘Just ignore them,’ and expect them to give you what you want. You would teach them how to engage with you and teach them like you would in a face-to-face onboarding process. That needs to be replicated in that digital environment.”

The adoption of AI and other digital technologies differs greatly from that of traditional technologies. Engagement is a key concern. Success maps can help identify the most effective ways to engage with AI. “What are the ways that are not good to engage with it? Where does something need to be elevated or escalated? That’s when you start seeing high adoption and the value of that investment bubble to support your organization,” Page said.

Bringing It All Together

Page developed an AI opportunity framework and heat map to pinpoint the best opportunities for AI in virtually any circumstance. The approach allows him to strategically align projects to use interconnected platforms or capabilities that are additive when viewed as a whole but don’t create separate data silos.

“Bahwan CyberTek and I work together closely to create these solutions in a more cost-effective model where many people can access it and use it,” Page said, describing his work with the global technology transformation provider.

An initiative that Weaver is currently collaborating on involves increasing access to retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), an AI framework for improving the quality of large language model-generated responses. “We created the RAG-and-roll initiative to give companies the ability to generate on their own data set in a secure manner at very low price point, which delivered value in approximately six weeks,” Page said. The solution provides immediate value to kickstart transformation initiatives and can be applied to financial information, HR information, and customer data. It is a flexible and dynamic way for organizations to transition processes from searching for needles in a haystack of their data to having it served up to them when they ask the question.

Page’s team is trained on a core set of technologies and leverages Bahwan CyberTek’s extensive knowledge leaders to supplement members’ technical capabilities. “They’re one of my go-tos for a more expansive set of technologies. They’re a very large development organization, very nimble and entrepreneurial, which is what I love about them. That’s because part of my goal as a leader in digital transformation is to have technology solutions that work for everybody.”

Weaver creates a monitorable and reportable vision of transformation success. “We know that businesses need to understand the value created from these investments in real-world dollars and cents, while maximizing ROI at every step. We leverage frameworks to make sure that you’re meeting the highest and best use of your resources and not just responding to the loudest voices,” Page said.

Final Thoughts

Blending the scale, capability and skills of larger firms with the empathy, innovation, and connection of a smaller accountancy, there’s a reason why Weaver is an industry standout. “We are the firm that will help you for as long as you need us, and we’re also a firm that will tell you when we’re no longer needed,” Page said. “That’s the Weaver difference.”

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Weaver has built a nationwide presence on an unwavering commitment to client success, acting with integrity and always striving to transcend expectations. From start-ups to multinational Fortune 500 companies, we deliver solutions for our clients that drive growth and transformation. Weaver’s clients include commercial, government and not-for-profit organizations across a wide range of industries. The firm is particularly well-known in financial services, energy, manufacturing and distribution, construction, technology, real estate, health care and government.

Weaver maintains a robust consulting practice that focuses on emerging trends and best practices in technology, such as digital transformation, automation and cybersecurity, among others. Additionally, our comprehensive assurance, tax and advisory services leverage the deep experience of our teams and offer strategic solutions that push to the next level of what’s possible. Weaver’s experience includes risk advisory, IT advisory, energy compliance and consulting, forensics and litigation services, transaction advisory, valuation and specialty tax services, including international tax, state and local tax, tax credits and incentives, fixed asset advisory, tax provision, tax controversy and private client services.

The Houston-based firm is nationally ranked by both INSIDE Public Accounting (IPA) and Accounting Today, including recognition as a Best of the Best and Fastest-Growing firm by IPA. Since 1950, our commitment to excellence has been backed by the experienced talent in our growing firm, and today, Weaver holds top workplace recognitions in many of the markets we serve. Learn more at weaver.com.

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