0pinion
Many accountancy and professional services firms feel as though they are operating in the Wild West of AI. Advisors are being pushed to define an AI strategy while facing conflicting messages from vendors, consultants and commentators. At the same time, our Accountancy in the Age of AI study shows that clients are already experimenting with tools like ChatGPT before seeking professional advice.
Firms cannot ignore this. The landscape is moving quickly, expectations are shifting and doing nothing now increases risk. The challenge is bringing AI into the firm in a way that strengthens trust rather than weakens it.
Where trust is breaking down
A new triangle has emerged between clients, advisors and AI, and trust across all three is under strain. Clients expect the instant clarity they receive from AI tools, but advisors are left correcting information that lacks depth or relevance. Advisors worry about relying on systems they cannot see into, and firms are cautious about adopting AI without clarity around consequences.
This is why adoption has become so critical. AI only delivers value when advisors use it confidently and consistently, and confidence depends on transparency and control. Advisors need a clear view of what an AI agent is doing, how it uses information and how its reasoning develops. Without that, AI becomes a black box, and black boxes rarely earn long-term trust.
What explainability looks like in practice
Explainable AI is built into every agent we design at Ravical. Advisors should not need to replace existing workflows, and AI should slot naturally into the processes they already know.
Our agents show the question they received, the information they need and the plan they create to retrieve context and reason through details. As the agent adapts, advisors can follow the logic, intervene when needed and shape the outcome. This creates shared ownership of the result and confidence in its reliability.
A similar change has taken place in software development, where coding agents now support much of the work, but humans still direct and review the critical stages. The priority is a workflow that makes it easy to start, iterate and understand. Advisory work is heading the same way – when advisors stay in control, trust grows, adoption follows and value is unlocked.
A new era of expectations
Clients increasingly arrive at meetings with AI-generated insights. They show initiative by doing their homework, but they also understand that their challenges require more than generic answers. A ChatGPT summary might identify a tax issue, but it cannot navigate their specific circumstances, advise on timing or weigh competing priorities. That still requires professional judgement, empathy and deep contextual knowledge.
AI agents amplify this human value by raising the quality and consistency of work across the firm, helping teams deliver faster and more proactive support.
Building the confidence to adopt
The shift from manual filings to cloud systems, automation, AI and now AI agents has been years in the making. What has altered is the pace of change. Expectations are rising just as rapidly, which means firms need structure, guidance and internal champions to help teams adapt.
Explainability is the foundation that makes responsible adoption possible. When advisors understand how AI works and why it produces its answers, they move forward with confidence, and with that confidence in place, firms can finally unlock the value AI has long promised.
If your firm wants to adopt AI without losing the trust your reputation depends on, we can help. Ravical provides out-of-the-box AI agents. They plug into existing systems, require minimal onboarding, and provide value from day one, giving advisors full visibility, control and confidence in every output. Speak to our team to explore how explainable AI can be deployed safely, quickly and at scale.
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