How CPAs can build relevance with continuous upskilling

Artificial intelligence is transforming the accounting profession in ways few could have imagined even a decade ago. Knowledge is more accessible, insights are more powerful, and the opportunity for CPAs to elevate their role has never been greater.

In this new environment, technical expertise remains essential, but thriving in the age of AI requires more than the basics. Continuous, forward-looking upskilling is the secret ingredient that will help CPAs turn expertise into the type of lasting relevance that drives career success.

This moment invites a shift in how the profession thinks about growth. Today, we all have an opportunity to move beyond a compliance exercise measured in credit hours and embrace CPE as a strategic engine that drives innovation. The CPAs who embrace that mindset will become the leaders of tomorrow who thrive in the age of AI.

Professional development drives retention

The case for continuous, adaptable skill evolution is already embedded in the data. Research from the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants, including CPA Talent Retention 2024: Keeping Your Best Performers, confirms that professional development is one of the strongest drivers of retention across the profession, regardless of whether CPAs work in public accounting, corporate finance, government or nonprofit sectors. Younger professionals in particular view the opportunity for upskilling not as a benefit but as a baseline expectation.

The retention findings are striking. Keeping Your Best Performers found that more than seven in 10 professionals want to remain with their current firm. While compensation remains important, professionals consistently rank meaningful career development among the top reasons they stay with an employer. That is an extraordinary opportunity, but it is conditional. When development pathways stall, so does loyalty.

This is not simply an HR concern. It's a competitive one. In a labor market where fewer accounting graduates are entering the pipeline, and burnout remains prevalent, firms cannot afford to lose high performers because professional growth feels stagnant.

At the same time, the underlying business models are changing in ways that make professional development more complex, not less.

Aligning CPE solutions with a diamond-shaped workforce

PICPA's report Workforce Transformation: The Future of Accounting Firms illustrates this shift clearly. For decades, the profession operated under a pyramid model, with large entry-level cohorts narrowing upward toward partnership. Today, technology and talent scarcity are reshaping that pyramid into something closer to a diamond. Entry-level hiring is flattening. Mid-career hiring is increasing. Advisory capabilities are expanding. 

When firms hire fewer entry-level professionals and more mid-career specialists, often from industry, they inherit a new responsibility. They must train professionals who did not build and sustain their careers in public accounting. While an industry expert may bring deep operational knowledge, their exposure to firm economics, regulatory nuance or advisory delivery models is limited. Without intentional upskilling infrastructure, firms risk underutilizing mid-career talent.

Meanwhile, entry-level professionals must ramp up faster. Research, reconciliation, classification and even elements of audit testing can all now be executed faster and at lower cost through technology. Automation reduces certain repetitive tasks while simultaneously increasing expectations around analytics, technology fluency and client-facing judgment. This means those entering the profession must deliver broader skill sets sooner. 

Defining and elevating CPA competencies at every career stage

Trust has always been the CPA's currency, the moat that technology cannot yet cross. Enduring trust is built on the ability to communicate clearly, think deeply, synthesize across disciplines, exercise ethical judgment and guide clients through ambiguity. 

Those capabilities are not incidental. They are strategic competitive advantages, not easily developed through compliance training alone. To advance the CPA profession in an AI-driven economy, we must be more ambitious.

We must require more than minimum thresholds to safeguard and elevate the profession. We need a framework that defines what competencies CPAs should possess at every stage of their careers. The AICPA's Profession Ready Initiative is an important starting point for early career skills, but mid-career professionals, including those of us who have been in the field for decades, face equally profound shifts. 

Leadership, advisory integration and technological fluency are competencies that require ongoing recalibration. We must define those skills clearly and transparently, so mid-level professionals understand how to grow, and firms understand how to support them.

We must also innovate in delivery. No one loves responding to a compliance reminder when a notification appears on their screen — not even me, and I lead a learning and professional development organization. Thankfully, today's technology has given us the opportunity to meet professionals where they are in a far more creative way.

Adaptive platforms can personalize content. Scenario-based simulations can build advisory judgment. Integrated learning tools can embed development directly into workflows rather than isolating it from billable activity. Microlearning can reinforce both technical updates and nontechnical skills in real time.

Regulation that keeps pace with technology

Any discussion of evolution in professional learning must recognize the vital role regulators play in safeguarding the integrity of our credentials. Their commitment to due process, exposure drafts and thoughtful public comment strengthens the profession and reinforces public trust. That foundation of rigor is one of our greatest assets. 

As the pace of change accelerates, we have an opportunity to build on that strong foundation by exploring the ways in which regulatory frameworks can continue to support both rigor and agility. By bringing regulators, educators, firms and practitioners together to work collaboratively, we can ensure that learning pathways evolve to encourage innovation, expand access to meaningful upskilling and ultimately enhance the profession's ability to serve the public interest.

Organizations like PICPA operate at the intersection of research, advocacy and learning innovation. By closely monitoring shifts in workforce expectations, firm economics and regulatory priorities, we are uniquely positioned to shape what comes next: to define competencies that extend well beyond early career years, to invest in modern learning tools that accelerate both technical and leadership skills, and to partner constructively with regulators to ensure standards continue to reflect the realities of a technology-enabled profession.

The pace of technological advancement is accelerating, and that momentum presents tremendous potential for CPAs to elevate their impact. In the era of AI, our greatest advantage lies in the uniquely human capabilities that technology can't replace but can amplify: communication, multidisciplinary thinking, ethical judgement and strategic insight. These are not "soft" skills. They are enduring strengths that drive trust and create value for clients. Continuously developing these adaptable skills will equip CPAs not just to remain relevant but to truly thrive.