A new report from audit solutions provider Fieldguide illustrates the gulf between enthusiasm for AI and the reality of daily operations in the accounting profession.

According to Accounting Today, while 94% of audit and advisory leaders say AI accelerates engagement and 90% believe it reduces workload, 88% still rely on manual data collection and 80% continue documenting by hand. 

This gap between pilot success and day-to-day execution, what Fieldguide and others term the “pilot-to-production chasm”, continues to represent one of the most significant barriers to adoption. Internal resistance, fragmented data systems, and a lack of integration into existing workflows are noted as key barriers.

Fieldguide’s finding align with earlier research from MIT that indicated only 5% of AI pilot projects result in significant return on investment. 

Success-reporting firms tend to share certain practices: they create space for experimentation, treat data as a standardized product, and document the lessons learned. In the words of Fieldguide’s CEO, Jin Chang, “The profession doesn’t lack belief in AI. It lacks follow-through.”

Those few organizations that overcome these hurdles have seen tangible improvements in profitability, retention, and role evolution, where leaders focus less on execution and more on oversight and strategic insight. But the path forward requires more than tools; it requires infrastructure, culture, and sustained alignment between vision and implementation.