New independent research from Fieldguide finds that firms deploying AI at depth are outperforming casual adopters across profitability, capacity, client retention, and staff retention, with the gap widening over time. The research surveyed 400 financial auditing and advisory leaders, splitting them into active deployers and casual users.
74.5% of active AI deployers saw profitability increase 10% or more (vs. 52% of casual users).
70.1% saw more engagements with same headcount (vs. 46.9% of casual users).
73.5% say AI is a factor in winning or retaining clients (vs. 53.6%).
87.3% have formally redesigned roles and staffing around AI.
44% of deepest deployers say AI is a frequent differentiator in competitive wins.
Active deployers reinvesting time in higher-value advisory work.
The research finds that organizational redesign matters more for driving outcomes than the AI tools a firm uses. Active deployers are also investing more heavily in building their people's skills, with the widest gap in client advisory and relationship skills: 47.1% are actively building the skill, compared to 28.1% of casual users. For firms not yet running AI at depth, the research suggests the window is narrowing. Clients already know AI is being used in their engagements, and what they are increasingly evaluating is whether a firm knows how to use it well.
The advantage compounds over time. As AI frees up practitioner time, active deployers are reinvesting it in higher-value advisory work rather than additional production, a shift that helps explain their stronger profitability. Better margins, in turn, fund further AI investment, freeing up more time in the next cycle. For the 204 active deployer firms already operating in that cycle, the distance from firms earlier in adoption continues to widen.
"Almost 88% of active deployers have already redesigned their firm roles and staffing around AI. That's the number that should make every managing partner stop and look at their own org chart," said Jin Chang, Co-Founder and CEO of Fieldguide. "It's also the clearest evidence we have that this is a structural shift in the profession."
About Fieldguide
Fieldguide is a leading AI-native platform transforming how audit, advisory, and assurance work gets done. Purpose-built for regulated environments, Fieldguide brings professionals and agentic AI together to modernize engagement delivery from planning through close, enabling audit and advisory practitioners to deliver higher-quality work, strengthen client experiences, and unlock growth for the decade ahead. Fieldguide is trusted by leading firms and is the recipient of multiple Accounting Today Top New Products Awards, as well as a five-time winner of the CPA Practice Advisor Technology Innovation Award.
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