Many professional services firms have answered the ‘which tool?’ question. Perhaps you've chosen a platform, drafted a policy, started training the team. But - new level, new devil: five people building the same workflow, agents nobody owns, and partners who can't say with confidence how AI touched the work going out the door.
In part one of this two-part series, Rod Fernandez turns the interview chair around and asks Kim what she's seeing inside accounting, legal and HR firms heading into the last quarter of 2026 - where AI maturity stalls, why governance decides whether a firm gets past it, and what clients are about to start asking.
In This Episode We Cover:
- Why the workshop that gets your team excited about AI is where a whole new set of problems starts
- What "new level, new devil" looks like when a busy team starts building agents on their own
- The difference between a human in the loop and a human in the lead - and why only one lets you stand behind the work
- Why one actuarial firm has refused to touch AI at all, and why caution on its own isn't the same as safety
- The stage of AI maturity where most firms stall, and the unanswered governance question that can set them back six to twelve months
- The client question every firm needs a confident answer to before 10 December - and the places automated decisions hide that most firms won't think to check
About the Podcast:
The AI Your Business Podcast, hosted by Kim Fernandez, helps established business owners, founders, and service providers understand how to adopt AI in a practical, human-centred way - and be inspired by how AI is being used to solve real-world problems through real-world case studies, stories, and strategies.
Links
AI for Teams Toolkit: https://ai-collab.com.au/toolkit
Episode 17: Can You Stand Behind Your AI Agents?: https://podcast.kimfernandez.co/e/ai-agents-are-loose-in-accounting-law-and-finance/
Episode 13: Australia's Privacy Act Requires AI Disclosure from Dec '26: https://podcast.kimfernandez.co/e/ep13-australias-privacy-act-requires-ai-disclosure-from-dec-26-what-your-business-must-do/
Rod Fernandez
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rod-fernandez-377086117
Kim Fernandez
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-fernandezz
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thekimfernandez
AI Collab website: https://ai-collab.com.au
AI Collab Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aicollab.official
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