New foundation to track real-world AI in accounting

The AI Native Accounting Foundation has launched as an independent nonprofit focused on how accounting and finance teams are using artificial intelligence in practice. It plans to run research projects, offer scholarships, and establish a new awards programme.

Co-founded by Kacee Johnson and Bebe Kim, the organisation aims to provide a forum for open discussion about AI adoption across accounting, tax, audit, advisory, and corporate finance. Its work is also tied to the existing AI Native Accounting Podcast, hosted by Johnson.

Johnson said the foundation responds to rapid changes in financial work and to what she sees as a gap between product announcements and practical results inside firms and finance departments.

"AI is already reshaping how financial work gets done," Johnson said. "But too much of the conversation is still driven by tools and announcements rather than outcomes. This foundation is about getting real, learning from what's working, what's breaking, and how firms are navigating this shift day to day."

The foundation plans to expand beyond the podcast through recognition programmes, research initiatives, and scholarships, with an emphasis on shared learning and visible examples of AI adoption in day-to-day work.

Broad remit

Kim said the foundation will cover multiple parts of the financial profession rather than focusing narrowly on public accounting. It expects overlap in how different teams address automation, data quality, workflow changes, and governance.

"This isn't just an accounting conversation," Kim said. "Tax, audit, advisory, and finance leaders are facing the same systems-level changes. The foundation exists to surface real examples and create shared understanding - not theory, not marketing, but lived experience."

Digits has been named the founding sponsor. The company describes itself as an AI-powered accounting and finance company. The foundation did not disclose the value of the sponsorship.

Jeff Seibert, Digits' Chief Executive and Founder, said the sponsorship reflects a need for independent discussion of how AI tools perform once deployed in real teams, and to support work that brings practical clarity to the profession.

"The profession needs neutral spaces for real conversations about AI in practice," Seibert said. "We're proud to support the AI Native Accounting Foundation as its founding sponsor and help enable work that brings clarity and credibility to how AI is changing accounting and finance."

Advisory council

An advisory council will support the foundation's work, with a focus on overseeing its awards programme and scholarship distributions. Four initial members have been named from across the accounting technology and advisory ecosystem.

The initial council includes Amy Vetter, Chief Executive of The B3 Method Institute; Joe Woodard, Chief Executive of Woodard Consulting Group; Ellen Choi, Chief Executive of Edgefield Group; and Randy Johnston, Founder of Network Management Group.

Awards programme

The foundation has opened nominations for the inaugural AI Native Accounting Awards, intended to recognise firms and practitioners showing measurable progress with AI in real working environments.

It plans to highlight outcomes such as improved capacity and accuracy, new service models, better client experiences, and approaches peers can learn from and replicate. Nominations are open across accounting, tax, audit, advisory, and finance, and both self-nominations and peer nominations are accepted.

Winners are due to be recognised on the main stage at the Scaling New Heights Conference in Orlando, Florida, and featured on the AI Native Accounting Podcast. Nominations close on April 15.

The awards join a growing number of industry programmes tracking the practical effects of AI across finance functions. Many firms and in-house teams are still working through questions about where AI fits within regulated work, how to test and monitor outputs, and how to update policies for confidentiality and professional judgement.

The foundation said its work will examine what is working and what is failing in AI adoption, along with examples of what it calls responsible transformation inside modern firms and finance teams.