Finance Secretary of India Predicts AI May Replace Accountants and Auditors

AI’s Growing Influence in Finance: A Warning for Accountants?

The Finance Secretary of India, T.V. Somanathan, mentioned that artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to do tasks currently done by accountants and auditors. He explained that AI can make business processes more efficient and may replace some of the work done by accountants.

During a lecture organized by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in Chennai, Somanathan also discussed another economic trend. He mentioned that he expects more lending (giving money to people and businesses) to happen in India.

He explained that in India, only about 55% of the country’s money is given to private businesses and people as loans. In China, it’s more than 180%, which he thinks is too high. However, Somanathan believes India should aim to increase this lending to about 100-120% of its money, which could lead to more investments and growth. This would mean more projects could start if they have enough money. But the challenge is to increase lending without having too many bad debts (money that people can’t pay back) and NPAs (non-performing assets, which are loans that aren’t being paid back). This increase in lending will create more demand for accountants.

Somanathan also mentioned that India’s population growth is slowing down. There are fewer children in schools now than there were ten years ago, and some schools may need to close. However, as India becomes wealthier, more people will start paying income taxes. Somanathan predicts that the number of income tax payers will grow by 6-7% each year, which will increase the demand for skilled accountants.