Eaamon, Jenny and Patricia asked Matthew to give this year's keynote at the annual CPA Summit. It was due to be held in Ireland but, like so many events that year, became a virtual event. Matthew titled the session The Remarkable Future, and his starting point was that every profession is changing, in the work that needs doing and in who or what does it, and accountancy is changing as fast as any.
He opened with the end of Shareholder Primacy, the 1990s premise that puts shareholders' interests above all else, after Jamie Dimon and his fellow Fortune 250 CEOs decided at the previous year's New York Business Round Table to prioritise investment in communities, staff and the future over shareholder dividends.
"Every profession is changing, whether it's the type of work that needs to be done, or who or what does it, and the accountancy profession is changing as fast as any other profession."Matthew Griffin, Virtual, September 2020
Next came the future of the workforce, and the value of a human face against a rising tide of avatars, deepfakes, digital humans and robo-advisors. These give organisations new ways to serve customers and create new customer experiences, but they will also stretch cyber security defences to the limit as identity and impersonation fraud reach new levels.
Moving across sectors, Matthew showed how new technologies are making the impossible possible, from helping to solve famine to extending the human lifespan beyond a hundred years. He then made the case for explainable AI as AI becomes more integral to the profession's analysis and decision making.
He closed on the profession's role in helping clients develop sustainability programmes and initiatives that can help eliminate over 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and create a more liveable planet.
