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Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the workforce, and nowhere is this more evident than in professional services. At PwC, one of the Big Four accounting firms, the integration of AI into audit workflows is leading to a radical transformation of entry-level roles. In fact, according to Jenn Kosar, PwC’s AI Assurance Leader, new hires will soon be operating at the level of experienced managers.
AI Is Redefining Entry-Level Accounting Roles
In an interview with Truth Sider, Kosar said that AI is eliminating the repetitive, routine tasks that traditionally formed the bulk of a junior accountant’s job. Instead of data entry and information gathering, AI is doing much of the “grunt work,” allowing junior staff to immediately step into review and supervisory roles.
“People are going to walk in the door almost instantaneously becoming reviewers and supervisors,” Kosar said.
Within three years, PwC expects that first-year hires will be functioning more like fourth-year employees, with a sharper focus on critical thinking, judgment, and oversight skills traditionally honed much later in their careers.
“We will look back and say, ‘Okay, these young people feel more like the managers of my day,’” Kosar added.
Rewriting the Training Manual: Back to Basics
This evolution in roles has pushed PwC to rethink how it trains junior accountants. The firm is shifting its focus from technical execution to foundational principles, aiming to ensure new hires understand what an audit is fundamentally supposed to achieve.
Kosar described this change as a return to basics: rather than simply teaching new recruits how to perform audit tasks, PwC now emphasizes why those tasks matter.
That includes building professional skepticism, deepening analytical reasoning, and instilling negotiation skills soft skills that used to come much later in one’s accounting career. With AI doing the groundwork, entry-level employees are being fast-tracked into roles that demand judgment and oversight over the machines that do the heavy lifting.
“There’s more time in the programming to teach junior employees deeper critical thinking, negotiation, and professional skepticism,” Kosar noted.
The Rise of 'Assurance for AI'
The transformation doesn’t stop with training. Kosar's own position AI Assurance Lead is a new role, created in July 2024, as PwC adapts to client needs in the AI era. Her division now oversees the firm's "assurance for AI" offerings, which help clients use artificial intelligence responsibly, ethically, and transparently.
PwC only launched this offering in June, signaling how quickly the firm is pivoting to support clients in AI adoption. This service ensures that the AI tools being used by companies are fair, safe, and aligned with governance expectations a form of auditing for algorithms themselves.
Kosar, who was formerly a partner in PwC’s digital assurance and transparency division, says this is the next frontier of accountability.
“It’s a shift in how we serve clients as opposed to accelerating progression of capabilities,” she said.
From Hours to Outcomes: AI Is Changing the Business Model
AI is not only altering workflows but also challenging PwC’s longstanding business model. Traditionally, firms like PwC billed clients based on hours worked. But as automation improves efficiency and reduces time spent on tasks, clients are increasingly skeptical about paying premium fees for services that could be performed “instantly” by software.
This shift is pushing the Big Four toward outcomes-based pricing, where firms are compensated based on value delivered not time spent.
Alan Paton, a former PwC UK partner and now CEO of a Google Cloud consultancy, previously told Truth Sider that clients are starting to question why they should pay consultants when they can get answers “instantaneously from a tool.”
This is leading to a rethinking of how firms structure their engagements, and how value is measured and delivered in a world where AI is omnipresent.
Senior Roles Aren’t Immune to Change Either
While junior roles are being transformed most dramatically right now, Kosar believes AI will soon influence senior positions as well. Managers and partners are already facing new kinds of questions from clients many of whom want to know how they can fully automate specific business tasks with AI.
This shift requires senior professionals to re-skill and adapt, offering more strategic counsel around AI implementation and risk management, rather than simply guiding teams through legacy processes.
And while many fear that AI will reduce jobs or diminish critical thinking, Kosar takes a more optimistic view. She believes it will create more well-rounded professionals, faster.
“We will actually get to a better place in terms of how auditing works, how consulting works,” she said, “and be able to focus on higher-value insights and information.”
An Era of Supervised AI, Not Replaced Humans
As AI systems take on increasingly complex tasks, firms like PwC are rapidly evolving to ensure human oversight remains front and center. That means entry-level jobs are becoming more strategic, more analytical, and more client-facing than ever before.
Kosar’s perspective signals a future in which the entry-level employee is no longer the spreadsheet warrior, but a critical thinker supervising algorithms, interpreting results, and providing real value.
This transformation is not only redefining what it means to be an accountant at the beginning of one’s career it’s redefining the profession itself.
