Summary
Organisations are investing heavily in AI, yet adoption remains uneven, anxiety is rising and returns are inconsistent. The usual explanations point to skills gaps or resistance to change. The research says otherwise: for finance professionals, adopting AI is not just learning a new tool. It is an identity transition – a renegotiation of professional meaning, status and contribution.
Drawing on research with accounting and finance professionals across seven countries – from Big Four partners to CFOs and sole practitioners – this session takes you beneath the surface of AI adoption. Discover why most professionals are stuck in the ‘Neutral Zone’, neither holding on to the old nor embracing the new; how unconscious relationships with AI mean the same message is heard as threat, saviour or irrelevance; the seven personas present in every finance team; and the three narratives – AI as Hero, Destroyer and Trickster – running through every firm at once.
Whether you lead a team through AI change or are navigating it yourself, you will leave with a practical lens for diagnosing readiness and building the psychological readiness that makes transformation stick – confidence, not just capability.
Learning Outcomes:
- Understand the psychological dynamics behind AI adoption, and why inconsistent returns on AI skills training needs different approaches. Introduction to classic and newer transitions frameworks to help identify where finance professionals and their teams are in terms of psychological readiness.
- Recognise the unconscious orientations and seven personas that shape how the same AI message is heard as threat, saviour or irrelevance, and tailor communication and support accordingly.
- Apply practical strategies to build psychological readiness alongside technological readiness, creating the conditions for confident, durable AI adoption.
If you require assistance registering for this webinar, please contact EuropeMailbox@cpaaustralia.com.au
Speaker
Take a look at our speaker scheduled for this event.
Ling Loh FCPA (Aust.)
Service and Project Manager, Copper.co
Founder and Principal, Ling Loh Coaching & Consulting
European Divisional Councillor, CPA Australia
Ling Loh, FCPA (Aust.), is Service and Project Manager at Copper.co, a digital-asset infrastructure firm, and Founder and Principal of Ling Loh Coaching & Consulting. She serves as European Divisional Councillor of CPA Australia and holds the INSEAD Executive Master in Change. Her research, Journeying Through the Maze, examined the drivers and blockers of AI adoption among accounting and finance professionals across seven countries, spanning Big Four partners, CFOs, mid-market practitioners and sole practitioners. Ling helps firms build the psychological readiness that makes AI transformation stick, through diagnostics, experiential workshops and coaching.
