Peter McCarroll: Rethink the Ladder | MOVE Like This

AI changes how pros gain experience, forcing teams to reinvent leadership development.

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here

Sponsored by Radical Pricing by Jody Padar, CPA | See Today’s Special Offer

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines Research podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS.

MOVE Like This
With Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk
For CPA Trendlines Research

Artificial intelligence has dominated conversations throughout the accounting profession, but much of the discussion remains focused on efficiency. In this episode of MOVE Like This, Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk sits down with Peter McCarroll, founder of The AI Accountant and partner at Fuel Accountants, to explore a much bigger question: How will AI reshape careers, leadership, and the future of accounting firms?

MORE MOVE Like This | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming Network

McCarroll argues that many firms are looking at AI through too narrow a lens. While automating routine work will certainly improve productivity, efficiency alone will not be enough to remain competitive. Firms that thrive will use AI to strengthen strategic thinking, develop new services, deepen client relationships, and create additional value rather than simply reducing costs. Waiting for technology to stabilize or treating AI as just another software implementation may leave firms behind as change accelerates over the next few years.

Posted on July 22, 2026

Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk

About the Author

Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk (pronounced like rustic without the “t”) is the founder of BBR Companies LLC, where she provides CMO-level services for professional services firms, co-owner of Rally Rounds, where she facilitates mastermind groups for accounting growth professionals, and owner of the Accounting MOVE Project, where she provides the most comprehensive data and guidance on finding, retaining, developing and advancing women and people of color in the accounting profession.

She holds a Diversity & Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University and is taking additional coursework to expand her knowledge. This is in addition to the MBA with a marketing concentration she earned at Georgia State University and a Bachelor of Arts in journalism, public relations, and French from Troy State University in Alabama.

She contributed a chapter to Bridging the Gap: Strengthening the Connection Between Current and Emerging Leaders and is a regular contributor and quote source for industry-related publications and websites. She has been recognized as one of Accounting Today’s Top 100 Most Influential People three times, Volunteer of the Year by the Association for Accounting Marketing, and one of CPA Practice Advisor’s Most Powerful Women in Accounting.

Before starting BBR Companies in 2009, she wore many hats, including serving as a public relations director for Sportbrain, a health and fitness startup and precursor of FitBit in Silicon Valley, which allowed her to see the dotcom boom and bust firsthand; international marketing manager for Turner Broadcasting, where she helped launch TNT and Cartoon Network in Asia; and creative managerial roles with software and financial services firms, which started her on the path and laid the foundation for her passion and expertise for professional services marketing.

Never one to put aside her passion for marketing, small businesses and women’s issues when she closes the door at the end of the day, Bonnie also uses her acumen to help others simply because it matters. She is a founding member of the Atlanta Independent Women’s Network (AIWN), a former board member of the Association for Accounting Marketing, and a member of the CPA Consultants’ Alliance.

Click here for more by Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here

Sponsored by Radical Pricing by Jody Padar, CPA | See Today’s Special Offer

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines Research podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS.

TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Continue reading your article with a CPA Trendlines Pro membership.