The Impact of Deloitte’s Autonomous AI Agents and Gen AI

As the accounting industry tries to keep up with increasingly complex business environments and regulatory pressures, Deloitte has started rolling out AI agents across its global audit platform.

The company has announced new AI capabilities within Omnia, its cloud-based audit system used by auditors worldwide. 

The update includes both Gen AI tools and autonomous agents that can handle specific tasks without constant human oversight.

This innovation is part of a broader push across the accounting industry to use technology to handle routine work, freeing up auditors to focus on more complex analysis and client relationships.

The Omnia platform, which Deloitte launched in 2015, handles audit work for clients across multiple industries. 

The firm’s 85,000 audit and assurance professionals worldwide use the system to conduct financial statement audits and related services.

Deloitte’s Omnia platform gaining Gen AI documentation tools

The new Gen AI features target the kind of grunt work that traditionally eats up auditors’ time – and it can now review audit documentation and suggest improvements, helping ensure consistency across teams.

Dipti Gulati, who runs Deloitte’s US audit and assurance business, says: “Continuing our efforts to integrate increasingly advanced, adaptive technologies into our audit platform has been a critical investment, enabling our auditors to deliver against rising demands in the profession with agility, while maintaining our commitment to quality and trust.”

Auditors can also upload draft financial statements and ask questions about their content in plain English.

The AI can trawl through multiple documents and summarise key information, helping auditors spot issues and draw conclusions more quickly.

The platform can additionally knock out first drafts of audit-related communications and accounting memos – the kind of routine writing that junior staff typically handle.

Research capabilities within Deloitte’s audit platform now provide quick responses to technical accounting questions.

Deloitte is working on risk identification technology that scans external information sources for potential problems. 

The idea is to help auditors spot issues before they become bigger issues.

Chris Griffin, who leads talent and transformation for Deloitte’s US audit practice, says: “Building upon over a decade of investment in advancing our global Omnia platform, these new capabilities blend the knowledge and experience of our professionals with tools designed to empower experienced auditors to navigate increasing demands in the profession and keep pace with technological transformation.”

AI agents integration being a next phase

The move to AI agents is a step towards more autonomous systems within the audit process – as these digital specialists can handle specific tasks, remember relevant information and work with other agents as part of a connected system.

The agents can automate tasks like gathering data from different sources, managing project timelines and flagging patterns or anomalies. 

This automation aims to free up auditors to focus on higher-value work and client interaction.

Will Bible, who leads digital transformation for Deloitte’s US audit business, says: “The rapid pace of technological advancement and increasing complexity across business environments demands a continued commitment to digital change within our business.”

All the AI capabilities were developed using Deloitte’s Trustworthy AI framework, which builds in governance and compliance checks throughout the AI development process. 

This addresses concerns about AI reliability in professional services, where mistakes can have serious consequences.

Deloitte expanding its AI training and external services

Deloitte has been pushing AI training hard across its workforce. 

The firm has put more than 120,000 professionals through its AI Academy and launched a dedicated certification programme for Gen AI and advanced applications.

The company’s audit staff use an internal AI chatbot that handled over three million queries in its first year. 

Deloitte has also rolled out specialised language models and chatbots designed for audit-specific tasks.

Beyond internal use, Deloitte has launched what it calls the Global Agentic Network, offering ready-to-use AI agents to clients and helping them deploy the technology at scale.

The firm is also implementing AI agents across its own operations while training staff to use the technology.

Last year, Deloitte picked up the “AI Innovation Initiative of the Year” award at the International Accounting Forum and Awards for its Omnia AI capabilities. 

The company continues rolling out AI agents across its own operations while training people to use and implement the technology. 

Will says: “Deloitte is also actively deploying agentic AI across its own operations, while upskilling Deloitte talent to use and implement this technology.”