Findings reinforce Fieldguide's value to the industry, under their recently refreshed brand and expanded suite of solutions
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New independent research from Fieldguide, the leading transformation partner for agentic audit and advisory, finds that firms deploying AI at depth are outperforming casual adopters across profitability, capacity, client retention, and staff retention, with the gap widening over time.
The research, which will also be discussed at Fieldguide’s upcoming conference Catalyst, surveyed 400 financial auditing and advisory leaders in May 2026, splitting them into active deployers (51%, where AI runs across most or all engagements) and casual users (49%, where AI use is ad hoc or limited to specific workflows).
Key findings include:
- Profitability: 74.5% of active deployers saw profitability increase 10% or more, vs. 52% of casual users
- Capacity: 70.1% of active deployers saw significantly or moderately more engagements with the same headcount, vs. 46.9% of casual users.
- Client retention: 73.5% say AI is a factor in winning or retaining clients, vs. 53.6% of casual users
- Staff retention: 75.0% say AI has improved staff retention vs. 51.0% of casual adopters
- Organizational redesign: 87.3% of active deployers have formally redesigned roles, team structures, or staffing ratios as a result of AI
“Almost 88% of active deployers have already redesigned their firm roles and staffing around AI. That's the number that should make every managing partner stop and look at their own org chart,” said Jin Chang, Co-Founder and CEO of Fieldguide. “It's also the clearest evidence we have that this is a structural shift in the profession.”
The data suggest that organizational redesign matters more for driving these outcomes than the AI tools a firm uses. Active deployers are also investing more heavily in building their people's skills, with the widest gap in client advisory and relationship skills: 47.1% are actively building the skill, compared to 28.1% of casual users.
For firms not yet running AI at depth, the research suggests the window is narrowing. Clients already know AI is being used in their engagements, and what they are increasingly evaluating is whether a firm knows how to use it well. Among the deepest deployers, 44% say AI is a frequent differentiator in competitive wins, nearly double the rate reported by other firms. As AI adoption spreads across the profession, what wins client business today is likely to become the baseline expectation tomorrow.
The advantage also compounds over time. As AI frees up practitioner time, active deployers are reinvesting it in higher-value advisory work rather than additional production, a shift that helps explain their stronger profitability. Better margins, in turn, fund further AI investment, freeing up more time in the next cycle. For the 204 active deployer firms in this study already operating in that cycle, the distance from firms earlier in adoption continues to widen.
This survey’s findings follow Fieldguide's brand refresh and the unveiling of two new platform capabilities, Fieldguide MCP and Field Financials, earlier this week. The refresh introduced the “Build the agentic firm” headline and “Expertise, amplified” tagline, describing firms that run engagements with AI agents embedded directly into the work rather than layered on top of it.
About The Research
Fieldguide commissioned TrendCandy to survey 400 financial auditing and advisory leaders in May 2026. All respondents hold Manager, Director, VP, or Executive titles at firms employing 100 or more people. The margin of error is +/-5% at the 95% confidence level. Active Deployers (n=204) are firms integrating AI across most engagements or with workflows fully rebuilt around AI; Casual Users (n=196) use AI ad hoc or in specific workflows only. All statistics are self-reported; the research describes correlation, not causation.
To access the full research report, visit https://info.fieldguide.io/ai-native-firm-advantage
About Fieldguide
Fieldguide is a leading AI-native platform transforming how audit, advisory, and assurance work gets done. Purpose-built for regulated environments, Fieldguide brings professionals and agentic AI together to modernize engagement delivery from planning through close, enabling audit and advisory practitioners to deliver higher-quality work, strengthen client experiences, and unlock growth for the decade ahead.
Fieldguide is trusted by leading firms and is the recipient of multiple Accounting Today Top New Products Awards, as well as a five-time winner of the CPA Practice Advisor Technology Innovation Award.
Fieldguide is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Bessemer Venture Partners, 8VC, Thomson Reuters and other leading investors. Learn more at fieldguide.io.
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