As the financial ecosystem continues to evolve, AI agents are emerging as a transformative force—reshaping how organizations operate, manage risk and unlock value. In a world where precision, trust and compliance are paramount, the rise of autonomous, intelligent agents marks a significant step forward while also reaffirming the need for quality and confidence in today’s reporting environment. At PwC, we see the intersection of people, methodology and technology as the foundation for quality—and today, a new class of AI agents is becoming an essential part of that equation.
AI agents are no longer experimental. They’re beginning to fundamentally change how work gets done. These intelligent systems can interpret context, automate complex workflows, make recommendations and continuously learn and improve. They’re informing and accelerating decisions, increasing precision and enabling new ways of working that blend human expertise with digital capabilities.
This shift isn’t just about doing things faster. It’s about rethinking how work happens—how information moves, how insights are generated and how people and technology come together to solve problems better. And it’s not limited to a single domain. AI agents are enabling new ways of working, including in finance and the audit.
In the finance function, AI agents already help transform how data is gathered and analyzed, putting CFOs and the finance function in a value-creating position in the organization. As the use of agents progresses, that work will expand, first into enabling more timely and insight-driven management reporting and eventually into broader external uses, such as financial reporting. It is all in the name of broader finance transformation—more dynamic, more consistent, and insight-driven.
From ingestion and validation of large volumes of data to automating disclosures and supporting complex accounting estimates, agents are reshaping critical processes. But in a highly regulated and stakeholder-sensitive environment, impact alone isn’t enough. These capabilities should be governed responsibly. That’s why leading finance functions are embedding Responsible AI practices—such as fairness, explainability and robustness—into their reporting ecosystems. This means implementing control frameworks tailored to the use of AI, establishing clear oversight roles, validating models with sufficient frequency and maintaining transparent audit trails.
AI agents used in revenue recognition or impairment analysis, for instance, should be explainable—not only to internal stakeholders but to regulators, auditors and boards. And as the number and sophistication of agents grows, organizations need an orchestration layer that allows them to work together, share knowledge and act with context across business processes. When built and governed effectively, AI agents don’t just reduce effort—they enhance the integrity, auditability and quality of financial reporting. They allow finance teams to operate at greater speed and scale, without compromising trust.
In audit, AI agents are central to PwC’s Next Gen Audit (NGA) vision—playing an active role across the audit life cycle. Rather than simply automating steps, agents can break down audit procedures into discrete tasks, execute those tasks autonomously and deliver outputs such as testing results, documentation drafts and suggested conclusions for auditor review. They can ingest and analyze structured and unstructured data, help identify anomalies and orchestrate end-to-end workflows under human oversight. In short, AI agents are a key technological component of the “people, methodology and technology” approach that we are taking to create real, differentiated impact on the overall audit experience.
We are using PwC’s agent OS platform to scale these capabilities—accelerating development, enabling consistent governance and giving non-specialists a more intuitive way to configure and deploy agents across the enterprise. AI agents are no longer emerging—they’re here. The future of financial reporting will be shaped by those who don’t just adopt them but harness them to redefine how their organizations think, operate and lead.
The transformation of financial reporting, in part through the use of AI agents, is already underway and the path to meaningful impact is closer than you might expect. Whether you’re just beginning or looking to scale, here are practical steps to move forward.
PwC’s agent OS is an enterprise AI command center — seamlessly connecting and scaling intelligent agents into business-ready workflows, up to 10x faster than traditional methods.
At PwC, we are taking significant steps toward the next generation of the audit by incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) technology into our audit processes.
Learn how finance leaders can balance AI’s potential with governance, data integrity, accountability and reliable financial reporting.
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