AI Isn’t a Tool. It’s Your Next Hire

The tax and accounting industry doesn’t have an AI problem. It has a hiring problem. In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant , Lee Reams II and Rebekah Barton unpack one of the biggest shifts happening in firms right now: AI isn’t just a tool—it’s a role. With fewer accountants entering the profession and client demand continuing to rise, the traditional growth model—hire more people—just isn’t working anymore. So what replaces it? In this episode, you’ll learn: Why most firms are using AI wrong (and why it’s not scaling) The real downside of stacking multiple AI tools How to think about AI as a team member , not a prompt The hidden security risks firms are overlooking What AI-driven search means for your firm’s visibility Why “saving time” isn’t the goal— building capacity is A simple way to identify your first AI hire This episode is a mindset shift. Because the firms that win over the next few years won’t be the ones using the most tools… They’ll be the ones building the smartest systems—where work gets done before they even log in. Final thought: Don’t ask, “What AI tool should I use?” Ask: 👉 “What role do I need next in my firm… and can AI do it first?”

You can listen to AI Isn’t a Tool. It’s Your Next Hire online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

AI Isn’t a Tool. It’s Your Next Hire is an episode from The Growth Minded Accountant by Lee Reams II from CountingWorks PRO.

This episode is 38:05 long.

This episode was published on Apr 22, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from The Growth Minded Accountant when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.