Stuart Langer, Deputy CTO at Sage, says the biggest hidden cost of AI in finance is the time spent checking its work, which he calls the verification tax. A CPA by training, Stuart joins Doug and Matt to explain why AI tools that show their work beat flashy features, and what that means for finance jobs from staff accountant to CFO. He also makes a bold prediction about how accounting software will be built in the next six months.

• (00:00) - Podcast Welcome
• (00:38) - Meet Stuart Langer
• (01:47) - Why He Returned
• (03:58) - CPA To Tech Journey
• (10:11) - Teaching Future Accountants
• (12:46) - Understanding Verification Tax
• (15:38) - Building Trustworthy AI
• (18:21) - Humans In The Loop
• (21:19) - How Finance Jobs Shift
• (24:07) - Telemetry And Outliers
• (26:42) - AP Automation With AI
• (27:18) - Free OCR Changes AP
• (28:19) - Glass Box Versus Black Box
• (28:58) - IDC Trust Research
• (30:43) - Audit Trails Matter
• (31:32) - Teaching AI Fundamentals
• (33:51) - Chatbots Need Controls
• (36:45) - Differentiating ERP Trust
• (38:48) - Nonprofit Audit Agent
• (40:03) - Explaining AI At Scale
• (43:53) - Fiction In Training Data
• (46:42) - Six Month Agent Marketplaces
• (49:40) - Key Takeaways And Wrap

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In the second half of our conversation with Sage CTO Aaron Harris, Emily, Doug, and Matt set the tech talk aside to hear his origin story, from turning down investors for his own construction accounting software to joining Intacct as its first full-time developer just before the dot-com crash. Aaron explains how he ended up carrying the founder title after the company shrank from about 90 employees to 22, why selling to Sage beat going public in 2017, and why, after 26 years in the same job, his best career advice is to keep riding the wave you’re on.

Connect with the Hosts:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilybmadere
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattlescault
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dlewis715

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Sage CTO Aaron Harris joins Matt, Emily, and Doug, for the first of a two-part conversation, starting with the personal AI agents he runs at home (several named after Blade Runner characters) and what people should look at before handing an AI their personal data. He also explains why he thinks the SaaSpocalypse isn't coming for Sage Intacct, why AI agents need a platform like Intacct as much as human users do, and why developers who are 10 times more productive should mean 10 times more software instead of fewer jobs.

• (00:00) - Episode Preview
• (00:56) - Note Taking Habits
• (02:12) - Building Personal Agents
• (03:40) - Blade Runner Inspired Names
• (06:38) - Holmes Memory Agent
• (07:34) - Privacy And Data Control
• (10:04) - Sage Copilot Naming
• (12:17) - AI Team And Code Legacy
• (15:19) - SaaSpocalypse And Platforms
• (18:57) - AI Workforce Reality Check
• (22:12) - Sage Strategy And Stability
• (24:39) - Founder Advice And Closing

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