Accountancy Insights

ICAEW

In this podcast series from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), a panel of guests dissect the latest headlines and provide expert analysis on the top stories from across the world of business, finance and accountancy

  1. Aug 4

    EY’s backing AI agents; and a new form of insider trading

    In this episode, EY UK Digital Assurance Leader Richard Harrison joins us to talk about how the firm is using AI agents in audit. How do they divide tasks between people and tech?  And how are they understanding and mitigating risk? Then, Polly Tsang, ICAEW’s Senior Financial Services Regulatory Manager tells us about Prediction Markets. While you may not have heard of them, they’re opening up a whole new market for Insider Traders. Polly explains how they work, where the risks lie and what needs to happen to minimise them. Links EY principles of responsible AI - https://www.ey.com/en_uk/insights/ai/principles-for-ethical-and-responsible-ai?channel=TxtV-BPrediction markets spark insider trading fears - https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/09/prediction-markets-spark-insider-trading-fears-how-firms-are-responding.htmlMicrosoft bans prediction markets - https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-prediction-markets-employee-policy-2026-7Prediction markets are minting a new type of insider trader - https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2026-polymarket-traders-who-knew-the-future/Google worker charged with using internal data to make $1.2m - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c052yv259jvoICAEW CPD record - https://www.icaew.com/membership/cpd/online-cpd-record Host: Philippa Lamb  Guests:   Richard Harrison, UK Digital Assurance Leader, EYPolly Tsang, ICAEW’s Senior Financial Services Regulatory Manager Producer: Natalie Chisholm  Series Lead:  Mark Rowland  Episode first published: 4 August  Podcast recorded: 27 July

  2. Jul 14

    Behind the Numbers: Is there really a growing AI bubble?

    The question of whether an ‘AI bubble’ is going to burst doesn’t seem to be going away. There’s a compelling case to be made on both sides of the argument, with the growing demand for AI tools, and the huge amount of money and resources needed to deliver on that demand.  So what are the actual risks of an AI bubble, and what would that mean for the tools that businesses and firms are investing in right now? We interrogate the various indicators of whether there might be a bubble or not, and discuss the considerations and failsafes that businesses should consider when adopting AI software. Links Data centre planning policy - https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-10315/CBP-10315.pdf Gas use in data centres - https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/dramatic-increase-in-data-centre-developers-wanting-gas-grid-connections-21-04-2026/ Water use for data centres - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/688cb407dc6688ed50878367/Water_use_in_data_centre_and_AI_report.pdf AI company IPOs - https://www.blackrock.com/us/financial-professionals/insights/mega-ai-ipos-and-index-inclusion Increasing demand for AI – Forbes - https://www.forbes.com/advisor/uk/business/software/uk-artificial-intelligence-ai-statistics/ AI boom leaves data centre demand beyond supply - https://datacentrenews.uk/story/ai-boom-to-leave-data-centre-demand-far-above-supply ICAEW CPD record - https://my.icaew.com/cpdrecord Host Philippa Lamb Guests Tom Pugh, Chief Economist, RSM UK Tasmin Lockwood, tech and environment journalist Hothyfa Elbeera, Senior Software Engineer, Claimsgate, MoJ  Producer Natalie Chisholm Series Lead Mark Rowland  Episode first published: 15 July Podcast recorded: 08 June

    Behind the Numbers: Is there really a growing AI bubble?

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In this podcast series from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), a panel of guests dissect the latest headlines and provide expert analysis on the top stories from across the world of business, finance and accountancy

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