Steve Soter: 84% of executives would trust AI on annual reports

TheCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media's livestreaming studio, interviewed Soter at Workiva's Amplify event alongside Krista Case and Alison Kosik. He framed AI in financial reporting as a different flavor of the same risk he handled as a former controller, when knowing where data came from, who touched it, and how it was reviewed and approved was already essential. In his account, AI doesn't change that need; it makes it more important, because accelerating a process that lacks those controls turns speed into a liability.

The tensions Soter described run in two directions. Companies are drawn to AI for reporting work, yet many are automating before repairing the information foundations underneath. He suggested AI might itself help clean up unreliable records and lift the 11% figure, while cautioning that AI is only as good as the data it uses. Oversight, in his view, is not a temporary precaution while the technology matures but a core part of the reporting process.

The stakes look likely to sit with the executive who signs off rather than the tool that drafts, since responsibility stays human even when machines complete more of the work. How much of that willingness to trust AI translates into practice may depend on whether traceable data and documented approvals keep pace with the appetite for automation.