Tech news: Melancon to chair new Caseware advisory board

Accounting and auditing analytics software company Caseware announced the formation of its Global Advisory Board and named former AICPA president and CEO Barry Melancon as its new chair. Caseware's Global Advisory Board will bring together top industry experts to help shape the company's vision. As chair, Melancon will collaborate with industry leaders to provide strategic guidance. Melancon, who recently retired as head of the AICPA after decades of leading the organization, has not retired to a tropical beach sipping cocktails but instead remains deeply involved with the profession. He also joined Top 25 accounting firm Baker Tilly as an advisor and Baker Tilly International as its first non-executive director and chair-elect. The announcement comes a few months after the appointment of Intuit veteran David Marquis as Caseware's new CEO. He expressed great confidence in Melancon in his new role. 

Financial operations platform provider Tesorio launched Supplier Portals Agent, an AI-powered agent for managing supplier portal invoicing. Supplier Portals Agent autonomously manages portal-based invoicing from submission to payment tracking. It detects invoices for submission, matches them to purchase orders, and submits them to the right portals without manual effort. It also flags missing data and errors before submission to prevent rejections and delays; monitors invoice statuses across portals like Coupa and Ariba; and provides a single source for tracking invoices, performance metrics and portal interactions. The Supplier Portals Agent Early Access Program is now open at tesorio.com.

A survey from compliance solutions provider Drata found that professionals believe AI will create a seismic change in their practices, with literally 100% of companies surveyed expecting employees to increase their use of AI technologies in the next 12 months. At the same time, just 10% are confident they are completely prepared for this change. A full 44% of the respondents believe that AI will lead to a massive or complete overhaul of the GRC function itself as a result of AI. In addition, 73% of the respondents expect to see the shift in the next six months or sooner. Of these, 73% expect to see the shift in the next six months or sooner. However, once this change does happen, many believe it will be positive: 46% think AI will improve compliance, 44% believe it will increase data security, and 42% think it will enhance risk management. Leadership is the most optimistic about these positive effects: C-level and senior executives are more hopeful about AI's impact (42%) in comparison to mid-level employees (30%).