The AI Ledger: CLA Bets on 'Native' Intelligence to Transform Accounting

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – July 21, 2026

In a move that signals a tectonic shift in the professional services landscape, accounting giant CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP) has announced it is co-building a proprietary artificial intelligence platform with tech firm Digits. This isn't just another software upgrade; it's a foundational bet that the future of accounting lies not in adding AI features to old systems, but in building new ones from the ground up with AI at their core. The collaboration aims to deploy a CLA-trained AI to thousands of businesses over the next three years, potentially setting a new competitive benchmark for an entire industry.

CLA, one of the largest firms in the nation with over $2 billion in annual revenue, is taking a deliberate step away from the well-trodden path of incremental tech adoption. Instead of licensing a generic AI tool, the firm is investing its own institutional knowledge to train a bespoke model on Digits' AI-native platform. The goal is to digitize and scale decades of human judgment, delivering insights previously reserved for the largest corporations to the small and mid-sized businesses that form the backbone of the economy.

"This moment demands a clear point of view: AI should not belong only to the biggest companies and the biggest firms with the largest budgets," said Jen Leary, CEO of CLA. "Most of the companies we evaluated had tacked AI onto decades-old software. Digits started over and built the right technological solution for the AI era." The initiative’s tagline captures the ambition: "Financials in your pocket. Advisors in your corner.™"

The 'AI-Native' Divide

The strategic core of this partnership lies in the distinction between 'AI-native' and 'AI-integrated' systems—a technical divide with profound business implications. For years, established software providers have been retrofitting their legacy platforms with AI capabilities, effectively 'tacking on' features like automated data entry or basic analytics. While useful, these additions are often constrained by the underlying architecture of systems designed decades ago.

An AI-native platform, by contrast, is architected from its very foundation around machine learning. Data structures, processing logic, and user interfaces are all designed to leverage and feed AI models continuously. According to industry analysts, this approach allows for a more holistic and dynamic form of intelligence. Instead of performing isolated tasks, the AI is woven into the entire workflow, capable of identifying complex patterns, detecting anomalies in real-time, and generating predictive insights from the raw financial ledger.

This is the technology that Digits, a venture-backed startup, brings to the table. By providing the AI-native chassis, it allows CLA to focus on providing the fuel: its deep well of specialized knowledge. As CLA CEO Jen Leary noted, the decision to partner with Digits was a conscious choice to embrace a forward-looking architecture. This move suggests a growing recognition among industry leaders that to truly harness AI, you cannot simply layer it on top of old foundations; you must build new ones.

Mining Institutional Judgment as a Resource

In the global economy, we are accustomed to thinking of resources as tangible assets—minerals, energy, and capital. CLA's strategy recasts this concept for the information age. The firm's most valuable, and previously least scalable, resource is the collective institutional judgment of its 9,000 professionals, honed over decades of work with clients across countless industries.

The collaboration with Digits is an attempt to mine this resource. Every transaction a CLA professional reviews, categorizes, or corrects within the Digits platform will serve as a training signal, sharpening the proprietary AI model. The system is designed to learn from the nuanced decisions that define expert judgment—distinguishing a legitimate but unusual expense from a potential error, or identifying an emerging trend from background noise. In doing so, CLA is creating a digital reflection of its own expertise, one that can be deployed at machine speed and scale.

"Business owners depend on their accountants for financial judgment, guidance, and peace of mind," explained Jeff Seibert, founder and CEO of Digits. "By encoding decades of judgment and knowledge into a firm model that benefits clients, Digits empowers CLA's professionals to spend their time where it matters most."

Of course, training an AI on sensitive client financial data raises immediate and critical questions about security and privacy. Success will depend on implementing ironclad data governance, including robust encryption, anonymization techniques where possible, and strict, auditable access controls. Gaining and maintaining client trust will require absolute transparency and explicit consent regarding how their data is used to train the models that, in turn, will serve them.

The Accountant's New Frontier

This technological leap inevitably reshapes the role of the human accountant. The initiative is not aimed at replacement, but at elevation. By automating the high-volume, repetitive tasks that consume a significant portion of an accountant's time—data entry, reconciliation, transaction categorization—the platform is designed to free up professionals to focus on interpretation, strategy, and client relationships.

The accountant of tomorrow, in this model, is less of a historical record-keeper and more of a forward-looking strategic advisor. They are the human interface for the AI's insights, contextualizing data, advising on complex decisions, and helping business owners navigate their financial future. This shift addresses a growing demand from businesses, who increasingly expect their accountants to be proactive partners rather than reactive compliance officers.

"This is a fundamentally unique experience for our clients, allowing our professionals to spend more time helping clients get value from their financial data and make informed business decisions," said Josh Enger, CLA's chief outsourcing officer. The focus moves from the 'what' of the financial numbers to the 'so what' and 'what's next.' For the profession itself, this represents a significant evolution, demanding new skills in data analysis, strategic thinking, and client advisory, potentially making the field more attractive to a new generation of talent.

Setting a Benchmark for the SMB Market

The initial proving ground for this ambitious project is CLA's Client Accounting and Advisory Services (CAAS) practice. This is no small testbed. The practice represents roughly 15% of the firm's over $2 billion in annual revenue and is the largest of its kind in the industry, serving tens of thousands of privately held businesses. By starting here, CLA is making a clear statement: this advanced technology is not just for the corporate elite.

While the 'Big Four' firms have made massive investments in AI, their focus has often been on custom solutions for their large enterprise clients. CLA's strategy appears aimed at democratizing access to this level of financial intelligence, bringing it to the small and mid-sized business (SMB) market that has historically been underserved by cutting-edge technology. This move could create significant competitive pressure on other mid-tier and regional firms that rely on more traditional service models.

If the CLA-Digits partnership succeeds in delivering on its promise, it could establish a new industry standard. Clients may soon expect real-time financial dashboards, proactive anomaly detection, and data-driven strategic advice as a baseline offering. Firms that fail to evolve from manual, rearview-mirror accounting to an AI-augmented, forward-looking advisory model may find themselves struggling to compete in this new landscape.