ABOUT THIS EPISODE
In this episode of Decoding Ethics, host Jeanne Viljoen sitsdown with Lucy Cohen, 2025 President of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) and founder and CEO of Mazuma, the UK's first subscription-based accountancy firm. Lucy's contribution to the profession has been recognized with the International Accounting Personality of the Year 2026, the Outstanding Contribution to Accountancy Award, and Barclays' Outstanding Contribution to Entrepreneurship, alongside her bestselling book, Forget the First Million.
Lucy didn't set out to disrupt accountancy. Without abackground in traditional practice, she kept seeing the same problems everywhere, data that didn't join up, work moved manually between systems, and built something to fix it. She only realized how disruptive it was when the first business advisor she saw told her to drop the idea. She was, in herwords, "young enough to think, nah."
Together, Lucy and Jeanne explore why that same outsider'sinstinct is exactly what small firms need to get right with AI — including Lucy's hardest ethical call: resisting board pressure on generative AI, and the one question she believes every accountant should ask before using it: would Ibe happy to stand up and back this myself?
Takeaways
· Lucy Cohen's journey from AAT apprentice to AAT President and her impact on the profession
· How small firms can be more agile in deploying AI and Technology
· The importance of professional judgment and ethics in AI adoption
· Practical steps for firms to experiment responsibly with AI
· The role of leadership in setting ethical standards for technology use
· Client trust and data confidentiality in AI-driven services
Chapter Titles
00:23 Introduction to Lucy Cohen
01:22 From Apprentice to Multimillion-Pound Firm: Lucy's Journey
05:01 Small Firms' Agility Advantage: Can AI Level the Playing Field?
07:03 Beyond Speed: Value-Based Pricing and Where AI Really Saves Time
10:18 AI as a Thought Partner: "Treat It Like a Team Member"
13:14 Balancing Professional Judgment and AI Skills in New Hires
15:36 Can Professional Judgment Be Taught? Context, Culture and AI's Limits
16:33 Experimenting Responsibly with AI While Maintaining Ethics
21:14 The Canary in the Boardroom: Deterministic AI and Human-in-the-Loop
28:18 Maintaining Client Trust and confidentiality With AI
33:24 Leading by Example: Setting Guardrails for AI Use
35:42 Practical First Steps for Small Firms Embracing AI
37:23 Advice for the Next Generation of Accountants Using AI
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