AI: Accounting Intelligence | The Power of People

In this episode, Larry Quinlan, former Global CIO of Deloitte and current Fortune 500 board member, shares his journey from a small Caribbean island to the upper echelons of corporate leadership. Larry discusses the importance of mentorship, the power of effective communication, and how to navigate career transitions in the fast-paced world of technology and professional services. His unique perspective on leadership, the role of accounting firms, and the impact of emerging technologies like AI provides valuable insights for professionals at all career stages.

• (00:00) - Introduction to Larry Quinlan's Journey
• (01:06) - From St. Kitts to Global CIO: Larry's Early Years and Career Shift
• (04:06) - The Impact of Roots and Growth: Insights from St. Kitts to Deloitte
• (07:05) - Ambition and Leadership: The Path to Global CIO
• (11:46) - Embracing People and Change: Key to Leadership Success
• (13:31) - Navigating Career Pivots: From New York to Global Influence
• (21:22) - From Being Hands on to Becoming a Leader of a Team
• (25:23) - Inside the Boardroom: Leadership and Communication at the Top
• (36:19) - The Role Technology Plays in Accounting
• (44:01) - Looking Forward: Personal and Professional Excitement

Learn more about Trullion

Connect with Larry Quinlan
https://www.linkedin.com/in/larryquinlan

Connect with Isaac Heller
https://www.linkedin.com/in/isaacheller

Get NASBA Approved CPE or IRS Approved CE
Launch the course on Earmark to get free CPE/CE for listening to this episode.

Review
Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser

Subscribe
Subscribe to the AI: Accounting Intelligence podcast in your favorite podcast app!

This podcast is a production of the Earmark Media

The full transcript for this episode is available by clicking on the Transcript tab at the top of this page

Creators & Guests

Host

Isaac Heller

CEO @ Trullion | Modern Accounting Technology

Guest

Larry Quinlan

Former Global CIO of Deloitte and Current Fortune 500 Board Member

What is AI: Accounting Intelligence ?

Join Isaac Heller as he meets with leaders in the accounting technology space to discuss how AI and automation are transforming the accounting industry, how technology has evolved, and how AI can help accountants work more efficiently. You’ll also learn how accountants can embrace innovations to improve their careers and lives and get forward-thinking perspectives on where the accounting profession is headed when it comes to new technologies and AI!

There may be errors in spelling, grammar, and accuracy in this machine-generated transcript.

Isaac Heller: Hey, everyone, this is Isaac. I'm CEO at Trillian. And today on AI, accounting, intelligence. We'll be talking with real people about real things related to AI and the impact on the accounting industry. Stay tuned. Hey, everyone, welcome to Accounting Intelligence. I'm really excited today to talk to, uh, my new friend, Larry Quinlan. Um, Larry, it's a it's a pleasure [00:00:30] to speak with you today. Um, just quickly, for everyone on the line, uh, Larry is a fortune 500 board member, among many things. And, uh, was at Deloitte as CIO for over 30 years. Um, I won't go into the entire resume because I hope we'll learn a little bit about you today. So thanks, Larry, for spending the time.

Larry Quinlan: My pleasure. Really glad to be here.

Isaac Heller: Larry, if there's if there's maybe one thing that I would hope we all get out of this today, it's a little bit about leadership. Um, you know, and [00:01:00] a little bit of growth and some of the things you've learned along the way. So I guess maybe just just get us started. Where are you today as we're talking and maybe tell us a little bit about your journey, starting with those days leading up to Deloitte and a little bit beyond.

Larry Quinlan: Yeah. So my journey started many, many years ago on a tiny little island called Saint Kitts, 30, 68mi², 35,000 people. Actually quite a quite a little Paradise [00:01:30] in many ways. Uh, that did undergrad at the University of the West Indies and decided to pursue an MBA, uh, at Baruch College in New York. I think it was at Baruch. I got the technology bug. I was going down the business path. My dad was an inveterate, uh, entrepreneur. And I got the technology [00:02:00] bug, uh, during my MBA, decided to do a few more technology courses, and I got a job coming out of school in sales. Really? And decided this was not my life's calling. And, you know, all summer long, I'm supposed to report to the sales job. And every day I kept thinking, this is not what I was meant to do. And of course, I kept procrastinating. How do I tell people I don't want to show up for this job that I've accepted? How [00:02:30] do I tell the school that I don't want to show up for this job that I accepted? And one day I, you know, I got up the courage to do it. And yeah, as predicted, everybody was pretty pissed off.

Larry Quinlan: So I was on my own, having to turn down a job that was guaranteed and made quite good money in those days. And and go pound the pavement in New York City looking for a role that [00:03:00] I wanted. And it felt pretty discouraging during during that process, I think family thought I was crazy. Everybody thought I was crazy, but for some reason it felt right. And I learned a lesson that I really needed to listen to that inner voice. When it tells you something and tells it to you again and again every day, and finally found a job. I think it paid about half what I was going to make in that sales job, and it was this combination of technology and operations, and [00:03:30] despite it paying just over half, somehow it felt right in the inner voice said, that's that's the one. And that's how I got into technology. From there, I moved into, uh, was ToysRUs at the time but merged with Deloitte, Haskins and Sells and we can talk through those stories, but, you know, ultimately became global chief information officer. And now I sit on a number of boards [00:04:00] having retired.

Isaac Heller: Fantastic. And Larry, you gave us a good early preview that we can unpack. Um, you know, I think it's amazing to hear about you coming from Saint Kitts. You said about 38,000 people. You know, I'm from Texas, big state. Uh, I went to the big state school in Austin. Um, I did later live in New York City. But maybe, um, how do you think coming from a, um, a small town, a small country place, [00:04:30] or maybe even a unique place kind of colored your attitude and work ethic or maybe some some kind of special traits that were instilled in you that made you unique and differentiated as you came up to New York and then Deloitte.

Larry Quinlan: I think there are pros and cons. If you unpack the whole Saint Kitts thing small, so you get to meet and know a lot of people, many of whom are invested in your success. [00:05:00] I really feel that my teachers in school were invested in my success. Um, my friends and church were invested in my success. My family's friends were invested in a way that perhaps you might not get in Dallas, Texas or something like that. So I felt I was surrounded by very supportive people. People who, when I visit, will still want to know exactly how I'm doing and take pride [00:05:30] in, in my success. So I think that's a huge advantage. I'm a minority and I grew up in a country where the chief of police looked like me. The pastor looked like me, the school principal looked like me. The prime minister of the country looked like me. And I do think that gives you a bit of confidence. So I think that's an advantage as well. Despite being a minority, [00:06:00] I think there is a level of confidence that's built when you recognize that in all the positions of power, people who look like you can actually achieve those and do well. So that's an advantage. You know, the disadvantages are it's it's a really tidy place. So a lot of the sophistication, a lot of the capabilities, a lot of the opportunities that exist in Texas or in New York really don't exist [00:06:30] there. And you really have to think fast, move on your feet to really understand what's going on. So that's a disadvantage. So there are advantages and disadvantages. But I wouldn't trade it for the world. Growing up in Texas was for me amazing.

Isaac Heller: That's awesome. And I get this sense that the contrast was very interesting to maybe the small community of Saint Kitts and then the the big buildings and melting pot of New York, and just having that superpower [00:07:00] of knowing maybe both sides of the, of the coin. So that's really interesting. You know, I you said think fast. And as you started to go into your career or maybe even going back to when you were a kid or in grade school. Talk talk to us about ambition. Do you think that you had a sense of ambition where you really wanted to be, you know, a, you know, the global CIO of Deloitte? One day, Larry, you sit on the Board of Service now in jail and booking in these incredible [00:07:30] global companies. Did you aim for that from day one? Maybe it was day five. Maybe it was a point of your career, or maybe you just grew an ambitious how do you think about kind of like you said, that inner voice as it relates to ambition?

Larry Quinlan: I think I'm ambitious, but not in that way. I didn't ever set out to be CIO. I didn't, at the beginning of my career, know that I want to sit on boards of directors. This came through exposure. [00:08:00] You know, there's a saying you you can't be what you can't see. Right. And I one of the things I love to do is work with nonprofits and really think about underprivileged kids and adults, and people can't be what they can't see. Right. Which is why I went back to the advantage of going up things. I could see people who looked like me in positions of power and excellence So I [00:08:30] could aspire to that. I could see that every day. But I didn't know what a CIO was. I didn't go into the organization thinking, one day I'm going to be the Deloitte Global CIO. I didn't really know what the global CIO was or dead or any of those things. Those things came with time, I would say my ambition is really around a couple of things. One, whatever I'm doing, [00:09:00] I want to do it really well. I want to put my stamp on it. I remember listening to a speaker one day, and he was espousing the whole principle of two plus two equals five, and I adopted that. The whole notion is if you're involved it's two plus two going to equal two. Are you going to add your magic to it. That two plus two equals five that you can actually accomplish more than [00:09:30] the science of management says is possible.

Larry Quinlan: And I think that was a quote from General Colin Powell. And I've always been ambitious that way. I feel like if I'm involved in something, I need to bring something special. I need to do something more. I need to figure out how to get something extra done. And and that's the ambition. I also believe I have this responsibility to enjoy what I'm doing. I, I'm one of these lucky [00:10:00] people who's enjoyed his career, like for the past 30 something years, I've enjoyed it. I've gotten up in the morning. I don't get me wrong, if you give me a beer or two, I could complain about every organization I've been a part of with the best of them. But the truth is, I enjoyed my roles. I enjoyed all of my roles, and I think that was an advantage for me. I didn't get a feeling defeated. I didn't get up. Feeling [00:10:30] dispirited. I got a feeling there's something we can get done today. So that was another ambition. Have fun with it. Enjoy it. Great. A few eggs, uh, you know, make the place better than I found. It was always an ambition of mine. And then to scout and look at what the opportunities are and to prepare myself for taking advantage of those opportunities. I always had [00:11:00] this view. No one owed me an opportunity, nor was I entitled to remain in a current position. You know, as long as I wanted to. I remember once we were talking about succession, and I had an old boss who said, you know, Larry, you just need to remember that I'm going to pick you a successor, not you.

Larry Quinlan: Right. So in general, I've had this ambition to accomplish these things, but it wasn't a strategic ambition. [00:11:30] That said, one day I'll be global CIO. But as I climbed the ladder, there was this notion of really doing a good job. But I also learned a couple of things which I think helped me. That was a young and cocky manager. I used to think, you know, people existed to tell me how smart I [00:12:00] was or people existed, to agree with all the things that I wanted to get done, and you begin to realize that's not how the world works. And that's a really ridiculous approach to thinking about things. And and I remember getting this epiphany. It wasn't an epiphany in one moment. I think it was an epiphany over time that people really, really mattered, that people were the source of all [00:12:30] that was good and lasting in the world, and that it was through collaboration with people, being inspired by people, getting help from people, helping others, inspiring others. This is where the true magic occurred, and I think that was a turning point that helped propel my career. When I realized I was actually interested in people, [00:13:00] that I really, actually cared about people, and I cared about what they thought, and that I wanted to collaborate with them. And the old, young notions of just looking good all the time made zero sense.

Larry Quinlan: I think it really changed me in unknown and dramatic ways, and changed the way that I approach leadership and change the way that I approach things, and I think it had a profound impact. [00:13:30] So a year after I joined Touche Ross at the time, for example, I got called into a room and said, we have good news and bad news, right? Uh, the good news, we're merging with Deloitte Haskins and Sells, and we're going to be one of the largest professional services firms ever. Well, what's the bad news? Well, the bad news is we're moving our technology organization from New York City to Hermitage, Tennessee. I [00:14:00] had no idea where Hermitage, Tennessee was. I mean, in retrospect, they could have said Nashville because it's a suburb of Nashville. But they said Hermitage, Tennessee. I had no clue where that was. But the young, cocky kid in me said, well, there's no way I'm leaving New York City to go to Hermitage, Tennessee. And I had a mentor, my boss, who actually called me into a room and really worked with me to see the value of a senior [00:14:30] role in a merged organization, and really encouraged me to think about it, and actually went to bat for me in the organization, making a few things happen until I got to the point where I just have to do this. Next thing I knew, I was house hunting in Hermitage, Tennessee, moving out of it, and it showed the power of people without that person taking an interest in me.

Larry Quinlan: I [00:15:00] wasn't even smart enough to ask for that help, taking an interest in me and showing me what was possible. You know, that propelled my career to the next level. And a few years later, I had become a bit disillusioned and I went to my then boss, a different boss, and said, look, I miss New York. I want to go back to New York. I found a job. I think I want [00:15:30] to go. And that boss again decided to collaborate with me rather than just saying, hey, Larry, don't let the door hit you on your way out or, you know, here's a gold watch, he said. What would you like to do if you stayed at the Luckin? And I was so touched by that act that I actually went home and I wrote a memo. I don't think they were expecting a memo, but and I outlined a couple of different things that I thought would be really interesting [00:16:00] at Deloitte. And within a few days I was talking to a partner in Atlanta whom I'm still close to and whom I still think the world of. The next thing I knew, that opportunity had opened up. I worked with him. We shaped that opportunity, and I was so impressed by him and by the organization that, again, I decided not to pursue that outside [00:16:30] opportunity and to continue at Deloitte in this new role, which ultimately I became the global CIO for Deloitte Consulting and became a partner in the firm.

Larry Quinlan: And again, it showed me that at a pivotal point in my career, someone had reached down. And when the opportunity for global chief information officer for all of Deloitte, uh, became available [00:17:00] again, in discussing it with the CEO of the US, the global CEO, you know, I became that leader and I believe I became that leader again because of people intervening to help. So sometimes I get a little full of myself, and all I have to do is think back on that story and realize that that every pivotal moment in my career, people reached out to help me even when I wasn't [00:17:30] smart enough to ask for that help. And one day I was in Chicago giving a speech to our tax partners and struggling to come up with a title for it. And and it dawned on me. How does a skinny black kid from an island of 35,000 people become the global chief information officer of one of the world's largest professional services firms? And the answer to that is [00:18:00] what I just discussed. People helped. So then I began to think through why? Why did they reach out and help? Why didn't they just help the person next to me? Why did they just go play golf and don't know? And it gave rise to two thoughts one, what kind of person do I need to be to attract that kind of help? And second, what obligation [00:18:30] does that impose upon me to help others the way that I received assistance?

Isaac Heller: That's I love it, Larry. And you know, it's it's interesting. You know, obviously those people along the way saw clearly saw something and enjoyed your presence. But there's so much to be said about putting yourself out there. I think there's a lot of people in an organization that will take an interest in you or anyone. [00:19:00] Um, but half of the battle is probably reaching out, whether it's by email or on the intercompany, you know, whatever they're doing these days, teams or slack or whatever it is, and seeing if someone will spend some time with you and and really casting that net and learning the different type of people that you get along with. Um, you mentioned Deloitte and Touche. Uh, a little bit of history, you know, and even even before that. That's great to hear. You know, I remember Deloitte and Touche. Now we've got Deloitte and the big four. Um, [00:19:30] I should also mention, you know, Larry and I will we'll dive a little bit into accounting firms today. But for the record, neither of us are CPAs. When you said two plus two equals five, I figured I should disclose that. You know, we we we both, uh, you know, operate, uh, in the world of technology, but obviously one foot in with the accounting and financial services and stuff like that. You know, you said something, um, along the way that I liked. You can't be [00:20:00] what you can't see. And I'm picturing that person that either we've all been or hopefully we will be one day. We're we're rising step by step. Whether it's our job, our church, our community or any type of role.

Isaac Heller: You know, at the beginning, when you do something, whether you're an engineer or an accountant, you're really hands on, right? You can see it all. Maybe it's on two screens, maybe it's on an invoice on one screen [00:20:30] and an Excel file on the other screen. But you can see it and you can touch it. And if you're an auditor, you're literally looking for that thing so you could see it. Then you go up and maybe you're a senior manager or a young partner, and you've got people that are doing the work and you're managing a team, right. And then you become a C level and you've got teams of teams and, you know, curious if you would even dip into the point where you become a board member and instead of that young person in an organization of tens of thousands of people, [00:21:00] you're above tens of thousands of people or, or helping coach that that C level. And as as you can see, Larry, you've got many of those board level members positions. So obviously you can't be, you know, fully immersed in each of those situations. You you can't be what you can't see, but you really have to figure out how to instill those leadership values through the organization. So maybe just walk us through the mindset, or maybe some of the breaking points or changing points between being that person who's hands on [00:21:30] rising the ladder, and then I personally want to know, how do you really get that influence going when you're when you're sitting above a large organization?

Larry Quinlan: That was a tough one for me. I was an individual contributor for so long. Although I was a manager, I was a hands on manager. I was involved in networking and software and project management and cyber and all of these things and really very hands on and tried to keep as current as [00:22:00] I possibly could. But you limit yourself at some point. This epiphany I talked about this maturation process where you realize that people are everything. That if you can't lead a team, then you've got to do absolutely everything yourself. And that is a nonstarter idea in a large organization. You must be able to influence people. Again, [00:22:30] I remember being in a seminar and I was so impressed with this gentleman. He asked us all to whether or not we were a people person, and he asked us to raise our hands. So some people raised their hands and he said, okay, the rest of you should just go home. Now if you're not a people person. There is no hope for you. And he just went on. He was being provocative, but he just went on to list the notion of, if you want to be an entrepreneur, you [00:23:00] got to sell to people, right? If you want to be a manager, you got to lead people. If you want to develop a product, you have to rely on people. Whatever you want to do, you have to rely on people. So the notion of not being a people person just didn't fly in his book. And I took that to heart. So I became a people person. And I found out that I loved it, that [00:23:30] I, that I actually care about people.

Larry Quinlan: I care about my team, I, I care about whether or not young people in my team were saving money in a 401 (K) nothing to do with the performance of their job. I just cared about them as people and I think that mattered a lot. I also felt that we had a responsibility to people. So when I said in my leadership team, I found myself asking questions [00:24:00] like, is the message we're putting out worthy of our team? Like, is it good enough for them to want to follow as opposed to how are we going to beat them up so that they can follow faster, or how can we tell them what to do? I found myself musing over this notion of are we worthy of followership? Like it's what we're doing and saying good enough that [00:24:30] people would want to do it and do it, even when we're not watching, when we're not in the room, that this message, this mission is good enough that people would say, I want to do that. I want to be a part of that. I want to be part of that team. And it helped to shape, because now I've matured from people need to do what I want them to do, to really asking myself, are we good enough for people to want [00:25:00] to follow us and do these things? And have we collaborated enough that people really feel that they are a part of this mission that we have developed? And that was became really, really important to me and part of my leadership ethos.

Isaac Heller: It's very interesting. So what's it like in a fortune 500 boardroom or really any [00:25:30] boardroom? You want to say something or influence something or answer something? I mean, is it, you know, is it a group of people? And each of them can say one sentence and that moves mountains. Uh, is it more combative? Is it guarded? Is a are a lot of the discussion topics spoken about beforehand? So you're not airing out the dirty laundry in front? I mean, or maybe just in the C-suite. What are those [00:26:00] high level meetings like in terms of figuring out how to influence the people around you and then obviously influence the organization.

Larry Quinlan: Well, every board is different. So let me run through quickly a few different scenarios. So first my leadership team. So as global CIO I've got a global leadership team. And thinking through the culture of that, the idea was that nothing should just come in front of the leadership team. That just surprised us. Like, how could there [00:26:30] be a presentation and no one here knows anything about it? No one's talked about it. No one's taken the temperature. No one's looked for the fatal flaws. Like that was not a good use of the organization. So encourage people to really socialize the topic. Do I know about it as the leader of that team? Are the relevant people poised to support it? Have we figured out [00:27:00] where the opposition is and why? Have we done anything about it? And the idea wasn't to make the group a rubber stamp. It was to make the discussions far more effective because everybody's been grounded in the topic, has a point of view, and now we can come together, collaborate, and decide what we want to do as opposed to it's just a learning experience when you come into the room. Now I think about myself presenting to my [00:27:30] board and trying to figure out how to utilize some of those lessons, and it was the same thing, really picking which board members I needed to socialize the topic with and which ones we would say they're kind of busy.

Larry Quinlan: I know they probably socialized on some other topics, but if I get these three, we should be okay and really thinking about it and then learning how to present to the board, recognizing [00:28:00] that communications is such an incredible thing. I'm going to digress from the board stuff and say I learned my communications lessons when I was CIO, and I had this brilliant idea that I wanted to communicate to everybody in the firm and tell them all about our wonderful technology, strategy, etc. and it was a dud. Nobody read it. Nobody responded. It was a [00:28:30] nonevent and really had to go back and think through why that was. He got the feeling that I was telling people what I wanted them to know, not necessarily what they cared about and what they wanted to know. So I did a little bit of work and thought about it and realize people are really intensely interested in their computing platform, their laptops, their phones. It sounds kind [00:29:00] of pedestrian to some people, but you realize people want to know that you care about them. I don't know who to attribute this phrase to, but you know, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And we sent out a message about the improving the laptop. We're moving. Uh, you know, the time you hold the laptop from three years to two? Uh, we're doing better laptops. [00:29:30]

Larry Quinlan: Oh, by the way, we're going to give you free iPhones. And I remember, just tongue in cheek, as a joke, instead of signing the message. Uh, chief Chief Information officer, I signed the chief iPhone. Officer. We got hundreds of responses. People just lighting up the bulletin boards, sending messages. I think they just felt, wow, somebody cares [00:30:00] about the stuff we use every day. And now it was a mix of communicating with people about things they had to know. They wanted to know. I wanted them to know, but keeping it human. And I learned a lesson. I learned lessons about communications that day. One of the things I realized is when I communicate with someone, I already know everything that I'm telling them, which by definition [00:30:30] means I am completely irrelevant in the communications process. It's all about them. It's all about what information they receive, how they want to receive it, what point in their life they are when they receive it, and how predisposed they are to changing based on the information they receive. I am irrelevant. It's all about the people I'm communicating with and learning that lesson made me way more humble. [00:31:00] It made me tailor messages to the audience, not to my satisfaction. So back to presenting to the board. It was again, I've got to present to the board the way the board can consume information, not the way I think it should be done.

Larry Quinlan: And that was cutting out a lot of stuff that I thought was important, and recognizing that I needed to ensure that my message got through, [00:31:30] that people consumed it, that we got the desired effect. Change in behavior was the result. And I take that lesson to the boards that I sit on now, and every board is different. Some boards, people go at it all the time and they. Some boards listen to the presentation and then they probe very thoughtfully about various areas of the presentation. Some boards let you get through it. Some boards ask questions before you even get started. So what [00:32:00] I found is culture of boards, everything. They're all very different in the way they approach, but it all comes from an understanding of the role of the board, which is to manage risk and therefore, whichever approach they take to question, they're trying to uncover risks. They're trying to understand whether those risks are mitigated, whether there's a process in place, whether or not the strategy of the organization is effective, and [00:32:30] being implemented appropriately with the right safeguards, and that there's trust in management. All boards want to do those things, but they approach it in very, very different and individual ways, depending on the culture of the board, the predisposition of the chair or the lead director, They're different.

Isaac Heller: I love it. Um, so, you know, I'm sure. I'm sure you've got some stories [00:33:00] in those boardrooms. We'll save it for another day. I mean, one one thing I know that helped me along the way was recording myself when communicating or practicing for someone else who knew me. Because, again, you know, you already know, as you said, you already know everything that you're telling them. Sometimes it's nice to hear yourself and see if you really know it or how you sound when you explain it. So I love that. And I'm I'm sure you could deploy it in many, many places.

Larry Quinlan: I, you know, people say, well, Larry, you've [00:33:30] done hundreds of speeches and that's true. And I tell people, but I practice, right? Yeah. It can't just leave it, uh, or take it for granted. I practice, and I remember I was coaching someone and they were doing a big presentation, and I said, you got to practice. You got to put it in front of the mirror. They looked at me like a grown person. Why would I? I don't have to do that. I said, let me tell you a story. I was asked several months ago [00:34:00] to present an award, um, a lifetime achievement award to someone at a charity fundraising dinner. And I had 60s to do the presentation, and I told them that was harder than most. I practiced that I was in front of a mirror. I timed myself because I wanted to do this person justice. It didn't [00:34:30] want to just go up and say, ah, I'm very pleased to present this lifetime achievement award to X and, and um, in this recognizes a lifetime of hard work and, uh, congratulations. I wanted it to be more impactful than that, but how can you be impactful in 60s? It required thinking about it. It required writing down a few points. It required crossing it out. That doesn't work. That's not going to go over in 60s and thinking through that and then [00:35:00] packaging it and practicing it. And after I'd explained that to this person, you know, they had a really new appreciation for what it takes to actually communicate well, rather than simply saying, well, well, there is a good communicator. So he is an advantage. He he just does it. No, it it takes work and you've got to put in the work. And if you really value your audience and the impact that you can have on the audience, you [00:35:30] will put work in to the communications rather than just winging it.

Isaac Heller: Very good. Did you ever do Toastmasters or any speaking clubs?

Larry Quinlan: I did not do Toastmasters, but growing up in Saint Kitts, I was actually part of the debating society and I found that incredibly useful. And it was even more useful when you had to argue the side that you didn't believe right, and you had to go full bore to [00:36:00] convince judges of something that you just didn't believe at all. I thought that was pretty cool.

Isaac Heller: That's awesome. Oh, the debate society. Yeah, I did, I did Toastmasters, and I really, you know, would encourage anyone, if they can get into some of these group settings and practice, everyone's there to learn a little bit more. Um, so, Larry, we'll end on a couple topics, um, really around the intersection of, of accounting and technology, [00:36:30] um, which hopefully we both know a couple things about. And I guess it would I would start by saying, you know, you you witnessed three decades at Deloitte and Touche and all of the other names, you know, in New York and Hermitage and Hermitage, Hermitage and Atlanta and, um, to this day, if someone asks you in one sentence or couple sentences, what does an accounting firm do or what do [00:37:00] they provide for the world, how do you characterize that?

Larry Quinlan: Well, the first thing I would say is accounting firms have many purposes. Today's accounting firms provide not only audit and attest services, but they also provide financial advisory services. They provide consulting services, they provide tax [00:37:30] services. So we use the term an accounting firm, but it really is home to.

Larry Quinlan: An.

Larry Quinlan: Amazing array of services. And I think executed in a high quality manner. So that's the first point I would make. Second, if you break this down and you move into the audit function of the firms and of course I am most familiar with Deloitte. That's where I grew up. Uh, [00:38:00] Deloitte to me is an amazing place, one where I was free to really grow and and trusted with opportunities that I still think shaped who I am, and leaders who showed me what it was like to actually lead people, manage businesses and truly effective ways. The audit business is indispensable [00:38:30] to when it comes to assuring the integrity of the financial markets. Right. That's an essential element of audit. Investors rely on this attestation to ensure that the financial statements of enterprises are accurate, and I think without that it becomes a free for all and it becomes far more dangerous [00:39:00] to invest. So this is a business that is absolutely essential from my point of view. And technology has always played a leading role in the transformation of this business. Yeah, I joined Deloitte. I'm showing my age. But, you know, I joined Deloitte in 1988 and, you know, those big luggable Compaq [00:39:30] computers were already showing up. Right. There was IBM, PC, XTS and ATS with floppy disks with WordStar on them. Right. So there's always been this early adoption of technology in the firm and in, in the big eight, now big four at the time, which is helped ensure that quality audits are possible and cost effective.

Isaac Heller: And [00:40:00] then um, in terms of technology, it's a broad term. And, you know, you talked a lot about people, how people really matter, you know, and people are everything. And, you know, the the accounting firms are very almost completely reliant on the people. Right? In addition to all the great technology and resources that's within the building. Um, you know, today the buzzword is artificial intelligence. [00:40:30] I always like to joke that sounds different than human intelligence, although maybe that's just a marketing, uh, you know, issue they need to overcome. Um, I like to, to think back, um, from a technology perspective and kind of these big generational shifts I think about really the, the classic database. Right. Db and then even moving to cloud. Also mobile. And it seems like AI artificial intelligence could [00:41:00] potentially be one of these shifts. Now on one hand we could say there's nothing new under the sun, right? People are everything and AI is just automation, which is everything is like, you know, you mentioned Moore's Law earlier, right? Everything is just getting more efficient. It's a it's a the example of the same thing in a new format. On the other hand, people could make the case that this is going to fundamentally change [00:41:30] the way that services firms operate. Do you have a do you have a perspective there? I'm sure a lot of people are asking you these days how you think about it.

Larry Quinlan: Just one guy's.

Larry Quinlan: Point of view. I don't think it will fundamentally change the way audit firms operate. We have a way of thinking everything's going to fundamentally change the way we operate. I'd like to think more in terms of these technologies, improve [00:42:00] the way we operate and from time to time create profound change. But very often these are improvements in what we do. They reduce cost or they create a new business model which increase revenue. They create adjacent spaces. Technology has absolutely changed the way audits are created. You now see big [00:42:30] worldwide technology platforms that are far more capable than humans alone. Uh, doing the audits, the ingesting of data from electronic systems for the analysis of that data using big data technologies in cloud based platforms. These are all things that allow for more cost effective execution of audits, and it has created [00:43:00] significant change. But then we get to, you know, the pundits who would say, well, I will fundamentally change the way audits are executed. I don't know if I subscribe to that.

Larry Quinlan: But.I also don't know that I'm the world's foremost expert on AI or accounting models, and time will tell. I think it is more likely that this will create more quality, more opportunity, [00:43:30] more capability for the firms and for the benefit of the.Clients.

Larry Quinlan: Of the firm, rather than just a wholesale fundamental change in the Ottoman model would be my prediction. But again, it is the prediction. It is not the prediction of a preeminent expert. We'll see.

Isaac Heller: Well, I take it with a lot of weight and, uh, and, you know, I [00:44:00] appreciate the perspective. Um, last question, Larry. The first time we spoke, you were coming from a vacation really refreshed. What's something coming up this year? Maybe personal or professional, that you're really looking forward to, to doing something coming up that that you're pumped up about?

Larry Quinlan: Sure.I think two things. One, every year.I do a.A dad and daughters trip. I have two daughters and we [00:44:30] every year we try to fit in, uh, a really cool trip somewhere. We've done Israel and Jordan. We've done Japan and Korea. We did Rwanda. Uh, this year we're doing the Galapagos Islands. So I am really, really excited about that. I've never done it, neither of them either. So we're gonna we're gonna explore the Galapagos Islands for a few days, or I'm really looking forward to that. And spending time with [00:45:00] them is is truly precious to me. The second passion I have is boating. And, uh, we've got, uh, 3 or 4 trips to the Bahamas planned on the boat this summer. So looking forward to good weather and making that crossing and really spending some time in Bahamian waters. That will be cool.

Isaac Heller: Fantastic. Those are two beautiful places. And Larry, it was good seeing you again. It was good talking to you again. And I think everyone will appreciate [00:45:30] learning from you today about leadership and beyond.

Larry Quinlan: Same here. Thank you so much.