Sean Stein Smith - Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and Financial Services: Implications and Applications for Finance and Accounting Professionals

Future of Business and Finance

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Sean Stein Smith

Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and Financial Services

Implications and Applications for Finance and Accounting Professionals

Sean Stein Smith

Lehman College, CUNY, Bronx, NY, USA

ISSN 2662-2467 e-ISSN 2662-2475

Future of Business and Finance

ISBN 978-3-030-29760-2 e-ISBN 978-3-030-29761-9

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29761-9

Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

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This book is dedicated to my family, who continuously support and encourage me in all of my professional and academic endeavors.

Contents

Part IDefinitions, Overview & Information for Practitioners

Part IIApplications & Implications of Emerging Technology on Financial Services

About the Author

Sean Stein Smith

is an assistant professor of Accounting in the Economics and Business Department at Lehman College. His research includes blockchain applications, cryptoassets including but not limited to decentralized cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and other blockchain related applications. Additional areas of focus include robotic process automation and its impact on accounting, as well as how integrated financial reporting can change disclosure and reporting at various organizations. He has presented his work at dozens of national and international conferences, both practitioner and scholarly in nature, including the Annual Conference of the American Accounting Association on multiple occasions. Sean also serves on the Advisory Board of the Wall Street Blockchain Alliance, where he also leads the Accounting Working Group, focusing on the creation and dissemination of thought leadership connected to the blockchain and financial services space. He is also the chairperson on the New Jersey Society of CPAs Emerging Technology Interest Group, spearheading efforts and initiatives to more effectively integrate emerging technology tools into practice. Bringing this expertise to Lehman, and in addition to serving as a faculty liaison to the Freshman Year Initiative, Sean is in the process of developing a blockchain certificate project in conjunction with the School of Continuing Education and Professional Studies. Sean will be serving as the E.C. Harwood Visiting Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research during 2019, and has had books published, or that are in the publication process, at Taylor and Francis, Springer, and Palgrave-MacMillan.

There has been a large amount written and spoken about artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and the implications that these technology tools will have on the accounting profession in both the near and long term. One just has to look at the frothy and volatile nature of the cryptocurrency, on top of the introduction of hundreds of new coins, for potential evidence of market conditions overheating. Such a large amount of analysis and speculation may appear to some as the symptoms and stages of a bubble or over excitement in the marketplace, but upon further review this does not appear to be the case. While technology has played an important role in the accounting and finance profession since the beginning of the computer age, there are several fundamental characteristics that differentiate these technologies from earlier iterations. What this book attempts to do, however, is to not only breakdown these sometimes amorphous technology concepts, but also analyze the implications of these technology tools and platforms, and to finally project possible implications of these tools on the financial services profession.

Finance and accounting may seem like they are only subsets of the economy, and depending on where you are reading this book from, might not even seem like worthy of an entire book in the context of blockchain technology. The majority of blockchain and artificial intelligence analyses have, instead, focused on the broad based implications of how these technologies will revolutionize not only business, but also society. Accounting and finance, despite the fact that they are only pieces of the broader economic and society, have an outsized impact on the economy and marketplace. The transmission of credit, safeguarding of information, and accurate reporting of financial information and data form the basis for how business decisions are made, both in local and global situations. Communicating this information, and doing so in an encrypted manner appears to be more important than ever in a world buffeted by data breaches and hacking; both technologies appear to have potential to facilitate this process.

Lastly, one of the core purposes of putting this text together was to not only discuss these wide ranging implications and technologies, but to provide readers suggestions and guidelines moving forward. Put simply, blockchain and artificial intelligence have the potential, and to a certain extent already are, transforming how the financial services industry engages with the business and stakeholder community. Taking a broader view of the accounting and finance industry, however, and the implications for improved communication, data management, and data encryption become clearer. Suggestions, recommendations, and insights connecting these technological forces with the current status of the accounting and finance fields form some of the key takeaways of this book. Regardless of what niche of finance or accounting readers you find yourself employed within, there are going to be applications and suggestions you will find helpful contained herein.