Early Careers: why it’s a great time to start as an auditor at PwC

PwC’s ‘Digital Accelerators’ are our AI champions across our Assurance business, driving the use of our AI tools and helping our teams ensure they’re using the right AI tools to optimise their time. Nick has recently been accepted into our ‘Digital Accelerator’ program, in which he’ll get access to specialist technology training. Nick says that being accepted to the program “is a reflection of how even early grads are given so many opportunities for advancement at PwC.” 

Esther, too, has taken advantage of the many tech-related learning opportunities at PwC. Not long after joining PwC, Esther joined an internal ‘AI hackathon’, where participants used AI to develop solutions to undefined problems. “I’d just started and didn’t expect the hackathon to be open to everyone in the firm” she says. “But it was.” 

Esther teamed up with three others, to brainstorm a problem that needed solving and then used PwC’s GenAI tools to find a solution. Despite being such a new starter, Esther says her opinion was valued by her teammates during their discussions.

Today, Esther regularly uses AI in her auditing role. Part of her initial Assurance training included a module on our custom-built AI assistant, ChatPwC. Esther uses ChatPwC on a daily basis and she’s used the chatbot to help her solve audit-related problems. “Being exposed to all this technology so early in my journey as an auditor is very exciting,” she says, explaining that some AI hackathon participants used ChatPwC to develop their own AI Assistant to speed up work processes..

Nick, too, uses ChatPwC every day. “We’ve got advanced technology but it’s intuitive and simple to use,” he says. “PwC invests in tech because the business understands how important it is to be at the forefront of technology.”

At PwC, we know that our people are our greatest asset. As part of our AI-native audit platform, it’s our auditors who’ll be directing AI agents, not the other way around. So we’re not just investing in technology, we’re also investing in our people. And we pride ourselves on a collaborative, culture, where people are friendly and genuinely care about each other.

“The people I’ve worked with have been sensational,” says Nick. “They’ll take time out of their day to answer whatever questions I’ve got. Everyone helps each other improve, advance, learn more and become better auditors.” Esther’s PwC journey has been similar well-supported by her colleagues. “I feel safe to ask questions to people in my team. That’s important if you want to grow fast as an early starter,” she says.

“AI is reshaping work at a rapid pace,” says Cameron Carter. “While that’s undoubtedly a challenge, it’s also an incredible opportunity.” Indeed, the Next generation audit program is already impacting the type of work being done by our new graduates. For example, Data Acquisition Hub, part of our Next generation audit program, is automating the extraction of data from clients’ ERP systems. Looking ahead, junior auditors will spend even less time doing routine administrative work, freeing them up to do more problem solving and strategic thinking. This means incoming graduates have access to more interesting and engaging work at a much earlier stage of their careers. 

Working at PwC, both Nick and Esther say, has exceeded their expectations. We’re confident that an audit career at PwC will exceed your expectations, too.

Find out more about next generation audit here.