AI Native Accounting Foundation Announces Inaugural Award Winners and Opens Scholarship Applications

ORLANDO, Fla., June 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The AI Native Accounting Foundation announced the winners of its inaugural AI Native Accounting Awards, honoring firms and practitioners who are moving AI in accounting from experimentation to measurable, responsible implementation in real-world environments. Winners were recognized live on the keynote stage at Scaling New Heights, held June 14–16, 2026, in Orlando, FL.

Winners were selected by the Foundation’s Advisory Council, a group of respected leaders who reviewed nominations and applied a consistent rubric focused on measurable outcomes, governance, and replicability. The awards recognize outcomes that matter: improved capacity, new service models, better client experiences, and approaches that other firms can realistically learn from and replicate.

“These are not innovation theater awards,” said Kacee Johnson, Executive Director of the AI Native Accounting Foundation. “Every one of this year’s winners showed us what it actually looks like to move from AI curiosity to AI in practice. They are approaching AI use thoughtfully, documenting what worked, and sharing their lessons learned. That’s the work we’re here to celebrate, study, and share so others in the profession can learn from it.”

Award Winners

Individual Award for AI Innovation — Angel Zhen, CPA
Angel Zhen, CPA was recognized for demonstrating what responsible, high-performance AI adoption looks like at the individual practitioner level — and for proving the model is transferable. Zhen runs a multi-six figure solo practice with no employees and more than 300 clients nationwide, while maintaining twelve weeks off annually. 

Firm Award for Strategy & Governance — CBIZ
CBIZ, Inc. was recognized for building one of the most comprehensive AI governance frameworks in the profession to enable their AI strategy. CBIZ built a cross-functional AI Governance Council, a formal AI Usage Policy, and strctured training programs grounded in internationally recognized standards — including the NIST AI Risk Management Framework and OECD AI Principles. CBIZ developed their platforms with Microsoft AI and logged over one million AI-assisted interactions since launch. The award reflects not just scale, but the deliberate infrastructure CBIZ built around responsible deployment.

Small Firm Award for Strategy & Governance — Financial Optics
The Foundation recognized Financial Optics, a boutique accounting and advisory firm for demonstrating that AI governance is achievable at the smallest firm scale. The three-person firm built its adoption on a documented AI Acceptable Use Policy and an AI Tool Decision Framework mapping tool categories against client-data sensitivity — governance developed alongside deployment rather than after it. The award reflects an approach other small firms can realistically replicate.

Firm Award for AI Implementation — Armanino
Armanino was honored for the internal build and firm-wide rollout of Requirements Miner, a purpose-built, multi-agent AI application that fundamentally changed how the firm conducts client discovery. Consultants who previously had to split their attention between facilitating conversations and taking notes can now focus entirely on the client — with Requirements Miner capturing, analyzing, and drafting requirements in real time. Every output is traceable to its source in the conversation, which Armanino calls “glass box AI.” The results have been concrete: approximately a 40% reduction in requirements development time, one to two weeks eliminated from the discovery phase per engagement, and near-zero loss of requirements.

Barry Brown, who sits on the Foundation’s Advisory Council, remarked on the nominations and review process: "What stood out most in reviewing this inaugural group of award recipients is how broad the field of AI adoption has become. From sole practitioners to top-25 firms, leaders of every size are making meaningful progress. The firms and individuals we recognized are proof that size is no longer a barrier to doing something significant with AI. Whether you're a one-person practice or a national firm, the opportunity is the same, and so is the urgency. There has never been a better time to start."

Scholarship Launch

Building on the inaugural awards, the Foundation also announced that applications for its first scholarship program are now open. Two $5,000 scholarships will be awarded to undergraduate and master’s students enrolled at U.S. colleges or universities for the 2026–27 academic year who are actively building with AI in accounting, tax, audit, advisory, or finance contexts. Applicants submit a working AI use case, a short write-up, and a structured video response. Applications close September 15, 2026. More information and the application are available at www.ainativeaccounting.org.

About AI-Native Accounting Foundation

As an independent nonprofit, the AI Native Accounting Foundation equips firms and finance teams to adopt AI with confidence through education, research, and recognition — moving the profession past hype and into practice. Founded by Kacee Johnson and Bebe Kim, the Foundation exists to create space for honest dialogue, shared learning, and credible examples of real-world AI adoption across accounting, tax, audit, advisory, and finance. Through the AI Native Accounting Podcast, industry awards, research initiatives, and scholarships, the Foundation highlights what’s working, what’s not, and what responsible AI transformation actually looks like inside modern firms and finance teams.

Media contact:
Gina Rezendes
Big Swing Communications
617-640-9278
[email protected]

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b116ccf4-cbbb-4036-98de-e329ba4ef88c

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