“Artificial Intelligence is intended to help us and be one of our tools, not meant to replace us.”
The rapid advancement of technology, particularly in Artificial Intelligence (AI), has been a significant part of our society, from writing essays and creating drafts for articles to checking grammatical errors, doing homework, assisting in conducting research, and even in business operations. While it can help us in various ways, its fast progression has transformed into raising contemporary issues, like questions such as “Is it really giving us an advantage?”,” Is it ethical to use?”, “Can it be effectively implemented in a business setting?” and ultimately, “Can it replace human expertise?”
Hence, to address these issues, UHYMAC hosted a comprehensive webinar on September 5, 2025, entitled “Artificial Intelligence, Tech Updates, & Professional Etiquette” to address the critical issues and benefits of AI to professionalism. The webinar session brought key insights from the esteemed speakers: Atty. Jerry Francisco, HR and Advisor of UHYMAC, Mr. Bernard Change, the founder of Aidesphere Enterprise, and Mr. Michael Aguirre, CPA, MBA, MST, the Senior Managing Partner of UHY M.L. Aguirre & Co., CPAs. The training was done to equip professionals with practical knowledge on the appropriate use of AI and preserving human expertise to ensure quality service to clients.
How to Professionally Communicate in the Age of AI
In the webinar’s opening session, Atty. Francisco emphasized that effective email communication remains crucial in professionalism, especially with the prevalence of AI nowadays. His presentation did not serve as a mere step-by-step tutorial but rather a strategic reminder for professionals to continue the development of their writing and communication skills with correspondence to their clients and colleagues. He highlighted the necessity of crafting clear and concise messages with the proper subject lines, creative yet suitable salutations, and email bodies that deliver the key information effectively and timely manner, even if the client’s inquiries are sometimes broad. He stressed that being specific and brief in communicating is the key to coordinating with others, whether with a colleague or handling a client with complex transactions.
Consequently, Atty. Francisco addressed the growing progress of AI-assisted writing or communicating, warning professionals not to be reliant on it when conveying a message. He only recommended that AI tools are good to use as reference points. One must still maintain authenticity of the tone, vocabulary, and structure of his own to reduce the risk of miscommunication or improper messaging in the professional field.
AI as an Amplifier on Business Operations
Mr. Chang’s part focused on the practical applications of AI in business automation and how it can enhance the flow of operations. He introduced the “Smarter Businesses” concept through AI integration, emphasizing how it can streamline functions, reduce human errors, and improve the decision-making process on various business concerns. Aside from the benefits mentioned earlier, AI can drastically reduce business costs, as automation can give a common denominator of the operation and provide an opportunity to improve or invest in the other crucial aspects of the enterprise.
Also, Mr. Chang demonstrated a few AI-powered tools, including a Telegram chatbot primarily designed to generate social media content and workflow systems that can be implemented according to a department’s needs. He highlighted the AI’s capability to handle repetitive tasks with no exhaustion limits, operate 24/7, and allow professionals to focus on high-value activities requiring human judgment. Finally, he underscored that these tools were designed to complement human expertise, not replace it, enabling enterprises to provide more responsive and efficient services to its clients.
Strategically Integrating AI with Professional Services
In the final section of the training, Mr. Aguirre highlighted the strategic implications of AI adoption in rendering services. The discussion centered on a fundamental business framework and that is to transform professional services into long-term assets that have legitimate value to clients. This approach gives importance to building strong systems and accumulating experiences that is deemed to be irreplaceable by AI technology.
His conversation depicted how AI can build up client acquisitions, relations, and visibility of an establishment, mentioning situational examples of how social media presence can lead to new business opportunities. Also, he indicated that systemizing processes alone should not be the goal, but making the service a means to provide clients with solutions to their problems and ultimately provide the essence of having peace of mind. On a final note, Mr. Aguirre and the team addressed the specific applications to departments, such as AI tools assisting in accounting processes, understanding auditing standards, tax advisories, and corporate compliance or licensing. While AI is undoubtedly advantageous to the professional field, as it has research capabilities, document processing, and task automation; however, the human element remains essential in terms of professional judgment, client relationship management, and quality assurance of service
Embracing Change while Preserving Professional Excellence
The insights shared during the webinar uphold the notion that the future of professional service will be closely related to the advancement of technology, and its happening is inevitable. By strategically integrating it and embracing the fact that change is the only constant thing in the world, it can bring better outcomes and deliver the best customer service. Through maintenance of focus on what the client needs and the creation of intrinsic value, firms can advantageously utilize AI to optimize the flow of business operations and improve their efficiency, with the proper use of their assets, which is deemed to be the human expertise that can never be replaced by any technology.
