It is pleasing to see ICAS launch an ambitious project to understand what the future holds for the accountancy profession, and how to improve trust whilst meeting the needs and increasing expectations of an ever expanding list of stakeholders.

I think we all recognise we're operating in a world where the pace of change has never been faster, from new technologies such as AI impacting us more than ever to the effects of climate change and the evolving sustainability space. This is a great opportunity for our profession to deliver more value and insight for the benefit of the wider society and be even more attractive to the next generation.

Shaping the Profession is an exciting project, and whilst this might be slightly out of its scope, wouldn’t it be fascinating to see how the profession (and indeed planet Earth) would look in another 170 years’ time – if only we could fast forward to 2194!