The world of mentorship poses many questions. Like how do you find the right mentor? Or how can you be an outstanding mentor? Or even how can you be the kind of mentee that mentors love to work with?

Here's a new one: Who are the hottest coaches and mentors for boomer executives these days?

It's not the $500 per hour kind. It's the kind down the hall from your office with their AirPods in.

Millennials.

Before you spit out your Gen-Y approved fair-trade coffee, hold on a second.

In a delicious turn of events, boomer executives everywhere are scrambling to pair up with twenty-somethings that have plenty of something to offer (including helping them become tech-savvy, understand today's workforce, get into the now, and get out of the Van Halen era). Thus, millennials have become the hottest executive accessory.

A New York Times report added credence to the trend, citing companies such as MasterCard, Cisco, Target, UnitedHealth Group, and Mars that have implemented reverse mentoring programs that match furrow-browed executives with bushy-tailed counterparts, some that are even fresh out of college.

It's a low-priced alternative to companies that prey on our fear of what we don't know about those darned kids (companies that can make as much as $20,000 per hour according to the Times). Entrepreneurs and small businesses take note.

Here are 11 reasons to reach out to a Millennial mentor:

1. Get tech savvy.

It's no longer okay that you don't know what Snapchat is or how to use it. Your younger co-workers use it--it's how they communicate. Your daughter uses it--it's how she fails to communicate. Your target audience uses it--it's how they're evolving to communicate.

It's good to learn new things, and it's good business.

2. Learn new markets and trends, innovate. Repeat.

The marketplace is littered with companies that let the evolving consumer pass them by. Can't get out to that focus group to learn about the latest wants and needs? Hold one in the conference room. Just make sure it's an open floor plan conference room.

3. Improve retention.

This reason alone makes it worth finding a Millennial mentor. How can you possibly know what your younger workforce wants if you don't know what your younger workforce wants? Don't read about it. Relate about it.

4. Better identify high-potentials.

Reverse mentorships mean Boomers are exposed to more young talent. Such exposure increases the odds of an accurate assessment of talent and a building of the right bench for the executive suite.

5. Embrace purpose.

Odds are, when a Boomer meets up with a Millennial, the former gets a lesson in what really matters at work from the latter. It's well documented that Millennials aren't motivated as much by perks or pay; it's about the purpose behind their work. Finding out how they articulate theirs can help you define yours--and infuse more energy and fulfillment into your work days.

6. Fight obsolescence.

There, I said it.

We have enough to worry about fighting off machines for jobs. Who wants to fight off a Millennial for one? Don't try to beat them, join them. Improve your skills by expanding your horizons.

7. Get hipper and younger.

The Times article reported on one bank managing partner who had "rediscovered his youth" via his Millennial mentor. I'm not sure such a mentor could help me relive the joy of Happy Days episodes, but surely I'll feel a little more hip because of the relationship.

8. Build a more connected workplace.

Learning to connect with Millennials means learning to connect with the workforce in general (Millennials are now the largest work cohort). Spending time bridging the generation gap means building a happier workplace for all.

9. Return the favor.

Many Boomers are reluctant to become mentors because of time constraints or a myriad of other reasons. The law of reciprocity says you probably should offer to mentor the Millennial right back. What a wonderful virtuous cycle.

10. Get inspired.

Exposure to different, energetic points of view can inspire all kinds of things. Research indicates the number one thing that distinguishes entrepreneurial leaders from more conventional ones is an openness to new experiences. So go experience.

11. Sharpen your listening skills.

That's right. You might not be in a situation quite as often anymore where you're the one taking notes. It's good for you, and for your listening aptitude.

So Boomers, pick up a Millennial today, they're available in all colors, shapes, and sizes. But move fast--not because quantities are limited, but because we'll all be looking to Gen Z'ers before you know it.

Fashion can be so cruel.

Source: https://www.inc.com/scott-mautz/hot-accessory-for-executives-isnt-a-mercedes-its-a-millennial-11-reasons-theyre-great-mentors.html

Artificial intelligence isn't coming. It's already here.

Early investments by large firms, including several of the Big Four, have paid off with advanced technology that can, among other things, slash the amount of time accountants spend on complex audits and asset estimates.

Now all firms, even small ones, should be thinking about how to adopt advanced technology like artificial intelligence (AI), whether it will be by contracting with specialized technology companies or building their own departments, said Derek Bang, CPA, CGMA, the chief strategy and innovation officer at Chicago-based Crowe Horwath, one of the largest accounting firms in the United States.

"They're going to have to have a strategy," Bang said. "You need to start putting some money aside into innovation."

Reports of machines replacing accountants by the thousands are likely overblown, and capable accountants will be needed to oversee and utilize advanced technology, said Tom Davenport, a Babson College professor who studies business applications of AI.

"At some point, there might be some job loss on the margins, but mostly we're giving people more sophisticated work to do than just looking through documents," Davenport said.

AI explained

AI is technology that enables computers to perform decision-based tasks previously left to humans. It shows up in multiple forms, including machine-based learning that can progressively become better at analysis and decisions the more it is used, and speech-based technology that can understand different voices and languages.

More than 80% of executives believe AI leads to a competitive advantage, and 79% believe it will increase their company's productivity, according to a recent MIT-Boston Consulting Group survey of more than 3,000 business executives.

AI is being developed by multiple accounting firms and will dramatically change the profession in coming years, said Jon Raphael, CPA, Deloitte's audit chief innovation officer.

"We're at a real pivot point in terms of being able to wrangle and use data in ways we've never even contemplated before," he said.

That doesn't mean walking, talking robots like Star Wars' C-3PO and R2-D2 will be handling client meetings anytime soon.

Instead, AI is largely being used to digest and analyze large volumes of data at speeds well beyond what any person or team of people could do, Davenport said.

"What AI is doing is sort of a more sophisticated version of what spreadsheets do," he said. "The more analytic and decision-oriented computations, at least for the next 20 to 30 years, will still require humans."

Full speed ahead

At Deloitte, auditors can access AI tools with natural language processing capabilities to interpret thousands of contracts or deeds, Raphael said. The technology can extract key terms and compile and analyze that information to perform risk assessments or other functions.

Entire populations or datasets — a large company's leases, for example — can be assessed in a shorter period of time, whereas the samples previously examined by accountants could have taken a lot longer.

"It's creating a new view about where the profession is going," Raphael said.

Applications of AI and machine-based learning vary from firm to firm, with huge variances in how companies develop the technology, Bang said.

"AI and machine learning is as deep a field as accounting is," he said.

That means firms can differentiate themselves and corner areas of the market by specializing in different areas.

At Crowe Horwath, Bang and his team of 20 data scientists have harnessed technology to tackle complex billing problems in the health care industry. The team was able to use machine-based learning to sift through enormous but disparate billing systems of its health care clients to flag accounts where there are time-consuming and costly complexities in claim processing and reimbursement. In those cases, the health care companies and hospitals can use the technology developed by Crowe Horwath to proactively deal with those complicated cases instead of waiting for the problems to make themselves known, a development that can save clients hundreds of man-hours.

"We're finding we can solve problems that couldn't have been solved otherwise," Bang said.

Instead of talking about hypothetical future uses, Bang prefers to show his firm's leaders what he and his team have already developed, from health care billing solutions to conducting the background research needed to apply for research and development tax credits.

At Deloitte, the excitement about AI is shared by its clients, with auditors showing how they are using AI-based applications to quickly conduct accurate assessments of vast real estate holdings or analyze thousands of contracts to compile the risks a large company faces.

"Clients want to do this in their own business," Raphael said. "We spark the thinking of where they can go."

How to prepare

To prepare for the oncoming wave of AI, Raphael suggested that interested CPAs gain database and IT skills by taking on specialized projects in their workplace, attending seminars, completing self-directed learning, or taking classes.

Having a solid basis in data management and a high comfort level with new technologies will give those practitioners an edge as AI use increases in the field.

He said that the professional skepticism auditors are trained to have is needed as well to be able to spot when the analyses are off and to deal with exceptions.

"We don't want to have people relying on a tool blindly," he said.

What's ahead

Smaller firms don't have the same resources as largest firms to develop and fine-tune their own AI products. But experts say that the technology will be more widely available in coming years, and they expect it eventually to become standard fare.

Davenport likens it to the advent of the internet. When the World Wide Web was first publicly available, only a few large companies could afford to go online or develop their own intranets. That changed, of course, and today there is scarcely a firm, or person, left unconnected to the web.

The same will happen with AI, and it may become as common as the internet is now, Bang said.

"The accountants of the future will exist, but they will know how to interact with machines," he said.

Source: https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/newsletters/2017/oct/artificial-intelligence-changing-accounting.html?utm_source=mnl:cpainsider&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10Oct2017

The Hottest Executive Coaches These Days? Millennials. Here Are 11 Things You Can Learn From Them