About two weeks after ChatGPT debuted in November 2022, David Wood, Ph.D., experimented with the artificial intelligence (AI) platform inputting various prompts. He could instantly see potential, especially in his classrooms at Brigham Young University. Now, ChatGPT is a staple school supply like a pencil, laptop or textbook.
“I tell my students they should use AI on every single thing in my class unless I tell them not to,” said Wood. “I think we need to flip education on its head to that level. There is this new powerful tool and why are we not using it?”
Thanks to Wood’s AI integrations, he’s transformed his approach to accounting education and given students elevated learning experiences. His work in academia, passion for curriculum development and deeply rooted interest in technology are credited with earning him the 2025 AICPA® Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award.
For 40 years, the AICPA Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award has honored the achievements of extraordinary college accounting educators who are committed to teaching the next generation of accountants. Award recipients not only demonstrate outstanding teaching skills but their leadership, dedication and innovation help shape the future of accounting education.
“What does education need to look like now that we have AI so prevalent? How should we be changing education and helping students?” Wood asked.
AI: A tool to facilitate problem solving
When Wood first started teaching at BYU 17 years ago, his curriculum looked a lot different than it does today.
“When I first started, we were still in a post-SOCS and internal controls [world]. Those are vitally important but not fun to teach,” explained Wood. But when big data, data analytics and now AI became the on-trend tech tools, Wood saw places to include them in his curriculum. “I have a very big tech focus and that’s one of the places where you need continual updates to curriculum and materials because it does change.”
In his classrooms, ChatGPT isn’t meant to be the source of the answer, but a tool to facilitate problem solving. Instead of asking a question to a teacher’s assistant, Wood encourages his students to run their equations and answers through ChatGPT first to help them find the problem. ChatGPT can explain why it doesn’t work.
Wood also employs AI simulations. Students run simulated tax or audit interviews with an AI bot and then receive feedback on improvements and how well the interview went.
“If you’re not improving the problem or improving yourself, you’re doing something wrong. You need to be doing both,” Wood said.
The passion for technology has underscored his career pursuits, and his dedication to accounting education and research and has him earned more than 30 awards. Wood has published more than 200 articles in journals, monographs, books, and other publications including the book “Rewiring your Mind for AI: How to Think, Work, and Thrive in the Age of Intelligence”. Wood is also the co-author on the market-leading Accounting Information Systems, 16th edition textbook.
Wood earned a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Science degree in accounting from BYU, and he earned his Ph.D. at Indiana University.
“I like improvement, and I like making things better. At its core, I think that’s what education is about,” Wood said. “It’s about helping people become better, so then better people can solve bigger and better problems.”
Reframing education to embrace AI technology
Education will be the primary tool to stay informed as AI technologies change quickly.
Through consulting work, Wood saw a need for a learner-focused professional development hub where current accounting and finance professionals could become more proficient with AI. Skillabyte enhances the learner’s education experience with CPE courses that cover prompt engineering, audit inquiry and other in-demand skills.
Hidden Hawk AI enhances the accounting review process by automating workflows within Microsoft Excel.
“Time is wasted by having people review something that [accountants] could fix at the beginning. Just like we run spellcheck on Microsoft Word, could we run checks on our tax work and see where the problems are and fix them immediately before it ever goes on to review?”
TechHub Training and EYARC Experience are two learning platforms that offer education on emerging technologies and connect users with resources, applicable real-word examples and simulations. While TechHub Training is open to anyone interested in online tech education, EYARC is available only to not-for-profit institutes of higher education.
While generative AI is beneficial it is not without risks. To help organizations navigate the possibilities and risks of generative AI, Wood is one of four co-authors on a free generative AI governance framework, Generative AI governance framework, that was released in 2024.
Tech offers a chance to be part of the change
There is comfort and safety to sticking to routines and what is known, but Wood encourages professors and accounting and finance professionals to embrace the unknown.
“It’s really easy to say, ‘This is the way we’ve always done it. Let’s continue.’ It’s hard to break that mindset and get people willing to change,” said Wood. He cautions that if tools like AI aren’t embraced now, professionals do run the risk of having their job functions outsourced to AI.
“The fun part is saying, ‘I could be part of that change,’” Wood said. “It’s easy to get up to speed with some basic training that you can then make a difference and transform what you do … Add real value to what you’re offering.”
The AICPA Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award honors trailblazing educators like Wood. Learn more about the award’s history, previous winners and eligibility requirements.