PCAOB SEIAG Meeting Highlights: AI and Crypto take Center Stage

On November 5, 2025, Acting Chair George Botic and PCAOB Board Members, Christina Ho and Kara Stein, addressed the Standards and Emerging Issues Advisory Group (SEIAG) on two priority topics reshaping public company auditing: artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. Across the remarks, Acting Chair Botic and Board Members Ho and Stein emphasized the need for regulatory clarity, agile standard-setting, and proportionate oversight to sustain audit quality amid rapid technological change. They further emphasized that high-quality audits increasingly depend on responsible technology adoption, supported by clarity rather than ambiguity. They also remarked that firms should expect continued dialogue and engagement with the PCAOB and guidance on AI governance and crypto audit procedures.

Acting Chair Botic and Board member Ho underscored that AI adoption in financial reporting and auditing is accelerating, from firms testing full-populations of journal entries to preparers drafting portions of financial reports with generative tools. While these advancements may promise efficiency gains and error reduction, Acting Chair Botic cautioned that AI can facilitate fraud and may erode professional skepticism if it influences auditor judgment without robust governance. The speakers’ messages emphasized maintaining a “human-in-the-lead” model, reaffirming due professional care, skepticism, independence, and accountability as non-negotiable principles.

Acting Chair Botic’s and the Board Members’ remarks also highlighted the growing importance of cryptocurrency in public company audits and the challenges it introduces, particularly around verifying ownership and determining valuation. Acting Chair Botic noted that crypto is a focus of the PCAOB’s inspection program, which has produced two Spotlight publications sharing observations on good practices and areas needing improvement to increase transparency around how firms audit this evolving asset class.  

The remarks can be found here, here, and here.