As a result of advancement in digitalization, AI technology has gained a more prominent role in society, particularly within the accounting industry. The purpose of the study was to understand how employees at accounting firms perceive AI technology within the accounting process and how accounting firms adopt and address potential challenges and opportunities that AI technology presents within the accounting process.

The research adopted a hermeneutic approach to enable interpretation of the respondents' subjective experiences. Out of 251 surveyed respondents, 42 chose to participate, which means a response rate of approximately 17 percent. The empirical data collection was conducted through a survey analyzed that was analyzed by the hermeneutic spiral. The results were presented based on the pre-analytical categories identified in previous research within the field. The research findings suggest that employees do not seem to be well-versed in AI technology within organizations, indicating a knowledge gap in the subject, but there is a willingness and need to learn. The results also show that there are different perceptions of what AI technology entails and how it is used as a tool. The obtained results can be used as a basis for AI implementation to raise awareness of the challenges that exist at the employee level regarding AI as a phenomenon and technical tool.