SYNOPSIS Audit academia faces a defining moment. Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI), persistent questions about research relevance, and growing scrutiny of higher education make it impossible to defer a clear articulation of audit academia’s role. This paper argues that audit academia’s enduring value does not lie in competing with AI, mirroring practice, or continuing by inertia. It lies in embracing its role as a meta-profession—one that intentionally guides the audit profession by enhancing audit practice, legitimating audit services, and instructing new auditors in service of the public interest. Drawing on professional theory, the paper clarifies how these three interdependent functions provide value that audit firms, regulators, and AI cannot fully supply. The paper concludes with a call for audit academia to lead deliberately—or risk being left behind. JEL Classifications: M42; I23; O33; M41; D83.
Eldar Maksymov (2026) studied this question.