The Case For Reversing Ageism In The Age Of AI

When AI makes analysis free, experience becomes priceless.

Published on Feb. 24, 2026

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The article argues that as AI makes first-pass analysis cheap, the value of human judgment and experience becomes more important, especially in fields like finance and accounting. The author contends that institutions like audit and consulting firms are making a mistake by enforcing mandatory retirement ages around 60 and pushing out experienced professionals at the peak of their value. Instead, the author suggests that these firms should bring back retired partners to help redesign AI workflows, train models, and provide oversight - leveraging their deep experience to complement the experimentation of younger professionals.

Why it matters

The article highlights how the rise of AI is changing the nature of work, particularly in knowledge-intensive fields like finance and accounting. As AI automates more routine analysis, the value of human judgment, pattern recognition, and experience becomes increasingly important. However, many institutions are still structured in a way that systematically discards this experienced talent, which the author argues weakens the overall ecosystem.

The details

The author argues that AI makes first-pass analysis cheap, but true judgment and the ability to navigate uncertainty requires the pattern recognition that comes from living through multiple business cycles. Experienced finance and accounting professionals have seen how models can break down, correlations converge, and incentive structures distort reporting in ways that AI cannot anticipate. Yet institutions like audit and consulting firms are pushing out these experienced partners through mandatory retirement ages, just as their skills become most valuable. The author suggests these firms should instead bring back retired partners to help redesign AI workflows, train models, and provide oversight - leveraging their deep experience to complement the experimentation of younger professionals.

  • The article was published on February 19, 2026.

The players

Shivaram Rajgopal

The author of the article, who is making the case for reversing ageism in the age of AI.

Audit and consulting firms

Institutions that the author argues are making a mistake by enforcing mandatory retirement ages around 60 and pushing out experienced professionals at the peak of their value.

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What they’re saying

“Analysis is cheap, judgment is dear”

— Shivaram Rajgopal (Forbes)

“Cheap analysis is not judgment.”

— Shivaram Rajgopal (Forbes)

“Finance and accounting are fundamentally about recognizing patterns under uncertainty. Anyone who has managed risk through a real downturn knows how fast models break down, how correlations converge to one, and how incentive structures distort reporting.”

— Shivaram Rajgopal (Forbes)

What’s next

The article does not mention any specific next steps, as it is focused on a broader conceptual argument about the need to reverse ageism in the age of AI.

The takeaway

The key takeaway is that as AI automates more routine analysis, the value of human judgment, pattern recognition, and experience becomes increasingly important, especially in fields like finance and accounting. However, many institutions are still structured in a way that systematically discards this experienced talent, which weakens the overall ecosystem. The article argues that these institutions should instead find ways to leverage the deep experience of seasoned professionals to complement the experimentation of younger workers in the age of AI.