The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has partnered with home-grown start-up Sarvam AI to develop a dedicated large language model (LLM) tailored specifically for chartered accountants (CAs). ICAI president Prasanna Kumar D. announced on Friday that the partnership aims to create a domain-specific, sovereign AI platform that enables CAs to leverage artificial intelligence while safeguarding confidential client information.
The project addresses privacy risks stemming from the current practice where many CAs utilize public models such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude for audit work, financial statement analysis, tax advisory, and compliance. The new LLM is designed to provide a secure environment ensuring that all work performed remains strictly within the institute’s protected ecosystem and does not leave the platform.
Expanding Multi-Tier AI Capacity
Alongside the Sarvam AI tie-up, ICAI is exploring additional partnerships with OpenAI and Microsoft to strengthen AI training for its members. Institute officials stated that they have steadily expanded their AI capacity-building efforts through a structured, multi-tier training programme. While the entry-level tier provides practical training on core AI fundamentals and existing tools, the second level enables CAs across small, medium, and large practices to build customized AI tools tailored to their individual firms without relying extensively on outside software developers.
Driven by strong member response, the institute has launched a third level today. This advanced stage moves beyond merely using applications, providing professionals with direct practical training on working natively with large language models.
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Addressing Data Sovereignty Obstacles
Speaking at the launch of the AI Innovation Summit 2026, Union culture and tourism minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat stated that ICAI has the clear potential to emerge as the world’s “Institute of Global Trust” by spearheading the development of AI assurance standards. However, the minister cautioned that India must overcome fundamental challenges surrounding data sovereignty, algorithmic bias, and trust to fully harness the technology.
Data has become the most valuable strategic resource in the AI era, and algorithmic bias could emerge as a major concern when AI systems are deployed in sensitive sectors like insurance, corporate ratings, and tax assessments. Shekhawat noted that the professional role of chartered accountants will expand to independently examine AI systems, validate algorithms, check for data corruption, and safeguard ethical governance rather than remaining confined to traditional financial auditing.
Integration Into the Professional Curriculum
Industry experts noted that these latest ICAI initiatives represent a continuous step forward in a long-term AI strategy built on a series of interventions introduced over the past two years. In 2024, the institute launched the “CA GPT – Industry Forum”, a platform that integrated the annual reports of nearly 5,000 listed companies to allow CAs to access and analyze complex financial data with ease.
To make future professionals AI-ready, ICAI is now looking to systematically induct AI into its core student curriculum. So far, the institute’s capacity-building programs have trained over 50,000 members in artificial intelligence and successfully developed more than 150 GPT-based tools to assist accounting practices across the country.
