Watching \u2018Becoming Led Zeppelin1<\/sup>\u2019, a mocumentary out recently about the band, I imagined for a moment myself in Robert Plants\u2019 shoes as he rocked on stage, his big hair hiding his face, one hand on the mic, the other playing air guitar with the cord, swaying rhythmically, mesmerizing thousands of screaming fans and creating timeless magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The moment was fleeting as I was jolted back to reality by Mr. Plant recounted pondering over career choice: become a Chartered Accountant or Rock God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ll just let that sink in\u2026.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Robert Plant was ALMOST an accountant? He would\u2019ve been on LinkedIn!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Made just prior to Led Zeppelins’ rise in popularity, his decision to shun the bookeepers saved a black hole in the universe, the opportunity cost of life without Led Zeppelin. We wouldn\u2019t know any different of course, apart from a vague feeling of being somewhere over the hills and far away<\/em>, or just constantly a little dazed and confused<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Coincidentally, as Robert Plant had once pondered long and hard over his career choice, so too did I. But unlike Mr. Plant, I didn\u2019t have any offers on the table tempting me toward fame and fortune and of course I can\u2019t sing! It\u2019s no surprise then that I didn\u2019t hesitate before settling on Chartered Accounting as my It wasn\u2019t until I set some personal goals that I started imagining my career. Accounting was always the easy choice, minimal university entry criteria, just turn up and you can be part of the oldest profession in the book\u2026. or is second oldest, I can never remember?<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was the career you chose when you wanted to go drinking with your mates and make simple, yet safe decisions. I would have preferred to be the lead singer in a rock n\u2019 roll band, but it was the sensible and safe towers of the Big Six that called my name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So I set a big hairy audacious goal. I was working for the Big Six, they just didn\u2019t know it yet. It took me a couple of years to find their weakness, a chink in the armor, the soft underbelly of The Big 6 \u2013 small town New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 31 years ago, I accepted my first career role at Coopers & Lybrand, Tauranga, headcount 18, now 19. I came in through the outdoor.<\/em> I was now a real accountant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was now a member of one of the greatest corporate memberships that ever existed, The Big Six. Pioneers of professionalism and integrity, the Mecca for business suave and excellence, institutional machines that churn out winners all day, every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I spent 8 years in the Big 6, some of my fondest memories. It was a club. It was a party. It was a family. It was an education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most of all however, it has endured. The lessons became the basis of almost everything I\u2019ve ever learnt, or ever will learn, about how a large business operates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne day Robbo\u201d, the Partner says, \u201cyou\u2019ll be just like me.\u201d This became one of those motivating moments when you see the battle ahead of you, and pump your fists and shout, \u201cNo Quarter\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Then one day I no longer needed to prepare for meetings like I once had, I could fire from the hip if I needed to. I was all grown up. I was a real accountant, and I had a badge to prove it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the time I left the Big 6, I had learnt the fundamentals of large business reporting, risk management and technology practices. Ironically, the medium for these lessons was predominantly via accounting processes, as it is the modern-day audit of technology, that drives the modern-day assurance of a company\u2019s financial statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you haven\u2019t been involved in a large audit, lucky you! You may not appreciate how technology drives much of a financial audit, it\u2019s just more efficient, subject to attestation of course. It essentially works like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Garbage in = Garbage out.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And so it goes, if your systems can be proven to deliver the right numbers (attestation), the financial statements are less likely to contain material errors. But if your systems are garbage, you\u2019ve got a bunch of fresh-faced, overly enthusiastic audit graduates coming your way for the Battle of Evermore.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve spent the last 6 months immersing myself in AI and I\u2019m here to tell you, it\u2019s real and it\u2019s evolving as quickly as you think. I\u2019ve been amazed at how AI has evolved over just a 6 – 9 month period during which I set up a business. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nchosen<\/s> preferred vocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYour Time is Gonna Come<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Houses of the Holy<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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No Quarter<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Garbage](\"https:\/\/maximisedai.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/garbage-in-garbage-out.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nI Can\u2019t Quit You Baby<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n