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Q&A with AICPA’s New CEO: What He Wants You to Know
Reprinted with permission from the Indiana Society of CPAs
In 2025, a new CEO of the American Institute of CPAs and Association of International Certified Professional Accountants took the reins from long-time leader Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA.
Mark Koziel, CPA, CGMA, has hit the ground running to get acclimated to his new position. This isn’t his first experience with this global Association—prior, he had worked with the AICPA for 15 years in multiple capacities before accepting a role as president and CEO of Allinial Global, where he worked from 2020 to 2024 until being selected as Barry’s successor.
Mark recently sat down with INCPAS to share what he’s most looking forward to as he moves the Association and CPA profession into the future.
Q: What excited you most about stepping into the role of CEO for the AICPA?
From the start, I have absolutely loved the CPA profession. I actively promote and encourage others to consider a career in this great profession. I've been fortunate to encounter and accomplish many things, gaining experience in public accounting, corporate finance, politics and public affairs.
For the past five years, I served as CEO of an international association of firms with $6 billion in revenues. When I left the Association in 2020, I didn't expect to become its CEO, but my international experience made me a strong candidate. Since WWII, there have only been five CEOs of this esteemed organization.
It is an honor and privilege to serve. I do not take the role lightly, and I am committed to advancing the profession to serve the public interest and meet market demands.
Q: What are 3 things you're looking forward to in your first year?
1. Additional Pathway to CPA Licensure
First and foremost, advancing discussions already in the market to create an additional pathway to licensure. Creating flexibility for those wrestling with the time and cost of education is critical. This conversation has been going on far too long. It was clear that state societies, state boards of accountancy and members in firms and businesses wanted to see this happen. Even before I started, the team was working on ways to support that. Education is important, as is experience and examination. We will continue to explore how competencies fit into the ongoing health of our profession while maintaining what the public expects of us. I worry about mobility but have said we need to help our members navigate it and solve for it as quickly as we can. Meanwhile, there is much more outside of licensure that needs to be done to shore up accounting talent, including continuing to examine firm business models.
"There is much more outside of licensure that needs to be done to shore up accounting talent, including continuing to examine firm business models."
2. Reconnecting with Members & Listening
We started an email address, AskMark@aicpa-cima.com, and have thus far received just shy of 500 responses—and I’ve responded to all of them. It’s important that we listen and react to members’ needs. For state societies and the AICPA, we have the challenge of keeping the profession self-regulated and having challenging standards to make sure we set the bar high. But we are also here to serve our members, and I’d like to lean into that a little more. I’ve said for years, our members seem to remember more what we do TO them, not for them. I’d like to do more for members. One thing we’re discussing is more focused communities. More on that in the short-term.
"I've said for years, our members seem to remember more what we do TO them, not for them. I'd like to do more for members."
3. Reconnecting with Team Members
I plan to check in regularly to make sure we stay focused on our strategic direction to help our members. It’s a great team, and I’ve missed being part of a larger organization. I’ve been working hard in these early days to reconnect and look for ways to make their jobs easier, so they serve our members better.
Q: What has been the biggest challenge of the role so far?
I regularly receive requests to comment on the Washington, D.C., landscape for our U.S. members, as well as for our professionals worldwide and other accountancy bodies seeking guidance on their readings.
The political landscape is certainly interesting and, dare I say, challenging? During my initial days, the team has been focused on securing meetings with key figures in Washington and globally. It’s a challenging task because the names keep changing and the topics we need to discuss seem to shift by the hour. Working to keep up with the current uncertainty has certainly been at the forefront. Our Washington team has done a great job with it, but I worry greatly that our members might not get the support they need from the IRS based on the current landscape. Keeping up with regulatory changes has been the greatest challenge and will hopefully settle in the second half of the year.
Q: What excites you about the near future of the profession?
As I mentioned before, the CPA profession is the greatest profession in the world! I’m excited to see it continue and will do my best to help shape the future. There are many opportunities to advance this greatness. We need to focus on increasing the pipeline, building on the work of the National Pipeline Advisory Group and collaborating with states. Practice changes and helping firms grow through additional services are crucial. ESG and sustainability remain important, but there’s much more. Artificial intelligence will reduce mundane tasks, allowing us to focus on complex, client-facing work. Expanded services like client advisory services (CAS) enable us to be trusted advisers. New audit tools will add value by providing insights beyond standard reports. We can help Main Street small businesses simplify reporting and oversight. Creating future-ready finance professionals with the Finance Leadership Program is essential. The list goes on, and there’s no shortage of opportunities. That’s what keeps me excited about the future.
Day in the Life: Mark Koziel, CPA, CGMA—AICPA’s New President & CEO
As the CEO of a global organization, I’ve already found myself with a very full travel schedule. In this job, there is rarely a day that’s the same. As of day 42 as CEO, I’ve visited three of our offices, including London for CIMA Council, Durham, NC, and New York City for staff meet-and-greets and other meetings. Today, I am in NYC.
5:00 am
Wake up and get the day started. Typically, I first catch up on overnight emails, then check the day’s headlines (global, then profession). Next will be any social media to catch up on and respond to.
5:45 am
Head to the office. Today I’m in NYC, so it’s a quick walk from where I typically stay.
6:00 am
Grab my cup of coffee and get to work answering the highest-priority emails from what I reviewed in the morning.
7:30 am
Today is an unusually late start for my first meeting—a briefing from our team in North Asia. I’ve been checking in with each region as I get up to speed on their top priorities, how we can help them in their roles, and discovering their greatest areas of growth.
8:30 am
Town Hall final run-through before we go live later today. The AICPA Town Halls were created by Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com, and I in 2020 during the pandemic to help members stay informed of critical issues. Back then, the big topic was the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Now it’s the Washington, D.C., landscape and tax. We started with about 400 attendees back in April of 2020. That quickly grew to about 1,000 attendees when I left in August 2020. Now there are over 10,000 attendees per session. The popularity and audience growth are just amazing. This run-through is to make sure we all have our topics set and, more importantly, includes a time check so we stay on time.
9:00 am
I’m double-booked, so I quickly stop into a breakfast celebration for my executive assistant, Donna Wolf, who is retiring at the end of the month. I then join a Zoom meeting with the Audit & Finance Committee to discuss audit-related matters, final Association financial statements, internal audit reviews and what will be presented at the April live board meeting.
11:30 am
Immediately following the Audit & Finance meeting, I hustle to the other side of our office to the studio to record a congratulatory video message for the president-elect of a state CPA society who will be named president at an upcoming annual meeting.
12:00 pm
Following the recording, I make my way to an informal luncheon with the office staff. I share a quick introduction about my thoughts on the future of our organization and the profession. I thank the team “live” for all the things they do for our members, and we share some pizza, wings and cake (with my picture on it!).
1:30 pm
After the announcement of my return to the Association, we had several requests for interviews from the media that cover our profession. This was the first week in which my schedule was able to accommodate some of these requests, so today I’m speaking with Courtney Vien, senior reporter at CFO Brew.
2:00 pm
Quick check-in with my assistant to see if she needs me for anything or if there are any pressing matters to discuss.
2:30 pm
The AICPA Town Hall starts in 30 minutes, so I head back to the studio to get set up for sound and prepare for the show. At this time, all presenters are on video in a green room waiting for the start and nailing down final instructions.
3:00 pm
Erik Asgeirsson kicks off the Town Hall. I’m up first to discuss feedback I’ve received from members both on the road and through the AskMark@aicpa-cima.com inbox. We’ve asked members to reach out to me directly to provide feedback on the profession. I present the results to the audience and am followed by our D.C. team with an update on BOI, the IRS, DOGE and other D.C. topics. The last session focuses on Quality Management and new requirements about to be introduced in audit. To finish, we open it up to questions from the audience. On this day, there were 11,400 participants.
4:00 pm
I return to my office to join another Zoom meeting with the Association’s firm services team to discuss the agenda and topics for the Major Firms Group meeting in July.
5:00 pm
Time to catch up on emails and any calls I need to make before leaving the office for the day.
6:30 pm
I take a walk around NYC, clear my head, and figure out where I want to grab a quick dinner.
9:30 pm
I grab a glass of red wine and do a final review of text messages, emails, and social media. I chose a Zinfandel from Grgich Hills Estate in Napa.
10:00 pm
Call my wife, Maryann, to check in on her day, fill her in on mine, and discuss our schedules for the next few days and weekend.
10:45 pm
Final check of current events and professional news headlines.
11:00 pm
Lights out.