TFS Gulf 
- Hi, I’m Vishal Agarwal, Executive Managing Director of Citrin Cooperman India, a top 16 US Firm.
- While the industry debates AI disruption & bloodbath, we increased our India headcount from 300 to over 1,000, and are still hiring.
- So yes, I run one of the fastest-growing offshore accounting operations in India, and here’s what I am observing.
Is India a board-level priority?
Yes, India is one of the top two priorities for our board. (And I’m seeing the same trend across the industry.)
To give you a background: Citrin Cooperman established its first-ever India office in 2016. It operated largely out of Ahmedabad.
For the next eight years, the growth was modest. Then, in late 2024, the firm opened its second India office in Hyderabad.
At that time, we had around 300 employees…Today, we’re over 1,000 people strong.
Our fully remote workforce is expanding.
Citrin Cooperman U.S. hit $985 million in revenue in 2025. Needless to say, Citrin Cooperman India was a significant contributor to that growth.
New Mountain Capital bought a majority stake in Citrin for $500 million in 2021.
In 2025, Blackstone acquired it for $2 billion.
As more private equity firms invest in CPA firms, the strategy is becoming clear:
- Grow your India operations.
- Expand service depth.
- Free up your U.S. leadership to focus on clients and growth.
How has AI changed the offshore model?
For a decade, the relationship between U.S. accounting firms and India operations was simple:
The U.S. did the heavy strategic lifting.
India handled the low-hanging fruit, basic data entry and compliance.
….That model is dead.
Today, work is being completed end-to-end in India without needing U.S. intervention.
Has AI already hit India operations?
For many firms, AI is still something they’re evaluating.
At Citrin Cooperman, it’s already being deployed. It’s happening in phases, but every month, something new is being rolled out.
And my timeline for impact? Not years. Perhaps weeks.
With AI, what new services is Citrin India focusing on?
India teams are shifting heavily into high-margin advisory roles:
Advisory: Digital advisory, risk advisory, and transaction advisory are the three big bets.
These aren’t experimental; they’re active expansion areas with dedicated hiring behind them.
Managed Services (Outsourced CFO/BPO), which is currently our fastest-growing segment
Core tax and audit: The pivot is toward review and consulting identification. Why? India teams doing audit and tax compliance are sitting inside client data every day. They see industry patterns, financial red flags, growth opportunities, and cost inefficiencies.
Citrin Cooperman is now training those teams to spot consulting leads inside that data and pass them upstream to US partners who can close them with clients.
Also read: AI-agent for ‘Accountants’ raised $100Mn. Will it impact India’s offshore CPA firms?
Will AI wipe out India’s Offshore Accounting Industry?
My view: Unless AI tools can handle volume with 100% accuracy, which, in my opinion, they never will, offshore teams will still matter.
Why?
- Accounting and tax work is deeply tied to judgment and interpretation.
- Regulations keep changing almost every six months.
- With new governments and geopolitical situations, the initial product that comes out of AI will need a review
And here’s something people often forget: if AI completely replaces offshore teams, it could also disrupt U.S. CPA firms. Because if AI can do everything, why would clients go to a firm at all? They’d just use AI directly.
With AI, where is the majority of hiring happening?
AI will automate parts of what junior professionals do today.
Say a task needs five people today. AI brings that down to two. The other three aren’t redundant; they’re available. So we pull more work from the U.S. into India.
That frees up the U.S. team to focus on what drives real revenue: client work, advisory, and growth.
Every rung moves up…if they’re willing to.
In spite of AI, hiring is happening across all levels of staff, including seniors, reviewers, managers, and directors.
But I do see how the structure will evolve.
- Less senior hiring
- More entry-level hiring
- Internal promotions will fill leadership roles
We may see a small pause in hiring, as firms recalibrate their strategies. It may feel like AI is having a bigger impact than it is. But it’s a very temporary phase.
Also read: The career ceiling no one warns you about in offshore US CPA Firm
Offshore tasks most exposed to AI?
- Data crunching
- Data mapping
- Basic prep
- Research work
But impact is across all levels, not just juniors.
Even senior professionals use AI for:
- Tax research
- Case law
- interpretation support
Big takeaway: AI affects everyone, not just entry-level staff.
Is the billable hour dying?
100% yes.
Citrin Cooperman has been moving clients from hourly billing to value-based retainers.
The model: a client paying $10,000 annually now costs $3,000 to serve, thanks to AI efficiency.
Under hourly billing, you’d have to reprice them down.
Under value-based pricing, if you’re adding real insight and advisory value, you still charge $10,000.
How many clients walked when the model changed? “None.”
Sticky clients don’t leave.
Will AI be cheaper than offshore talent?
I haven’t done the exact math, but implementing AI is not going to be cheap.
But here’s the thing: You cannot say, “Now I have AI, I don’t need the offshore team. Let’s close operations.”
And you obviously cannot just go with offshore without bringing in AI for efficiency.
I don’t think any one of them can survive in a silo.
It has to, and it will always be a combination.
Also read: Offshore U.S. CPA Firms new reality: Talent crisis, attrition, skyrocketing salaries
Wrapping up…
I am not losing sleep over AI.
Rather, I am losing sleep over whether our training programs can keep up with how fast the work itself is changing.
Earlier, it used to take fifty years for a new technology to be introduced. Now it is perhaps two or three years.
But never feel threatened by any new technology….We have to constantly adapt, constantly restrategize, and try to stay ahead of the curve.
