Kenji Kuramoto, founder of accounting firm Acuity, which was one of 13 firms from across the U.S. that combined last year to form Sorren, has been hired as managing partner in residence at AI accounting startup Basis.
In this newly created role, Kuramoto aims to help accounting firms capitalize on the opportunities of the AI era: shaping the Basis platform, bringing together learnings from across the industry, and sharing a vision for how today’s firms can become the firms of the future, Basis said in a media release on March 31.
In a post on LinkedIn Tuesday, Kuramoto explained why he had been “quieter than usual” recently.
Some of you have heard through the grapevine. Others I’ve had the chance to tell personally. I intentionally held off on saying anything publicly because I wanted to spend real time in this new chapter first. Listening. Learning. Observing what is happening in our profession before adding my voice.
Over the past few months, something meaningful shifted in AI and accounting: we moved past using AI as a thought partner or research tool. It is now performing actual financial tasks, taking on complex multi-step actions, and doing menial work that used to take time and strategic value away from team members.
For accounting firms, this shift is full of possibilities and full of uncertainty. The question is no longer whether AI will change this profession. That’s already happening.
The real questions are what AI means for the people inside your firms today, and for those who will join the profession tomorrow.
– Do the people driving this change really understand what accountants do every day?
– Do the technologists understand how this moment feels to those inside the profession?
After merging my firm, Acuity Accounting, into Sorren, I spent the year traveling and enjoying time with family and friends, while staying deeply connected to the community I love, thinking and talking with fellow accountants about where our profession was headed.
The harder I thought, the harder it became to stay on the sidelines.
When the team at Basis showed me what they were building and how committed they were to getting it right with accountants, I couldn’t help but get excited. After a year of watching this space, I felt like I had a good handle on where AI could make an impact. What Basis showed me made me realize I had significantly underestimated how far agents could go in helping accountants. When they invited me to join their brilliant, intentional team, I couldn’t say no. And one thing that surprised and genuinely excited me: Basis is full of my people, fellow accountants. CAS, tax, audit, Big 4 alumni, small firm veterans, public company controllers. People who get it.
That’s why I’ve joined Basis as Managing Partner In-Residence. I’ve accepted the role with honor, excitement, and a real sense of the weight that comes with it. I represent the accounting profession within Basis, not from a distance. I have a seat at the table to advocate for accountants and guide how agents work alongside people.
I am one of you, and I am here for you. To firm leaders: I’m here to help you think through this with someone who has sat in your chair. To staff: your experience in this transition matters, and someone is making sure it is heard.
Kuramoto’s appointment reflects Basis’s commitment to building a partnership with the accounting industry, said Matthew Harpe, CEO and co-founder of Basis.
“Accounting firms have an extraordinary opportunity ahead and Basis is committed to helping them seize it,” Harpe said in a statement. “We’ve built the most capable accounting AI platform, and we established a Deployed Intelligence team that works alongside firms to help them put it into practice. Now we’ve brought on Kenji, one of the most respected leaders in the profession, to help shape what comes next for Basis and the industry.”
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Kuramoto brings three decades of experience across nearly every dimension of the profession: Big Six public accounting (Arthur Andersen), in-house corporate finance, firm ownership, industry advising, and technology investing.
He founded Atlanta-based Acuity in 2004, building it into one of the most successful accounting firms of the cloud era, and led it for two decades before it was acquired by Sorren in 2025.
In a statement on Tuesday, Kuramoto said he’s bringing that experience to Basis to help firms across the profession navigate an even larger transformation.
“I’ve spent my entire career in accounting, and today our profession is facing the most exciting opportunities it has ever seen,” he said. “When I saw how Basis is approaching AI across CAS, tax, and audit, and how committed the team is to building alongside the profession, I knew I had to join.”
As managing partner in residence, Kuramoto will work directly with Basis customers, helping firm leaders navigate the transition to AI-enabled operations and bringing their perspectives back into the product.
“Kenji isn’t here to advise from the margins. He’s a full-time member of this team, in our office every day, creating the product with us,” Harpe said. “He is one of the industry’s most forward-thinking leaders, and he’s now spending 100% of his time helping firms meet this moment.”
Kuramoto joins a Basis team that includes accountants, machine learning experts, and engineers working side by side. The company now works with approximately 30% of the top 25 accounting firms, deploying agents that complete complex accounting workflows end to end.
Basis announced last month that it has raised $100 million in Series B funding—led by global venture capital firm Accel, along with GV (Google Ventures), billionaire investment banker Lloyd Blankfein, and with Khosla Ventures and other existing backers—at a $1.15 billion valuation.
Founded by Harpe and Mitchell Troyanovsky, the New York City-based startup has raised $138 million thus far.
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“The future of the profession is accountants and agents working together,” Kuramoto said. “Basis is building the technology that makes this possible, and the firms that embrace this change will define the next era of accounting. I’m here to help them get there.”
Photo caption: Kenji Kuramoto (Courtesy of Basis)
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