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About Me
David Culley FCCA, FIoL
I'm a fellow of both the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Institute of Leadership, and moved into professional education in 2006 following a career in finance at John Lewis and AXA as well as leadership roles in SMEs and start-ups.
In 2018, I founded Adept Training, specialising in AI literacy, finance business partnering and leadership development. Alongside collaborations with AICPA & CIMA, ICAEW and ACCA, I have worked extensively across government and the public sector for clients including the UK Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Defence and the National Health Service. Commercial clients include BAE Systems, KP Snacks, Legal & General, Lenovo and Shell.
But things nearly turned out very differently for me.
I never thought I'd become an accountant...
Back in 1996, as I neared the end of my Law and Human Resource Management degree, a careers adviser suggested I become an accountant.
I walked out of the room in disgust. After all, I thought, why would anybody want to be a bean-counter?
After graduating, I managed a project for New Look to assess the performance of its new shops across Europe. I really enjoyed gathering information about the business and analysing it to direct the company's future strategy.
It took me a year to realise that the work I was enjoying so much was actually accountancy.
Since qualifying as a accountant myself, I've become convinced that accountants and finance professionals are often misunderstood and undervalued by those outside the profession.
At the same time, I have to admit that we, as a profession, haven't always been good at showing what we can contribute to an organisation.
This is one of the reasons I moved into professional education. I want to help accountants and finance professionals develop the skills and confidence to challenge stereotypes, demonstrate the value of their insight and influence their organisations for the better.
“One of the best training courses I’ve been on in over 15 years in the industry. David was incredibly enthusiastic and knowledgeable, very engaging, happy to answer off-topicquestions, and kept the material at a good pace.”
The thinking behind Adept
Soon after founding Adept, I began researching how AI might change accountancy. I quickly realised that the old bean-counter stereotype was becoming increasingly damaging: if accountants are seen solely as people who process and report numbers, it’s easy to assume that technology will make them redundant.
This assumption overlooks what accountants really do. AI presents real opportunities for the profession, provided we engage with the technology and develop the human skills needed to make the most of it.
I’ve developed a comprehensive portfolio of AI courses designed specifically for accountants and finance professionals, covering everything from first principles through to implementation, regulation and ethics. Each course draws on real-world examples, practical applications and the latest research, and is continually updated as the technology evolves.
Alongside my AI courses, I offer training that develops the human skills AI can’t replace. My report, People Will Be the Next Big Thing, argues that, as machines deliver more analysis, it falls to accountants to provide the judgement, communication and leadership that turn insight into action.
If you’d like your practice or finance team to be seen as far more than bean-counters, I’d be glad to talk about how I could help.
“David was brilliant, enthusiastic and concise. He covered all the points we requested. He was articulate and brought a great energy to the day.”
Get in touch
I am based in Bristol, UK, but travel nationally and internationally to deliver my courses.