Meridian, Idaho
Sorren, a PE-backed national CPA firm that has completed 10+ acquisitions since mid-2024, had pockets of AI experimentation across the organization. Individual teams were exploring tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Claude on their own, but without a coordinated strategy these efforts were fragmented, inconsistent across service lines, and difficult to communicate to the board or investors with confidence.
As Sorren continued integrating acquired firms into a single platform, leadership recognized the need to move from bottoms-up experimentation to a cohesive AI strategy with alignment across functions, service lines, and executive stakeholders. The leadership was looking for structure, governance, and a strategic foundation that could hold up in a board room.
Edgefield Group partnered with Sorren's Executive Chairman Mike O'Donnell, CIO Jim DeFruscio, and senior leadership over several months to deliver a holistic engagement spanning governance, hands-on learning, and strategic alignment.
Edgefield supported Jim and the IT team as they built Sorren's AI governance infrastructure. With Edgefield's guidance, Jim's team established an initial two-tiered committee structure: an AI Steering Committee for strategic oversight and a broader AI Committee of ~23 members spanning IT, HR, marketing, accounting, and all three service lines.
Edgefield advised on the development of Sorren's AI policy, covering approved tools and data classification, and provided a structured comparison of ChatGPT and Copilot to help the team determine the right sequencing for rollout.
Edgefield delivered a hands-on AI Foundations cohort for 25-30 members of the AI Committee. Rather than focusing on tool training in isolation, the program was designed as a structured learning environment: giving committee members firsthand experience inside Microsoft Copilot across the M365 suite, surfacing non-obvious functionalities particularly useful for accountants, and creating a shared vocabulary the committee could carry into the firm's broader AI strategy work. The cohort was the firm's first coordinated, cross-functional experience of working inside AI tools together.
Edgefield evaluated Sorren's AI readiness across four pillars: People, Process, Technology, and Growth, and guided the executive team through the broader implications of AI for the firm. Ellen Choi facilitated an executive alignment session with Mike, Jim, and senior leadership to build a shared understanding of Sorren's AI position and the firm's strategic direction.
Edgefield also drew on its cross-firm vendor knowledge to help leadership cut through the noise and understand what an AI-ready technology stack looks like for Sorren. Throughout the engagement, Edgefield served as an ongoing strategic thought partner to Sorren's leadership, working through the substantive questions shaping the firm's AI direction: how AI reshapes the firm's competitive position, what it means for service line economics and talent, and how to frame all of it productively for the board and internal leaders.
Through the engagement, Sorren established the foundation to lead AI as a firm rather than as scattered teams:
