The U.K.’s audit regulator has issued what it says is the world’s first guidance on the use of generative AI and agentic AI in auditing. This sets out where AI should and shouldn’t be used in auditing, and why audit firms will not be able to blame the tech if it goes wrong.

Ruth Prickett graduated from Cambridge University with a BA hons in History and has specialized in business and finance journalism for the past 20 years. She was editor of Financial Management, the magazine...