Mathias Celis

Co-founder of Alkmist and behavioral scientist at Ghent University
October 12, 2026
Audit
Best Fyxer Alternatives for Audit Teams in 2026
Seven Fyxer alternatives compared for audit and due diligence teams, with a scorecard on request tracking, follow-up automation and secure client collaboration.
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October 12, 2026
Insight
Best AI Email-to-Task Tools for Compliance Teams
Seven AI email-to-task tools compared for compliance and due diligence teams, with a scorecard on task tracking, follow-up and secure handoff.
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October 10, 2026
Insight
The burnout debate has a blind spot. You look at it 77 times a day.
New Ghent University figures put one in three Belgian employees in the burnout danger zone. The usual advice treats symptoms. The cause sits in your inbox.
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October 1, 2026
Audit
Inflo vs Box for PBC Collection in 2026
Inflo, Box and structured audit request workflows compared on gap assessments, PBC tracking, secure collaboration and client follow-up for audit teams.
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October 1, 2026
M&A
Best Due Diligence Portals for M&A Advisors
Six due diligence portals compared for M&A advisors, with a scorecard on request workflows, secure sharing and multi-party coordination, and a guide by deal role.
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October 1, 2026
Insight
Best GDPR Client Portals for Data Rights Workflows
Six GDPR client portals compared on what matters when someone exercises a data right: finding every file, showing who accessed it, and acting within one month.
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June 9, 2026
Audit
Busy season is a coordination problem, not a workload problem
Eighty percent of audit and tax professionals worked more than 51 hours a week during the 2024/25 busy season. Firms blame volume. The 2025 data from Financial Cents, Inside Public Accounting, and Microsoft points to a different culprit: the chasing, the threads, the Excel request lists.
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June 2, 2026
Insight
The psychology of inbox zero: why an empty inbox doesn't quiet an anxious mind
Inbox zero was never about how many emails sit in your inbox. It was about how much of your brain sits in there. Here is what the psychology research from Merlin Mann, Bluma Zeigarnik, Gloria Mark, and the Microsoft Work Trend Index actually says, and why senior professionals feel more anxious after archiving the last email, not less.
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May 25, 2026
News
Signal S1.EP4: We brought a pharmacy to Accountex
Two days, one fake pharmacy, and the hardest hire on earth is no longer who you think it is. AI skills just topped the global talent shortage for the first time in history. 52% of insurance leaders say client communication will decide who wins in 2026. This Signal unpacks what those shifts mean, plus the behind-the-scenes of how we showed our new product to the world at Accountex 2026.
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May 19, 2026
Tips
The hidden cost of email in professional services: 11 hours a week, gone
Senior professionals in accounting, audit, M&A, and broking lose nearly a quarter of their week to email. McKinsey puts it at 11 hours. Microsoft puts the interruption count at 275 a day. Here is what the 2025 and 2026 data actually shows, and what to do about it.
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April 27, 2026
Insight
The AI trust paradox in professional services: why 88% trust the output and 89% still check it themselves
87% of professional services firms are adding AI agents. Only 12% trust their own data, and 89% still verify every AI output by hand. New Kantata and HBR research shows why automation on top of unstructured external collaboration creates more work, not less, and what firms need to fix first.
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April 22, 2026
Insight
Two Big 4 firms, two opposite bets on AI agents. What the research actually says.
PwC is cutting US entry-level hiring by a third. EY just deployed AI agents to 130,000 auditors and kept headcount flat. Two Big 4 firms, two opposite bets on what AI agents mean for people. Here's what the MIT research actually says about which approach works.
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April 20, 2026
News
Signal S1.EP3: Your junior consultant is now an AI agent
One big move from PwC, one quiet move from us. 73% of clients now expect real-time visibility into project status, while 89% of services leaders still manually verify AI outputs before sharing them. This Signal unpacks PwC's launch of PwC One, what mid-market firms should take from it, and a stat that might make you rethink how your team works with AI.
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March 21, 2025
Audit
Quantification Fixation: Why Audit Firms choose the wrong audit software
Same choice, different emphasis, yet decisions flipped based on what had a number attached. This bias isn’t just about hotels. It affects every decision we make, including how we choose audit software. Now, think about how this plays out in audit software selection.
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