DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND ETHICAL SENSITIVITY IN THE FUTURE OF THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION

This study examines the role of ethical sensitivity in promoting responsible digital transformation and shaping the future of the accounting profession. Digitalization has significantly transformed accounting practices through artificial intelligence, cloud accounting, big data analytics, robotic process automation, and digital accounting information systems, creating new ethical challenges related to data privacy, transparency, algorithmic bias, professional accountability, and governance. Using a quantitative approach, data were collected from 214 graduates of the Professional Accountant Education Program (PPAk) and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that ethical sensitivity has a positive and significant effect on both digital transformation and the future of the accounting profession. Digital transformation also has a positive and significant effect on the future of the accounting profession and partially mediates the relationship between ethical sensitivity and the future of the accounting profession. These findings indicate that the future relevance of accountants depends not only on technological adaptation but also on ethical sensitivity, which promotes responsible digital transformation, professional accountability, transparency, and public trust.