Surgent's Build an AI Agent With ChatGPT: A Hands-on Lab for Financial Professionals

Overview

This hands-on course introduces accountants, auditors, and finance professionals to agentic AI by simulating autonomous behavior using the basic version of ChatGPT. Participants will use role-play, prompt engineering, and guided interaction loops to create agents that simulate planning, decision-making, and communication workflows. No coding or advanced access is required. Participants will practice designing task-specific prompts, simulating agent autonomy using flipped interaction patterns, and evaluating agent output for risk and effectiveness. This course makes agentic AI accessible to all learners through practical, scenario-based exercises using tools they already have.

Objectives

• Understand the building blocks of agentic behavior using basic ChatGPT
• Create and simulate task-specific agents using prompt engineering techniques
• Practice flipped interaction patterns that showcase autonomous agent workflows
• Evaluate agent responses for bias, limitations, and control weaknesses
• Apply ethical and professional guidelines to simulated agent deployments

Highlights

• Agentic simulation using prompt design and structured interaction
• Flipped agent/user roles in ChatGPT (autonomy emulation)
• Use case walkthroughs: audit Q&A bot, tax helper, financial planning agent
• Risk scenarios: hallucinations, scope creep, prompt hacking
• Governance, professional skepticism, and documentation best practices

Designed For

CPAs, CFOs, controllers, finance managers, tax professionals, advisors, and financial professionals seeking hands-on experience with AI tools and workflows

Prerequisites

None

Preparation

Access to ChatGPT during the course is encouraged but not required. Participants can create a free account by visiting chatgpt.com and clicking “Sign Up.”

Notice

To access this program, log into your CTCPA account at https://www.ctcpas.org/my-cpe/upcoming and click on the orange "Launch Event" button.