The more Jake Rose’s colleagues at ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½ and his neighbors around Chuluota, Florida, get to know him, the more he surprises them. The California native surfs and gardens. He is as comfortable building barns as he is building frameworks for AI-driven interfaces. He studied premed, minored in information systems and at heart admits to being β€œa closet psychologist.” He and his wife, who is now a visiting lecturer in the Kenneth G. Dixon School of Accounting at ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½, raised their two children in New Zealand and recently purchased seven acres of workable land in the Orlando area.

Through the emerging field of neuro-accounting, ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½ Professor Jake Rose is exploring how AI and neuroscience can transform the way accounting is understood, practiced and applied. (GIF by Antoine Hart)

The man with the callused hands is one of only a handful of professors in the world merging artificial intelligence (AI) and neuroscience to shape the future of the field he’s best known for at ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½ β€” accounting.

Welcome to the dawn of neuro-accounting.

β€œWhen my master’s students hear about these new ways to view and practice accounting and the tremendous difference technology can make, it heightens their interest,” says Rose, ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½’s Kenneth G. Dixon Eminent Scholar. He adds with a smile, β€œI’m also more relatable when they find out how I spend my weekends.”

“Accounting provides the information needed for [business] decision-making, and that’s why neuro-accounting will eventually impact the entire global economy.”

On his most recent Saturdays, he’s been using his hands to dig postholes for 2,000 linear feet of fencing while letting his mind do what comes naturally to him: envisioning the future. In this one, he sees Paso Fino horses and an orchard.

Then, fully refreshed on Monday, he’s Professor Rose again with his thoughts laser-focused on what he calls β€œthis unusual combination” of behavioral science, technology and accounting.

β€œI’ve never viewed accounting as just credits and debits,” he says. β€œWhen you take a step back, you see business is about decision-making. Accounting provides the information needed for this decision-making, and that’s why neuro-accounting will eventually impact the entire global economy.”

Trailblazing with Technology

Rose joined ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½ in August 2025 after directing accountancy programs at universities from the South Pacific to America’s heartland. He made the move because he recognized a unique culture in , which recently received a $50 million gift from entrepreneur and alum Barry Miller ’95 to strengthen tech-driven business education β€” including Rose’s work.

β€œThis is one of the very few business schools that want to pursue experimental work with technology,” Rose says. β€œI saw it as a unique place to make progress in neuro-accounting, which, other than ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½, only exists in a colleague’s lab in Australia.”

He’s made rapid progress. Within weeks of arriving at ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½, Rose was named the university’s Kenneth G. Dixon Eminent Scholar for excellence in accounting research. At the award ceremony, Rose emphasized the larger mission driving his work: β€œWe can literally improve the world.”

When he says β€œwe” in this context, he refers to a collaboration between people and advanced tech.

“When we design systems and interfaces that allow people and AI to make important decisions together, then every business and government can benefit.”

β€œThe basic mechanics of accounting are already being automated,” he says. β€œThe future will be about how people perceive risks within financial data and how technology can improve professional judgment. The consequences of good judgment are massive and affect businesses and lives worldwide. The truth is, we’re bad at dealing with large amounts of data because our brains are limited. But AI and other new technologies are expanding our limits. When we design systems and interfaces that allow people and AI to make important decisions together, then every business and government can benefit. The implications are massive.”

Those improvements, the way Rose sees them, will have their origins at ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½β€™s Dixon School of Accounting, in the first neuro-accounting lab of its kind in the U.S.

Fun and Fresh: The Future of Accounting

Rose already knows what the future lab could look like because he’s worked in the Business Behavioural Laboratory at Monash University in Australia. The Dixon School’s director, Jay Thibodeau, is currently seeking funding to bring the concept to ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½.

Once complete, the lab would allow researchers to measure how new technology and financial information influence crucial judgment factors like stress and attention.

β€œUltimately, we’ll be able to help firms make better decisions,” Rose says.

However, he doesn’t want to be one of the only people in the world who understands neuro-accounting.

β€œThis is why I love teaching,” Rose says. β€œI get to spread the word with students and let them experiment. It’s fun. They’re enthusiastic about taking accounting where no one has taken it.”