YC Root Access

This Is The Next Industry AI Will Disrupt

AI is already transforming entire professions like software engineering and law. And accounting might be next. In this episode of The Breakdown, YC’s Tom Blomfield and David Lieb sat down with Onshore founder Dominic Vitucci to find out just how AI is fundamentally changing one of the world’s oldest professions and what that could mean for the future of white collar work.

DVDominic VitucciguestTBTom BlomfieldhostDLDavid Liebhost

Mar 7, 2026·33m·Watch on YouTube ↗

📖 CHAPTERS

1. 1

   Why accounting firms are ripe for disruption (middleman problem)

   Dominic argues that Big Four–style reverence isn’t earned and that accounting firms have inserted themselves as expensive intermediaries between companies and regulatory outcomes. He frames AI as enabling a structural shift in how accounting, tax, and audit outcomes get produced and delivered.

2. 2

   What junior accountants actually do: spreadsheet labor and “substantiation”

   The conversation breaks down accounting work in computer-science terms: moving data between documents, doing arithmetic in spreadsheets, and creating documentation that can be defended. Dominic’s R&D tax credit story illustrates how much of the work is repetitive information gathering and transcription.

3. 3

   R&D tax credits as a flagship wedge: rules, incentives, and evidence

   Dominic explains the purpose of R&D credits—government incentives to keep research domestic—and why the workflow hinges on credible support. He highlights how modern data sources (Jira, Git, tickets) make evidence gathering more automatable, especially in software-heavy companies.

4. 4

   From RPA theater to frontier models: why automation works now

   Dominic contrasts earlier automation efforts (RPA tools, certifications, licenses) with today’s frontier models that can interpret language and documents. He argues that capabilities crossed a threshold: models can now match or exceed junior/mid-level staff on many tasks—and will only improve.

5. 5

   Dominic’s path to YC: accounting + CS background and the Onshore mission

   Dominic shares his background at Grant Thornton and studying accounting and computer science, which positioned him to see both the domain pain and the software opportunity. He defines Onshore as automating accounting-firm work (starting with tax) and eventually expanding into audit/advisory.

6. 6

   Why incumbents won’t self-disrupt: incentives, pensions, and lack of engineers

   Dominic claims Big Four transformation talk is mostly PR: buying Copilot seats isn’t building new systems. Structural incentives block change—partners bill hours and near-retirement leaders won’t invest in changes that reduce their payout or require long-horizon bets.

7. 7

   The go-to-market pivot: selling to firms failed, so Onshore went direct to corporations

   Dominic recounts building software to sell into accounting firms, landing some customers, but facing resistance from the people whose jobs depended on billable hours. He then ‘fired’ firm customers, rebuilt for corporate taxpayers, and started cold outbound—closing early deals directly with companies.

8. 8

   Getting into YC and building credibility: the role of a senior-partner cofounder

   The episode covers Onshore’s YC acceptance timing and how credibility matters when replacing big logos like Deloitte/Grant Thornton. Dominic explains recruiting Mark, a senior Grant Thornton partner, for domain authority and sales credibility—and reflects on Mark’s passing in 2024.

9. 9

   What happens to the Big Four: revenue up, pyramid reshaped, new kinds of workers

   Dominic predicts a tectonic shift: fewer junior layers, more automation, and a reconfiguration toward sales, compliance, and technical talent. He expects the industry’s revenue to grow, but job composition to change—potentially with more work moving in-house at corporations.

10. 10

    Onshore’s growth metrics: revenue-per-employee as the disruptive wedge

    Dominic shares aggressive targets: ~$25M current revenue with a goal of $100M in 2026, with ~60–100 employees. They compare this efficiency to legacy firms’ much lower revenue per employee, arguing incumbents may worsen it further by offshoring rather than productizing.

11. 11

    Product strategy: start with a wedge (R&D credits), then expand via customer pull

    Dominic defends the ‘do one thing extremely well’ approach rather than trying to replace all of Deloitte at once. He describes expansion as customer-driven: succeeding on the initial module earns trust and generates adjacent requests that guide product roadmap.

12. 12

    The next disruption target: reimagining Excel for non-technical professionals

    Asked what he’d build next, Dominic points to a better Excel—arguing spreadsheets have been stretched into workflows they weren’t designed for. He envisions tools between Excel and vibe-coding platforms like Replit, reducing app sprawl by capturing ‘macro’ workflows rather than single functions.

13. 13

    Adoption curve and labor impact: capability arrives before layoffs

    They close by comparing AI progress in software engineering to what’s coming for accounting and law: models meet or exceed expectations, but employment shifts lag. Dominic notes customer attitudes have changed—from downplaying AI to customers asking to see AI at work—signaling growing acceptance.