This study aimed to analyze the applicability of an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based game to promote transformative learning. This game simulates the budgeting process in a competitive environment for students enrolled in an undergraduate accounting program. The literature suggests that pedagogical strategies involving simulations, such as games, can be valuable by creating environments that replicate real-world business situations, fostering student engagement and the active construction of knowledge. Educational games have gained prominence in the field of education due to their ability to integrate theory and practice, providing more dynamic, interactive, and contextualized learning experiences. In Accounting education specifically, topics such as budget management can be academically addressed through the use of simulation games, offering a controlled environment in which students can make strategic decisions, evaluate outcomes, and refine their understanding based on the real consequences of their choices. This strategy supports the development of analytical, critical, and reflective skills, which are competencies that are essential for professional practice today. Additionally, the use of games in the classroom may enhance transformative learning, which occurs when new information is substantially and non-arbitrarily connected to the learner’s pre-existing knowledge structures. To achieve the proposed objective, reports produced by 22 student groups from a prestigious public university in Brazil were analyzed. These reports were part of the activities of an AI-based educational game used in the Business Budgeting course. This game was internally developed by the professor responsible for the course. The 22 reports were prepared by 124 students, as a final graded activity for the course, between the first semester of 2023 and the second semester of 2024. In these reports, students were required to present information on each of the five game rounds, reflecting on the decisions made and the results obtained throughout the game. The reflections indicate that students actively engaged in the challenge of simulating budgetary decisions in a competitive environment, preparing planning documents, analyzing financial statements, and adjusting their strategies at each round. The reports demonstrate that the knowledge construction process aligned with the different stages of transformative learning defined by Jack Mezirow. The main results show that students faced challenging situations through the use of the AI-based game, which pushed them out of their comfort zones and encouraged critical reflection on their decisions. Reassessment of strategies in response to unexpected outcomes and the adoption of new approaches were observed, indicating a deeper understanding of the interrelationships among various variables important to business budgeting, such as production, pricing, marketing, people management, and finance. These findings confirm the potential of the game to promote transformative learning in Accounting education. This research contributes to the advancement of both the literature and teaching practices by showing that active methodologies, such as educational games, have strong potential as tools for addressing complex concepts, such as business budgeting.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Transformative Learning, Accounting Education, Educational Games.