In a new action plan based on the Thomson Reuters’ third annual “Future of Professionals Report”, and specifically designed for corporate enabling functions, leaders can gain a clear pathway for their teams to develop and implement AI strategies to improve efficiency and return more value to their organizations
Key findings:
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AI’s impact on corporate functions — The vast majority of professionals in various corporate enabling functions — legal, risk, trade, and tax, audit & accounting — say they expect AI to have a high or even transformational impact on their work.
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Many organizations lack a clear AI strategy — While almost half of professionals say they expect AI to bring transformational or high levels of change within their departments this year, less than one-in-five say their departments have an AI strategy in place.
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Importance of talent development — Effective AI deployment requires significant investment in talent, our research shows, with ongoing training and skill development being crucial for maximizing AI investment.
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Not surprisingly, AI is the single driver set to have the biggest impact on corporate work over the next five years, according to Thomson Reuters 2025 Future of Professionals Report, with 81% of corporate professionals saying that they expect AI to fundamentally alter the course of how their internal functions operate.
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Future of Professionals Report 2025: Actionable insights for corporate leaders
It is not just speculation — the shift is well underway as more than half (55%) of corporate respondents say their organizations are already investing in new AI tools. This strong involvement indicates a clear understanding that AI has the potential to streamline operations, improve decision-making, and generate significant efficiencies across all departments.
You can download your copy of the 2025 Future of Professionals Report here
However, despite this widespread recognition of the transformative power of AI and the rapid rate of adoption, there are still many corporate professionals that have yet to start thinking about how AI can be integrated into their workflows. Just 19% of respondents said their internal departments have an AI strategy in place — and that could be a problem for laggard departments. Our research shows definitively that those organizations with well-defined AI strategies are almost four times as likely to see benefits than those organizations without a comprehensive AI strategy.
Without a solid roadmap, even if an organization made large investments in AI, those outlays could become scattered and underused, wasting resources and resulting in missed opportunities.
Clearly, strong guidance is needed for corporate leaders to develop a well-defined AI strategy that will allow them to move their organizations forward in an increasingly tech-driven environment. In this new paper, Future of Professionals Report 2025: Actionable insights for corporate leaders, specifically tailored to professionals within internal corporate functions, we offer clear steps that department and C-Suite leaders can take to build a framework of AI investment and adoption so their corporate teams can bring demonstrable added value to their organizations by leveraging advanced technology.
This action plan draws from the perspectives of more than 600 professionals within corporate legal, risk & compliance, and tax & accounting departments as well as respondents within global trade and the wider corporate C-Suite. Responses were spread across more than 50 countries around the globe.
Those organizations adopting this holistic approach… will not only survive but thrive, [and] they will redefine professional services, turning functions often seen as cost centers into strategic value drivers.
Some of these actionable insights outlined in this paper discuss how corporate teams should focus on assessment principles by aligning their AI strategy with their overall organizational and departmental strategies while establishing a clear approach to managing and securing company data. Teams also should prioritize early AI initiatives by identifying two or three high-impact, high-feasibility pilot projects that address critical pain points for the team, such as contract analysis, regulatory monitoring, or tax provision automation. Then, they should define key performance indicators (KPIs) to track the success of such initiatives.
Critically, the paper urges organizations to establish strategic principles by investing in talent and training, while identifying any skills gaps among their professionals. As our research makes clear, effective AI deployment requires significant investment in both technology and corporate talent. Ongoing training and skill development are crucial for maximizing AI’s ROI — because tomorrow’s corporate professionals must be prepared to operate AI tools and critically assess outputs while building the judgment necessary for proper compliance.
“Those organizations adopting this holistic approach — combining strong AI strategies with comprehensive talent development and a relentless focus on strategic deployment and measurable outcomes — will not only survive but thrive,” says Laura A. Clayton McDonnell, President of the Corporates business segment at Thomson Reuters. “They will redefine professional services, turning functions often seen as cost centers into strategic value drivers.”
Our research strongly underscores the importance of a well-defined AI strategy, comprehensive talent development, and a focus on strategic deployment and measurable outcomes. Organizations that embrace these principles will thrive by striving to turn corporate functions into strategic value drivers as they gain a competitive edge in an increasingly AI-driven future.
You can download
a full copy of the Future of Professionals Report 2025: Actionable insights for corporate leadershere
