Stephen Hasker on talent shortage
From Steve Hasker, Thomson Reuter & Vanessa Liu, Appen | theCUBE + NYSE Wired: AI AGENT Conference 2026 · · SiliconANGLE theCUBE
“There is an acute talent shortage in that profession so over the last 10 to 15 years the number of returns has gone up. The complexity of those returns has gone up and the same for audits. And yet the number of college graduates who want to come in and become CPAs has declined marketkedly. So there's a huge gap in terms of performing that work and and candidly creating a functioning economy because they're essential to that. And so we think the technology has an enormous role to play.”
On , Stephen Hasker, President, Chief Executive Officer & Director at Thomson Reuters Corporation, spoke about talent shortage during Steve Hasker, Thomson Reuter & Vanessa Liu, Appen | theCUBE + NYSE Wired: AI AGENT Conference 2026 on SiliconANGLE theCUBE.
About Stephen Hasker
Stephen Hasker, President and CEO of Thomson Reuters, has recently discussed the company's focus on generative AI and its financial performance. On the Q1 2026 earnings call, Hasker reaffirmed the company's full-year outlook for organic growth of 7.5% to 8% and a margin increase to approximately 40%. He noted that Thomson Reuters raised its annual dividend by 10% for the fifth consecutive year and repurchased $262 million of shares in the first quarter. Hasker stated that the company has "more than $9 billion of estimated capital capacity through 2028" for inorganic opportunities and has deployed about $2.5 billion in acquisitions focused on its "big three" segments of law firms, tax accounting firms, and corporations. In public appearances, Hasker has emphasized that generative AI will be "as transformative as any of those disruptions" he has seen in his career, including the PC and internet. He described Thomson Reuters as serving "fiduciary grade AI" to professionals who "have to be right," combining content, data privacy, and support to ensure products do not hallucinate. Hasker argued that AI must "permeate every conversation" for board members, spanning strategy, talent, and risk oversight. He also noted that the company's proprietary "Thompson model" is "outperforming the frontier... models for certain legal tasks," providing optionality for future product development. Hasker advised new board members to prepare thoroughly and ask well-researched questions to find their voice early.