Thomson Reuters 2026 Future of Professionals: $143B at Risk, 41% Using Shadow AI — Execution Is the Imperative

Thomson Reuters' 2026 Future of Professionals report — based on 1,816 global professionals across 62 countries, surveyed March–April 2026 — documented a structural execution gap that is now generating financial consequences. The headline finding: $143 billion in U.S. client revenue is at active risk of reassignment, with a third of corporate clients putting more than $1 million in annual work in the balance. The talent data is equally consequential for mid-sized firm leadership: 24% of professionals are considering leaving within two years if they do not see the AI-related value they expect, and 62% say access to professional-grade AI would be a factor in accepting a new role. The shadow AI finding is the most operationally urgent governance signal: one third of lawyers, accountants, and compliance professionals are already using AI tools their organization has not approved — a figure that rises to 41% among those who say their organization is moving too slowly. For mid-sized firm IT directors and COOs, the shadow AI number is a diagnostic: it measures the gap between what professionals need and what the firm has sanctioned, and it is filling itself with unmanaged risk exposure every day the gap exists.