The Clearview

Building the platform

Earlier attempts across the profession to present a unified experience often left gaps. Countries used different tools. Fees were negotiated among multiple service providers, slowing us down. Work moved at different speeds. Coordination took too much time. We took a different approach — starting with what global organizations actually need, then building the platform around those expectations.

Last year, we launched the Grant Thornton Advisors platform with support from an investor group led by New Mountain Capital. The idea is simple: bring a best-in-class team of advisory and tax services into a single, unified structure across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. Keep audit independent, as it should be. And give global organizations one coordinated team. We continue to be an essential part of the Grant Thornton International network, and our unified structure in strategic markets empowers us to work with greater agility, drive rapid innovation, and collaborate more effectively across the network.

We started the year at $2.2 billion and will end closer to $4 billion. What was a 9,000-person organization is now more than 20,000 strong, spread across nearly 160 offices in more than 20 countries and territories. And we are not finished yet.

Now, under one platform, we can move at speed — a key differentiator for us in the market. Scale only matters if it makes the work better. Our unified model removes friction because we have operational and financial alignment and can make decisions and execute with speed. Teams across countries will use shared technology and a shared way of working. A finance transformation project in one country can draw on systems integration teams in another. A multi-country engagement feels like a cohesive team.

This model creates a differential value proposition for our people and our clients. But we have always stayed true to our knitting: people who know how the work gets done, with results clients can measure and technology that strengthens quality.

We have also expanded our capabilities by targeted acquisitions that bring further scale and expertise to our solution offerings. US acquisitions like Auxis strengthens nearshore managed services across finance, IT and risk and Stax adds commercial diligence and value creation. These are skills organizations rely on when making significant decisions and pursuing growth.

The work is multinational in scope and local in spirit. Local leaders stay close to their markets; now they have the resources of a larger platform behind them, while still remaining a part of the broader Grant Thornton International network with access to even more talent across the globe. Collaboration has increased because the structure makes it natural. It gives clients confidence to expand without wondering whether their advisor can keep up.

A billion-dollar commitment to AI and technology

AI has already changed the work. In many ways, the last year brought more change than the previous decade. Real-time data and automation now shape how finance functions operate. Clients expect advisors to match that pace and bring clarity to where AI can help, where it should be slowed down and how to manage risk across borders. We saw early that AI would reshape how global finance operates, so we accelerated our investment to meet that moment head-on.

We had a choice: stay on the same path or commit quickly. Our plan to invest $1 billion to bring modern technology and AI tools to every professional across the platform makes our position clear. The platform gives us the scale and alignment to use that investment well. AI only matters if it reaches every team and improves the work they do together.

We continue to roll out technology tools to teammates as they join our platform serving as enablers to our delivery process. We are also developing an AI vertical focused on client solutions. The goal is straightforward. It is not to replace people, but to give them more capacity to focus on the judgments that matter. Decisions are made faster and with even more quality, which leads to faster and better outcomes for our clients who are trying to grow in demanding markets.

A platform that creates opportunity

Teams need broader skills across data, analytics and technology. We not only hire strong accounting graduates, but also those who can build, automate and connect systems. The platform we built anticipates that shift — giving people a place where they can learn, move and grow ahead of the curve.

This shift opens the door to more meaningful work earlier in careers. People can move between countries, work with different teams and build skills faster than before. That changes the trajectory of opportunity and makes this platform a place where people want to and can build long careers.

That energy shows up in how we deliver work and how we help clients move faster. Organizations want support that matches the pace and shape of their own operations. Everything we are building is designed to help them grow with greater clarity, deeper connection and fewer barriers across borders. The intent has always been the same: stay a step ahead of what clients will need next.

When a client walks into a room, they should feel the same confidence that our client’s CFO did earlier this year.

Staying a step ahead always opens opportunity. I learned that early in my career. I started in investment banking and eventually moved into consulting. A few years later, in an elevator in the Chrysler Building in Manhattan, I ran into a friendly competitor who invited me to learn more about Grant Thornton. I thought it would be a three- to five-year chapter. That was almost twenty years ago.

The lesson stayed with me: do not be afraid of change. When the right door opens, take a step. What you find on the other side might be better than anything you ever expected.

That is the spirit behind this platform. Grant Thornton has been evolving with clients for more than 100 years. This is the next step: a platform built for the way global finance works today and tomorrow. Some CFOs are already operating in that future; others are trying to keep up. Our job is to meet them where they are and help them move toward where the market is heading.