In Today’s Talent Race, Culture Is What Sets the Winners Apart

Like many industries, the accounting profession’s talent pipeline ebbs and flows, requiring leaders to regularly reevaluate, nurture, and pivot as organizational and employee needs evolve.

Organizations that thrive have often made people and culture central to their business strategies. They continually revisit how to attract, develop, and retain people as the talent landscape shifts. At BDO, over 90% of employees report a sense of belonging, according to our 2025 annual employee engagement survey. This isn’t a vanity metric; it translates directly to business. Nearly two-thirds of our firm’s growth over the past dozen years was organic, not acquired. Clients stayed, expanded their work, and referred us because of the relationships our people built. It’s an example of culture positively impacting a company’s bottom line.

When I first became CEO, I knew we needed a clear strategic foundation. That led to our CLIMB strategy — BDO’s first-ever firmwide strategic roadmap. It unified our business and helped us achieve the numerous milestones we have reached over the past decade. The “C” in CLIMB stands for “Culture.” I wanted to make it clear to employees, clients, and the industry that culture is the prerequisite for everything we do as an organization.

The initiatives that followed CLIMB were built on this foundation, helping guide decisions and reinforcing our commitment to helping people thrive. That commitment was tested in real time during the COVID-19 pandemic. In moments of uncertainty, leaders quickly learn whether culture is something they simply talk about or something they truly live by. Our leadership team leaned in — listening closely, communicating consistently, and trusting our people to navigate unprecedented disruption while continuing to deliver exceptional service to our clients. We emerged stronger than I could have anticipated, further reinforcing my belief that culture is not static; it is built together and must evolve alongside the people it exists to support.

Culture alone doesn’t keep talent engaged when work fundamentally changes. That’s where technology comes in — the second theme that has shaped my leadership tenure.

Firms Treating AI Just as an Efficiency Play Will Fall Behind

The temptation with AI is to view it solely as an efficiency tool — doing the same work faster and, in some areas of the business, reducing costs. Leaders who only see it through that lens miss the bigger opportunity — and risk losing the people who make their work possible. High performers want to apply their expertise to more complex and meaningful challenges. The real value of AI lies in augmenting the capacity of intellectually curious people with specialized training, sound judgment, and genuine human empathy.

That conviction has shaped how we approached AI at BDO. We have long believed technology, including AI, must be purpose-built to support the day-to-day needs of the people already using it. Since our people trust that technology supports them, we’re seeing meaningful returns on investment.

Through our Agent Builder program, our people have created hundreds of custom AI agents — some improving individual workflows, others shared across teams. BDO professionals aren’t just using AI for traditional applications; they’re building new ones. That kind of innovation doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the product of training and upskilling that gives our people the confidence to use these tools — freeing them to focus on the critical thinking, problem solving, and client advisory skills that technology cannot replace. Programs like our AI Ambassadors initiative, peer-led workshops, and customized learning paths have laid that foundation.

Agentic AI is the latest advancement in a line of innovations that have transformed organizations like BDO. The lesson from every previous wave holds true: organizations are better positioned to navigate change when they’ve built a culture that embraces it. That starts with trust. If people don’t trust that a company’s leadership is investing in their future, they won’t fully embrace transformation. No amount of investment will deliver returns without your people’s buy-in and support.

Transformation Sticks When People Have a Stake in the Outcome

Culture sets the foundation. Technology provides the tools. Lasting transformation requires something more. People need to believe that the success they are building is genuinely shared.

For BDO, the priority has always been to build a multigenerational firm, not solely to deliver returns on a fixed time horizon. That’s why in 2023, we became the first major accounting and advisory firm to establish an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), effectively giving every employee a beneficial ownership stake in the firm at no cost to them and a unique opportunity to enhance their personal financial well-being.

The impact has been more than financial — it’s been behavioral. When we ask professionals to embrace new tools and processes, they don’t ask how it affects their job. They ask, “How does this affect the value I own?” That mindset shift is what separates compliance from commitment.

People who feel they own a stake in the outcome don’t just adopt change — they drive it. I’m not arguing that an ESOP is the right model for every company. I am arguing that leaders should ask themselves a harder question: Does your company’s structure give people a genuine reason to go all in? If the answer is no, culture and technology investments alone won’t close the gap.

Ultimately, sustainable transformation takes hold when people are not only supported by culture and technology, but also personally invested in the collective success of the organization.

The Choices Ahead

The past 14 years have reinforced one thing for me: there is no single investment that drives transformation. It’s the interplay between a culture that values people, technology that elevates their expertise, and a structure that gives them a genuine stake in the outcome.

The best people want to solve hard problems and make a real difference. They’re also asking whether the companies they join will invest in them, and whether they’ll have a voice. The leaders who ask the hard questions about how these pieces fit together — and move intentionally on the answers — will shape the next decade.

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