Why leading enterprises are turning to AI collaboration for strategic agility

While your competitors debate AI adoption, interviewed enterprises that adopted Thomson Reuters ONESOURCE+ modeled in a recent study have already realized $8.8 million in net present value over three years from connected, AI‑enabled governance and compliance environments. The window for competitive advantage is narrowing. The Total Economic Impact™ study (TEI), commissioned by Thomson Reuters and conducted by Forrester Consulting, reveals that enterprises leveraging AI-driven collaborative platforms achieved operational transformations, with a composite organization based on interviewed customers experiencing up to 95% reduction in fraud and 199% return on investment over three years.

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The shift from traditional controls to strategic enablement

The collaboration-agility connection: Proven results

Quantified strategic impact

Real-world strategic impact

The executive framework for implementation

The evidence points in one direction

The shift from traditional controls to strategic enablement

Today’s C-suite faces a critical business reality: maintaining competitive agility while meeting strict regulatory requirements across multiple jurisdictions. Traditional governance models rely on separate departments working in isolation with manual processes, creating delays that prevent rapid strategic responses when market timing is crucial. 

Additional research from Forrester Consulting, commissioned by Thomson Reuters in October 2025, shows that 80% of survey respondents recognize cross-departmental collaboration between corporate governance and compliance roles as important or critical for their organization’s ability to deliver on strategic business objectives². 

 AI-driven collaboration is transforming governance and compliance by fundamentally shifting how organizations manage risk, moving from reactive issue resolution to proactive risk prevention. These integrated platforms unite legal research, risk assessment, and tax compliance into cohesive workflows that deliver strategic intelligence, not just regulatory compliance checkboxes. 

However, the current reality reveals significant gaps. Some organizations often lack the required context to complete tasks that are part of cross-functional corporate governance and compliance workflows.

The collaboration-agility connection: Proven results

The Forrester research reveals that siloed data and teams across corporate governance and compliance roles are leading to increased compliance risks, inefficient decision-making, and poor customer experiences. As seen in Figure 6 below from the Forrester Consulting Thought Leadership Paper, there are several challenges that come from siloed workplaces².

Operational efficiency at scale. According to the Forrester Total Economic Impact™ study of Thomson Reuters ONESOURCE+, organizations implementing Thomson Reuters’ AI-driven governance platforms have achieved significant operational improvements. The research shows that the composite organization of 800 employees across legal, risk, tax, and trade departments can saved 20 hours per month per employee through automated workflows and intelligent collaboration tools. 

Fraud prevention excellence. The study reveals that AI-powered platforms enabled the interviewed organizations to reduce fraud by up to 95% compared to manual legacy methods.

Quantified strategic impact

Financial returns: The Forrester TEI study demonstrates substantial financial benefits of AI enhanced tools, with interviewed organizations achieving: 

• 199% return on investment over three years.
• $8.8 million net present value across legal research efficiency, risk automation, and trade compliance streamlining.
• Payback period of less than six months¹ as seen on page 6 on Forrester TEI study.

Operational transformation: Research interviewees reported: 

• • • Manual Foreign Trade Zone operations reduced from seven specialists to three, allowing teams to focus on strategic priorities¹.
    • Legal research and document review tasks cut by more than 50%.
    • Ability to maintain 2-3% annual growth without adding staff, highlighting improved scalability¹.

System consolidation: The composite organization avoided nearly $128,000 annually in legacy system costs by replacing fragmented databases and third-party data providers with Thomson Reuters’ integrated AI-driven platforms¹.

Real-world strategic impact

Cross-functional intelligence. When legal, risk, and business teams work within integrated AI platforms, they develop shared understanding of regulatory implications for strategic initiatives. As seen below in Figure 17 from the Forrester thought leadership paper, business leaders recognize significant value in unified solutions that integrate legal, risk, tax, and trade workflows, with the majority citing substantial benefits across critical operational areas ².

Scalable growth. Organizations can pursue expansion into new markets through compliance automation. Denied party screening and export tools ensure regulatory compliance across regions, enabling confident entry into new geographies and customer segments¹.

The executive framework for implementation

Phase 1: Foundation assessment (0-6 months) 

• • Evaluate current governance technology stack and quantify manual process costs 
  • Establish cross-functional AI governance team with representation from legal, risk, IT, and business units 
  • Implement pilot programs targeting high-impact areas identified in operational efficiency studies 

Phase 2: Strategic integration (6-18 months) 

• • Deploy integrated AI-powered solutions for collaboration across critical governance functions 
  • Develop intelligent workflows that connect compliance activities to business strategy 
  • Train leadership teams on AI-enhanced decision-making processes 

Phase 3: Competitive advantage (18+ months) 

• • Leverage AI insights for strategic regulatory positioning 
  • Use predictive capabilities to influence industry standards and regulatory development 
  • Scale successful models across global operations 

The evidence points in one direction

The organizations that will lead in the coming decade are those that treat governance and compliance as strategic strengths. The 2025 Forrester Total Economic Impact™ study shows that modern collaboration platforms can deliver significant, quantifiable value while helping companies move with greater speed and confidence. 

With a quantified 199% ROI and up to 95% reduction in fraud, the question becomes simple: can today’s enterprises afford to rely on traditional governance models that slow their response to market demands? More critically: can your organization afford to let competitors gain the strategic advantage while you remain locked in manual, siloed governance processes that cost millions and deliver minimal strategic value?

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See how integrated governance and compliance tech improves collaboration, speeds decisions, and boosts agility

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_{Sources: ¹ Forrester Consulting, “The Total Economic Impact™ of Thomson Reuters ONESOURCE+,” commissioned by Thomson Reuters, October 2025.} 

_{² Forrester Consulting, Thought Leadership Paper “AI Meets Governance And Compliance: Enabling Cross-Functional Intelligence To Accelerate Strategic Execution,” commissioned by Thomson Reuters, October 2025.} 

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