Thomson Reuters has launched a new era in professional-grade artificial intelligence with the debut of agentic AI systems, starting with CoCounsel for tax, audit, and accounting professionals. The rollout marks a significant evolution from current AI assistants to systems that understand goals, break them into steps, act autonomously, and escalate when needed—all while maintaining human oversight.

“Agentic AI isn’t a marketing buzzword. It’s a new blueprint for how complex work gets done,” said David Wong, Chief Product Officer at Thomson Reuters. Unlike basic generative tools, these agents are embedded directly into core products like Checkpoint, Westlaw, and Practical Law, using domain-specific logic and expert input to operate within accepted professional standards.

The initiative gained momentum with the 2024 acquisition of Materia, an AI co-pilot startup focused on agentic systems. These capabilities are already deployed among major accounting firms and will now extend across legal, risk, compliance, and tax workflows in 2025.

The company’s new CoCounsel tool integrates with internal documents, Checkpoint, and IRS code to automate memo drafting, compliance reviews, and complex jurisdictional comparisons. Users report major time savings—what once took days can now be done in under an hour using firm-customized templates and agentic reasoning.

“This isn’t GenAI in a prettier wrapper,” said Kevin Merlini, VP of Product and former CEO of Materia. “CoCounsel acts with context and integrates into professionals’ workflows. It’s purpose-built for high-stakes work.”

Backed by OpenAI’s foundational models, CoCounsel represents a real-world application of agentic AI in mission-critical environments. Future expansions will include “Ready to Review,” a tax prep system that drafts and validates returns, and legal workflows for document drafting, deposition analysis, and compliance risk management.

Built with enterprise-grade architecture, 20B+ documents, and 4,500 subject matter experts, Thomson Reuters says its agentic platform is already shaping the next generation of professional work. The launch adds to the company’s broader transformation into a global technology provider, serving the full spectrum of the legal, regulatory, tax, and compliance industries.

“As we re-architect workflows, one thing is clear,” said Wong. “The future of work is already here—and it’s being built inside Thomson Reuters.”