KAREN ABRAMSON CEO Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting
Established as far back as 1836, Wolters Kluwer benefits from almost two centuries of deep domain knowledge teamed with advanced technology. Expertise and trusted know-how have remained its guiding principles from day one.
Wolters Kluwer is a global provider of professional information, software solutions, and services for clinicians, accountants, lawyers, and tax, finance, audit, risk, compliance, and regulatory sectors. The company helps professionals enhance workflows and make informed decisions through expert solutions, which deliver better outcomes, analytics, and improved productivity, while also solving complex problems for customers.
Karen Abramson is CEO of Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting, a leading global provider of information, software, and integrated workflow solutions for tax, accounting, and audit professionals. She leads Wolters Kluwer’s tax and accounting operations worldwide, with activities across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Milestone spoke to her about how the company is weathering the pandemic and how she’s helped shape its strategy.
Unity in crisis
So, how has COVID affected Wolters Kluwer’s outlook in 2021 and beyond? “I am so proud and thankful to our employees – they came together during the pandemic like never before to help our customers navigate the new challenges,” Karen says. “The pandemic has accelerat
ed many of the trends we were already seeing in our markets, particularly our customers’ transition to the cloud. We have been investing in and delivering cloud and collaborative software solutions to our customers for many years, and they look to us for these tools to help them deliver better outcomes.”
Recognised excellence
In 2012, Karen moved from the Health division to the Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting division as president and CEO of its CCH US business. In 2013 she became CEO of the Global Tax & Accounting division. In her role she has led the businesses in delivering innovative solutions through the launch of several mobile and cloud-based solutions, including the award-winning CCH™ Axcess and CCH Tagetik.
Speaking of winning awards, the company recently scooped the EMEA South Partner Excellence Award 2021 for Technolo
The pandemic has accelerated many of the trends we were already seeing in our
markets
gy Adoption. “We are proud to regularly win awards and receive recognition, which we attribute to staying true to our values and purpose,” Karen explains. “These include those for our leading status as an employer, such as Forbes America’s Best Employers for Diversity and the Financial Times European Diversity Leaders list. In addition, our expert solutions brought us accolades from the SIIA CODiE Awards, Golden Bridge Awards, and many more.”
Positive outlook
The CEO has a great deal of experience in the professional information and software industry, and an impressive track record of growing businesses in Wolters Kluwer through customer-focussed innovation. Karen previously served as president and CEO of Wolters Kluwer’s Health Medical Research business unit, driving its digital transformation and creating key partnerships. Building and maintaining ties and relationships is one of her strengths.
We can’t wait to get back to our offices and see our customers
face to face
“We really value our partner relationships – they are a vital part of our ecosystem and the pandemic hasn’t changed anything regarding this. I am proud of our company and teams every day. People are incredibly caring, supportive of each other, and resilient,” Karen says. “I am impressed with how our teams put our customers and their peers at the centre of what they do. We can’t wait to get back to our offices and see our customers, partners, and fellow employees face to face.”