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93% of Job Seekers Say They Are AI-Ready, but 41% of Employers Expect Advanced Skills

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Companies increasingly want candidates who can apply AI effectively in the workplace, not simply use the technology.

OKLAHOMA CITY, Sept. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Nearly every job seeker believes they are AI-ready, but many may be underestimating what companies now expect, according to a recent Express Employment Professionals-Harris Poll survey.

AI proficiency is moving from a nice-to-have to a foundational skill for many jobs.

That confidence is nearly universal, with 93% of job seekers saying they have the AI skills employers want. However, only 35% of job seekers believe companies are looking for advanced or expert AI capabilities, while 41% of hiring managers say candidates need them.

AI proficiency isn’t reserved for highly technical candidates, either. Nine in 10 hiring managers look for at least basic AI skills, and more than half (54%) consider AI proficiency very important or absolutely essential when evaluating applicants.

AI Joins Traditional Hiring Priorities

Even as AI skills become a factor in hiring, job seekers believe employers still place the greatest value on long-standing workplace qualities. When asked which attributes companies consider absolutely essential in applicants, they ranked dependability, work ethic and communication skills ahead of technical and AI capabilities:

Dependability: 47%, down from 52% in the fall of 2023Work ethic: 47%, compared with 48% in the fall of 2024Communication skills: 45%, unchanged from the fall of 2024Technical skills: 29%, compared with 25% in the fall of 2024AI skills: 19%

What Employers Mean by AI-Ready

While job seekers may rank traditional qualities higher, hiring managers are looking for specific AI capabilities:

Awareness of data privacy and security concerns: 45%Ability to communicate AI findings or concepts clearly and effectively: 45%Understanding bias and fairness in AI: 37%

Job seekers’ assessments of their own abilities, however, vary widely. More than half of millennials (55%) and half of Gen Z job seekers (50%) describe their AI skills as advanced or expert, compared with 31% of Gen X and 12% of baby boomers and seniors. Men are also more likely to anticipate that higher bar, with 42% expecting advanced or expert proficiency compared with 28% of women.

The generational divide is just as clear in what job seekers think employers want. Forty-three percent of Gen Z and millennials believe companies expect advanced or expert AI skills, compared with 25% of Gen X and 10% of baby boomers and seniors. A similar gap emerges between men and women, with 42% of men expecting companies to seek that level of proficiency compared with 28% of women.

“AI proficiency is moving from a nice-to-have to a foundational skill for many jobs,” said Bob Funk Jr., CEO, president and chairman of Express Employment International. “Job seekers who invest in their own development now can gain practical experience and a better understanding of how to use the technology responsibly. Knowing how AI works is only part of the equation. Employees also need to know how to question its output, communicate what it produces and apply it effectively on the job.”

Discover more research and real-world workforce trends from the America Employed series at ExpressPros.com/Newsroom.

Survey Methodology
The Job Seeker Report was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals from May 19 to June 8, 2026, among 1,000 adults ages 18 and older who are employed but looking for a new job or not employed and looking for work.

The Job Insights survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals from May 13 to June 1, 2026, among 1,006 U.S. hiring decision-makers.

For full survey methodologies, please contact Sheena.Hollander@ExpressPros.com, Director of Corporate Communications & PR.

If you would like to arrange for an interview to discuss this topic, please contact Sheena.Hollander@ExpressPros.com, Director of Corporate Communications & PR.

About Robert (Bob) Funk Jr.
Robert (Bob) Funk Jr. is the Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of Express Employment International, a global staffing franchisor founded and headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He leads a portfolio of workforce solution brands, including the flagship Express Employment Professionals franchise, along with several affiliated brands serving specialized markets. The Express franchise brand is an industry-leading, international staffing company with franchise locations across the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

About Express Employment Professionals
At Express Employment Professionals, we’re in the business of people. From job seekers to client companies, Express helps people thrive and businesses grow. Our international network of franchises offers localized staffing solutions to the communities they serve across the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, employing more than 11 million people globally since its inception. For more information, visit ExpressPros.com.

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SOURCE Express Services dba Express Employment Professionals

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Spiro’s Newest EMIR Research Reveals What Makes Brand Experiences More Effective

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The second wave of Spiro’s Experiential Marketing Impact Report (EMIR) moves beyond whether experiences work to identifying the design choices most closely associated with trust, connection and purchase intent.

LAS VEGAS, Sept. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Spiro®, a global experiential agency, today released EMIR: The Deeper Dive, the second wave of its Experiential Marketing Impact Report (EMIR), which examines how live experiences influence people and business outcomes.

The inaugural 2025 report established the business case for experiential, finding meaningful relationships between live experiences and outcomes including trust, advocacy, purchase intent and action.

Now, The Deeper Dive asks the next question: What makes some experiences work harder than others?

Based on research with 2,000 additional B2B and B2C live-event attendees, the report looks more closely at the design choices behind an experience and how those decisions relate to what people think, feel and do afterward.

“Marketers already know a great experience can be powerful. The harder questions are why it worked, what actually mattered and whether you can do it again,” said Carley Faircloth-Kilmurray, Global Chief Marketing, Strategy & Brand Experiences Officer at Spiro.

Spiro calls this the Effectiveness Era: moving the industry conversation from proving experiential works to understanding why it works and how to make it work better.

“If we understand more about what makes experiences effective, we can bring that evidence into the strategy and design process from the beginning, and make stronger decisions about the experiences we create,” said Faircloth-Kilmurray.

Among the findings:

People trust people. Knowledgeable staff increased brand trust for 43% of attendees, while 54% engaged by talking with a real person.

Clarity earns attention. 40% said a clear, easy-to-understand benefit made an experience worth their time.

Participation builds intent. Hands-on participation was associated with substantially higher purchase intent, with 85% of deeply engaged attendees reporting they were more likely to purchase.

“This research gives teams a stronger foundation for deciding what to prioritize, what to measure and what to change next time,” said Beki Winchel, VP, Marketing at Spiro. “The more we learn about what works, the better we can get at designing for it.”

From Research to Practical Application

The growing EMIR toolkit helps experiential marketers put the research to work, with a Maturity Assessment Workbook to identify where they can improve, plus a Finance Conversation Guide to build stronger internal investment conversations.

To download EMIR: The Deeper Dive and explore the strategic EMIR toolkit, visit Spiro.com.

About Spiro

Spiro is a global experiential agency built around a simple belief: great experiences create stronger bonds between brands and customers. We call that Brand Gravity™. Through strategy, creativity, production and measurement, Spiro creates experiences that strengthen those relationships and turn them into meaningful customer and business outcomes. Learn more at spiro.com.

Media Contact
Melissa Burns
Senior Director of Marketing
mburns@thisisspiro.com

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SOURCE Spiro

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Financial Cents Launches AI Agents to Eliminate Accounting Busywork

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AI File Renaming, AI File Validator and AI File Routing agents remove repetitive document work inside firms’ existing workflow

ATLANTA, Sept. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Financial Cents today announced the launch of three AI agents — AI File Renaming, AI File Validator and AI File Routing — that remove repetitive document work from accounting and bookkeeping firms’ daily workflow. All three are available free on every Financial Cents plan, bringing effortless AI functionality to thousands of accounting and bookkeeping firms across North America.

The launch comes as small firms report a widening gap between using AI and getting value from it. In Financial Cents’ recently released State of AI in Bookkeeping & Accounting: 2026 Report — based on the company’s original survey of nearly 500 accounting and bookkeeping professionals across North America — 95% of firms said they are already using AI in some capacity, yet only about one in five could point to a clear, measurable return. The most-cited barrier to getting more value out of AI wasn’t cost, trust or skepticism, but the time required to learn and roll out a new tool.

Financial Cents built its agents around that specific problem. Rather than asking firms to adopt a new system or design an implementation plan, the agents work instantly inside the workflows teams already use, and each firm decides how much the agents handle on their own.

“Almost every firm we surveyed is already using AI, but very few are getting measurable value from it,” said Shahram Zarshenas, co-founder and CEO of Financial Cents. “The holdup isn’t skepticism, but time. That’s why we built these agents on the simple belief that good AI should ask nothing of you and your team. It shouldn’t require a new rollout, a separate workflow or a formal training day. It should immediately take repetitive work off your team’s plate, making that work better instead of just faster. And you should always stay in control of any work with your name on it.”

AI File Renaming addresses the daily nuisance of sifting through confusing file names in search of the correct document, and then having to rename the file by hand once you locate the one you need. This agent scans each file the moment the client uploads it and applies the firm’s naming convention automatically, while preserving the original file name as part of the historical record. Firms can choose to have the agent save new names independently or wait for a human to approve the suggestions first.

AI File Validator targets incorrect documents. Often, when a client uploads the wrong file (e.g., the wrong type or wrong period), no one notices until a staff member opens it hours or days later, by which point the work has already stalled. This agent checks each document against the request and accounting period at the moment of upload, gives the client clear feedback in the portal if a file appears to be incorrect and lets them fix it on the spot before it ever reaches the firm’s team.

AI File Routing tackles the busywork of sorting client uploads into the right folders by hand. This agent reads each uploaded file the moment it lands on a client task, matches it to how that client’s folders are already organized and files a copy in the best-fit folder while leaving the original on the task — automatically when it’s confident, or as a suggestion staff approve first.

Across all three agents, Financial Cents keeps the firm in control by surfacing what the agents are doing, flagging low-confidence decisions for review and leaving the final call to the team. The agents run inside Financial Cents, which is SOC 2 certified and encrypts data in transit and at rest.

The launch is part of a broader effort to give small firms an honest, practical view of AI. Alongside the agents and the newly released research report, Financial Cents also recently published the AI edition of Two Cents Magazine, featuring insights from industry experts and real firm owners, operators and staff across roles, firm sizes and locations. The goal is to give accounting and bookkeeping professionals at small and growing firms a clear look at what’s truly useful, what’s noise and how AI actually helps at this scale.

“The most important thing a firm can do right now is stay curious and keep human judgment in the loop,” Zarshenas added. “That’s what the research and this issue of the magazine are really about: cutting through the noise so firm owners can see what’s working for firms like theirs and decide for themselves what the right approach is.”

AI File Renaming, AI File Validator and AI File Routing are available now, free on every Financial Cents plan. Existing customers can turn them on under Settings > AI Agents, and firms new to Financial Cents can start a 14-day free trial at financial-cents.com. Learn more about all of Financial Cents’ AI features at financial-cents.com/artificial-intelligence.

About Financial Cents
Financial Cents is a leading practice management platform built to help accounting and bookkeeping firms streamline workflows, improve collaboration and scale without chaos. Thousands of firms across North America rely on Financial Cents to manage their work, clients and teams in one place. Learn more at financial-cents.com.

Media Contact

marketing@financial-cents.com

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SOURCE Financial Cents

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Doxim Named a Major Player in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Intelligent Customer Communication Management 2026 Vendor Assessment

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INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Doxim®, the leading Customer Communications Management (CCM) provider serving highly regulated markets, has been named a Major Player in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Intelligent Customer Communication Management 2026 Vendor Assessment (doc #US54131626, September 2026).

The IDC MarketScape report is a vendor assessment framework that evaluates technology and service providers in the CCM market. It is designed to help buyers compare vendors based on their current capabilities and future strategy, using quantitative and qualitative criteria to provide an in-depth assessment of each vendor. For the Intelligent Customer Communications Management (CCM) software market, IDC considers areas including AI and automation strategy, governance and compliance, and the ability to reduce operational and administrative burden.   

Built around one platform, one price, and real outcomes, Doxim brings customer communications, digital interactions, payments, and AI together with a single-solution approach for highly regulated industries. Its end-to-end solution supports the full communications lifecycle, helping organizations create, manage, and deliver crucial communications across digital and print channels at scale.

“Organizations in highly regulated industries are under pressure to create experiences that customers want while maintaining compliance and managing costs,” said Scott Biel, Chief Revenue Officer at Doxim. “We simplify the creation, delivery, and management of digital and print communications so institutions can invest in better outcomes for their customers. We’re proud to be named as a Major Player in the 2026 IDC MarketScape Report and remain committed to supporting these organizations as their communication needs evolve.”

Doxim is an established CCM provider, combining customer communications technology, managed services, and industry expertise to address the evolving needs of highly regulated industries.

About Doxim

Doxim is the customer communications management and engagement technology leader serving highly regulated markets, including financial services, utilities, and healthcare. Doxim provides omnichannel communications and payment solutions that maximize customer engagement and revenue while reducing costs. Its software and technology-enabled managed services address key digitization, operational efficiency, and customer experience challenges through a suite of plug-and-play, integrated SaaS software and technology solutions. Learn more at http://www.doxim.com.

About IDC MarketScape:

IDC MarketScape vendor assessment model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of technology and service suppliers in a given market. The research utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each supplier’s position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of technology suppliers can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective suppliers.

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SOURCE Doxim

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