• After The 2025 Roller Coaster, Some Certainty Has Been Restored And Offices Are Seeking To Catch-Up On Open Positions And Anticipated Retirements.
• Like Organizational Charts, Software Goes Through Phases Of Centralization And Specialization. This Year We Sensed That Offices Are Leaning In To Specialized Tools To Supplement Their “Systems Of Record”.
• Rules And Regulations Are Still Top Of Mind. Many Offices Are Focusing On Their Compliance Practices, Especially As Increased Government Attention, OTAs Are Included In Contracts, And Potential New Policies Are Put Forth By The Administration.

Seattle was in full celebration mode this year for the AUTM Annual Meeting, and not just because the Seahawks won the Super Bowl on Sunday night. Hopefully many of our readers had the opportunity to try out the excellent restaurant and cocktail scene while in the Emerald City.

This year’s meeting came after an eventful twelve months in our industry, to say the least. We heard about three broad themes during sessions, hallway chats, and over late night drinks: a hot job market, the changing role of software in our industry, and the impact of new and increasing compliance requirements. Let’s dive in.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Staff and directors we spoke with noted that the hiring market is indeed in the middle of a strong uptick. No one expects it to let up anytime soon. Given the past year’s cooling effect of uncertain funding and proposed federal policy changes greatly impacting technology transfer, at first blush, the hot job market seems surprising. However, it is precisely these two forces that have led us to the job market we are grappling with in 2026.