December 16, 2025
Like every year, 2025 has been marked by some unique global headlines.
First, 2025's version of Oprah's infamous "you get a car, and you get a car"—except everybody gets car tariffs. Who's ready to forget the daily tariff updates and the resulting market swings? Are those days really behind us, or are we in the seventh inning stretch?
Second, an American Pope in 2025?! Pope Leo, from Chicago! I'm not Catholic and I’m not from Chicago, but I’m pretty sure a fellow Midwesterner as Pope is going to do great things. Now, his presence certainly didn't help the Cubs or the Sox this baseball season, but look at his football team, currently in first place! Now just calm down. Let’s see how these next few weeks go before we get all Pope Leo crazy! Go Pack!
And what headline in 2025 didn’t contain a reference to our new friend AI, or wait, isn't AI the enemy of the known world coming for us and our children? AI’s everywhere, the top story daily in the markets, in the news, in data centers within our communities, for many of us, part of our daily life. AI's in everything, everywhere, forever. Pretty soon, your dish soap, toilet paper, and socks will be packaged with "super powered by AI designations”, and then you'll pay twice as much for the same non-AI powered stuff you used to buy.
So, what did AE accomplish in 2025? AE celebrated 76 years in 2025.
So, AE’s accomplishments can be summarized by having a birthday in 2025? Yes, and no.
Clearly yes. We actually turned 76 years old as a firm. 76 years!
But no, 76 years of existence isn't an accomplishment in and of itself. AE celebrated 76 years of client satisfaction. Client satisfaction is our accomplishment. It's our mantra. Not 76, or any of the numbers that will follow. Client satisfaction.
In 2025, amidst global headlines swirling and experts pontificating at one moment certain doom and in the next breath guaranteed success, we kept doing what we've been doing. Working with our clients to achieve their business value. No flash, no hype, just reliable, expert execution.
We didn't reinvent ourselves every quarter or chase every trend. We answered calls, solved problems, and made sure our clients’ solutions kept running. The kind of work that doesn't generate press releases but absolutely builds trust.
Client satisfaction. It's what we do. It's what we've always done.
Here's what we know about 2026: there will be new headlines. New market dynamics. New technologies that promise to change everything. New reasons to pivot, rebrand, or chase the next big thing.
And here's what we know about AE in 2026: we're going to keep our focus exactly where it's been for 76 years. On doing the work that matters. We'll adopt new technologies when they actually solve problems, not when they're just convenient marketing hype. We'll evolve our solutions when it makes operations better, not because everyone else is doing it. Will there be AI somewhere in the mix? Most likely everywhere. It's 2026, after all. But we're not going to slap an "AI-powered" sticker on everything just because we can. We're going to use what works, implement what helps, and skip what doesn't. Same approach, same focus, same commitment: client satisfaction.
Not the flashiest message for a new year. Not going to win the award for most innovative corporate communication strategy. But it's honest, and after 76 years, we've learned that being honest tends to work better than flashy.
76 years of client satisfaction. We’re excited for 77. Client satisfaction: that's the only metric that matters to us.
Author -John Harris