Inside INdiana Business: One-on-One With KSM’s New Leader

After joining Katz, Sapper & Miller in 2004, Tim Cook became accustomed to standing out as an attorney in a crowd of accountants. Seventeen years later, Cook is officially a few weeks into his new role as CEO and president of KSM, one of Indiana’s oldest and largest CPA firms. In the most recent episode of Inside INdiana Business, Cook sat down with host Gerry Dick to discuss what his move to the top spot means for KSM.

As the first non-CPA to lead KSM in its 79-year history, Cook’s ascension may seem counter-intuitive, but as Dick observed, the firm is part of a growing trend in its selection of a non-CPA leader. Cook noted a new perspective will benefit KSM as it looks to its future, which will include expanding beyond the firm’s traditional tax and accounting services to better serve clients in a changing, complex world.

The two also discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the last nine months of Cook’s 18-month transition period to CEO. “One of the benefits for me has been being thrown in the deep end,” Cook said. “I’ve probably had about five years of education in nine months.”

Before closing, in a nod to Cook’s past appearances on IIB as a pundit sharing insights on economic development in Indiana, Dick couldn’t resist asking for his thoughts on how the state’s economy is positioned to emerge from the pandemic. (Spoiler alert: Cook’s optimistic for 2021.)

Watch the video clip: