Discover how leading corporate tax teams are using AI, cleaner data, and empowered professionals to turn tax into a strategic intelligence engine by following the three keys of data readiness, people-first innovation, and cross-functional partnerships
Key takeaways:
-
-
-
Invest in your data before adopting AI — Without clean, organized, and accessible data, AI solutions will not deliver the desired results.
-
People are the ultimate differentiator — Fostering curiosity and continuous learning are essential for tax professionals to thrive in the AI era.
-
Successful AI integration requires commitment to change — Transparent change management and a willingness to experiment can help build trust and buy-in across the tax team and the organization.
-
-
SAN FRANCISCO — As corporate tax departments continue to undergo AI-driven technology transformation, industry leaders gathered at the recent Tax Executives Institute (TEI) 2025 Annual Conference to discuss how tax professionals can successfully navigate this new era. Their insights crystallized into three essential takeaways that all corporate tax teams should consider as they embark on their AI journey.
1. Data is your new currency
The first and most critical takeaway was simple: Data is your new currency, and you must invest in it before you invest in AI. Most tax departments are starting the conversation around what AI tools they need to buy, with all the talk being about efficiencies and how AI can help. Indeed, many organizations are rushing to implement AI solutions without first ensuring that their foundational data infrastructure is sound. The result is often disappointing — garbage in, garbage out, as the old saying goes.
The tax function of the near future will face increasing demands for real-time information from tax authorities around the world. For systems and data that aren’t clean, organized, and accessible, implementing AI may not only fail to solve the problems it was employed for but possibly exacerbate them. Before deploying any AI solution, tax departments must ask themselves critical questions, including: Do we have a single source of truth for our data? Is our data structured in a way that AI can effectively process it? Can we trust the accuracy and completeness of our information?
The message is clear: You should pause before rushing into AI implementation. Audit your data landscape and identify gaps, inconsistencies, and quality issues. Invest the time and resources necessary to create a solid data foundation. This groundwork may seem tedious, but it’s absolutely essential for AI success going forward.
2. People are your differentiator
The second key takeaway addresses a common fear about AI, that it will replace human workers. The reality presented at the conference was far more nuanced and optimistic. People remain the ultimate differentiator in tax departments, but the skills that define success are evolving. Curiosity and continuous learning will separate thriving tax professionals from those who get left behind.
Conference panelists explained that AI should be viewed as a tool for augmentation, not replacement. The most successful tax departments will be those that embrace a human + machine model, on in which AI handles the repetitive, data-intensive tasks while humans focus on judgment, strategy, and relationship-building. Tax, after all, is fundamentally about social engineering — understanding not just the letter of the law, but how regulations are interpreted and applied in real-world contexts. This requires human insight, empathy, and strategic thinking that AI cannot replicate.
However, leveraging AI effectively does require a mindset shift. Tax professionals must become comfortable with technology, willing to experiment, and committed to understanding how AI tools work. This doesn’t mean everyone needs to become a data scientist, but it does mean cultivating genuine curiosity about technology and its applications.
In this way, change management emerges as crucial component in this dynamic. Building trust in AI systems requires taking baby steps and bringing your tax team along on the journey. Transparency is essential — you must explain what the AI is doing, why certain approaches were chosen, and what the limitations are. When people understand the why behind AI implementation, buy-in follows more naturally.
Leaders should focus on the process, not just the outcomes, panelists said, adding that corporate tax leaders should identify key touch points where AI can create meaningful intelligence without overwhelming the organization. Remember, it’s not about automating everything. Some processes benefit tremendously from AI; others may not. Using human judgment to guide these decisions is precisely the kind of value that distinguishes exceptional tax professionals.
As a tax leader, you should encourage your team to be curious. Create safe spaces for experimentation in which failure is seen as a learning opportunity rather than a career risk. Those tax professionals who will thrive in the AI era are those who approach new tools with enthusiasm rather than apprehension, who ask questions rather than resist change, and who see continuous learning as a professional imperative rather than an occasional activity.
3. Partnership is your strategy
The third critical takeaway recognizes that successful AI implementation within tax departments cannot happen in isolation. Partnership is your strategy, and collaboration across tax departments, IT teams, and external advisors is how organizations will scale AI responsibly and effectively.
Tax departments have traditionally operated with significant autonomy, but the AI era demands that these silos be broken down. Tax professionals bring domain expertise and understand the nuances of compliance, planning, and tax controversy. IT teams bring technical knowledge about infrastructure, security, and integration. And external advisors offer perspective on industry best practices and emerging technologies. None of these groups can successfully implement AI in the tax function without the others.
This collaborative approach should begin before any AI tool is selected. Tax, IT, and external advisors should jointly define the problem that tax leaders are trying to solve. What specific pain points does AI need to address? What does success look like? How will you measure ROI? These conversations ensure alignment and prevent the common pitfall of implementing technology in search of a problem.
Internal audit functions also play a crucial role in the AI journey, particularly regarding risk management and controls. As AI becomes more embedded in tax processes, audit teams need to understand how these systems work, what risks they introduce, and how to verify their outputs. This requires ongoing dialogue between tax and audit functions — another partnership that’s essential for responsible AI scaling.
The partnership model extends to managing relationships with tax authorities as well. As jurisdictions increasingly demand real-time data and embrace their own specific AI tools for compliance monitoring, corporate tax departments must work closely with legal and government affairs teams to understand evolving requirements and ensure that their organization’s systems can meet them.
Scaling AI responsibly means implementing appropriate governance frameworks, establishing clear accountability for AI outputs, and maintaining human oversight of critical decisions. It also means being thoughtful about which processes to automate and which to keep human driven. And perhaps most importantly, it means investing in training across all partner groups, so everyone understands their role in the AI ecosystem.
The path forward
The transformation of corporate tax through AI is not a distant future scenario — it’s happening now. Organizations that embrace these three principles — investing in data before AI, fostering an environment of curiosity and continuously learning, and building strong partnerships across organizational functions — will position themselves to thrive in this new landscape. And those that rush ahead without proper preparation or try to go it alone will likely struggle.
The message from TEI’s conference is ultimately one of optimism tempered with pragmatism. As panelists noted, AI offers tremendous potential to make tax functions more efficient, insightful, and strategic; however, realizing that potential requires thoughtful preparation, human-centered change management, and collaborative execution. The future of corporate tax is bright for those willing to do the work.
You can find out more about the work of the Tax Executives Institute here
