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      Chris Rogers and Christoph Steiner set out the four key pillars of AI readiness, and what tax leaders must do under each one.

      Picture a world where your tax processes are faster, smoother and better governed; and advanced analytics and real-time insights are on tap.

      Meanwhile, your team are more motivated and productive. No year-end firefighting or last-minute filings; instead, they're focused on work that creates greater value for the business.

      Properly embedding AI into your tax function can take you a long way towards this reality.

      Our previous article outlined how tax leaders can begin their AI transformation journeys by finding the most promising AI use cases for their departments. With that first step taken, and your use cases in motion, the next stage is to lay the groundwork for their implementation and adoption.

      Chris Rogers
      Chris Rogers

      Partner, Global Compliance and Transformation, Tax & Legal

      KPMG in the UK

      Christoph Steiner
      Christoph Steiner

      Chief Technology Officer, Tax & Legal

      KPMG Switzerland

      The pillars of AI readiness

      Preparing tax function ready for AI means addressing four essential pillars of your tax operating model: people, data, technology, and processes and governance.

      People


      There’s more to preparing your tax team for AI than upskilling them.

      Yes, they’ll need training on how to use your AI solutions, what to use them for – and when not to. Delivering that learning will be relatively straightforward.

      What matters more is their mindset. You need a team that’s open to embracing AI.

      In our experience, people get on board with the technology once they’ve used it, even it’s for the simplest of use cases. So roll it out early, and give your staff the opportunity to experience it in a safe and secure environment.

      Begin that process by articulating the particular reasons to adopt it, and the benefits it will bring. Paint a compelling picture of life with AI embedded into your tax operations, so your team understands what it can help them achieve – individually and collectively – and how their role will look in an AI-enabled tax function.

      What will they do every day? How much time will AI give them back? How will they fill the time they spent performing activities that AI now carries out? How will the technology augment their day-to-day jobs? What will it enable them to do that isn’t possible today? How can it support their career progression – for example, by freeing up capacity to take on more strategic, higher-value work?

      Data


      There are two key elements to AI-readiness when it comes to tax data: location and quality.

      • Location

        Housing your tax data in a single, centralised location – such as a data lake or warehouse – will make it easier to overlay AI solutions. The same principle applies to your tax documentation.

      • Quality

        Make sure your data is being generated, collected, processed and stored in a format that AI tools can read and interpret.

      Define and document exactly what you need in these respects, and where the gaps are between that and your current landscape. That will mean working with a range of stakeholders across the organisation.

      Technology
       

      Your core IT systems – including your ERP and EPM – and underlying processes must be ready for the AI you plan to implement. The data they contain must be safely and seamlessly usable by AI.

      That will make tools like KPMG’s Digital Gateway easy to deploy. Our web-based platform can be rapidly embedded into your tax operations and data structures.

      Working with our tax professionals, your team can then use its generative AI capabilities to quickly and easily build customised personas. That will allow them to benefit from market-leading, tax-specific solutions – saving time, reducing risk and unlocking value across your processes.

      Governance and processes
       

      Embedding AI into the tax function will mean reimagining your tax processes. You can’t fully exploit AI solutions by grafting them onto legacy ways of working. And as processes change, so must their governance. You’ll need to ensure you understand the risks AI can present, and the controls to put in place to mitigate them.

      Carry out an in-depth assessment of your current processes to pinpoint where AI can bring the greatest benefits – for example, in data analytics, or the preparation and review of tax returns.

      Adopt an output-oriented, rather than a process-led, mindset. Start with the end-goal: what results do you want AI to achieve?

      Identify where changing your processes and introducing AI will require changes to your governance and controls. How will you review AI outputs to address risks, without losing the efficiencies AI offers? How can you identify where your AI model performs best and worst, and how should you adapt your governance in response?

      How to build the AI-ready tax function

      AI holds the potential to elevate the tax function’s standing within the organisation, from support service to strategic partner.

      The ability to deliver more value will place your department in a new light, ensuring you’re at the table when business-critical matters are discussed at executive level.

      KPMG’s tax and technology experts can help put you there.

      We can support you with any of the four pillars of AI readiness – or your entire, end-to-end implementation. Tax Reimagined is our proven approach to designing and deploying your future tax operating model, through our unique methodologies and tools. It’s built to help you integrate the latest technologies, reduce risk, harness the power of data and analytics, and unlock financial value.

      Please get in touch to find out how we can help you embrace AI, and maximise its impact on your tax operations.

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