AI is reshaping the tax services industry by encouraging companies to adopt an 'AI first' mindset. Professionals are using AI as a digital assistant to automate routine tasks, which saves up to 14 hours a week. This allows tax and finance professionals to focus on more strategic activities, as AI helps summarize information, identify anomalies, and highlight key themes.

AI is unlocking valuable data that was previously trapped in organizational silos, enabling tax teams to derive insights across the enterprise. This shift allows professionals to analyze various datasets, such as invoicing and sustainability data, to make informed suggestions. However, it also raises questions about whether finance professionals are prepared to handle and communicate insights from this wealth of data.

One key upskilling opportunity is prompt engineering, which focuses on asking better questions rather than just finding answers. At EY, there is an emphasis on democratizing access to AI, making it accessible to all employees, not just those with technical backgrounds. Understanding how to effectively use AI tools, like Microsoft’s Copilot Studio, is essential for increasing efficiency and automating routine tasks.