For decades, corporate tax functions have been built on a predictable model: compliance-heavy workflows, manual data handling, and a steady pipeline of technically strong accountants progressing through defined career paths. That model is now under sustained pressure. Automation, generative AI, and increasingly sophisticated tax engines are not just changing how work gets done: they are fundamentally reshaping what “good” looks like in a tax professional.
The implication for hiring is profound. The tax team of 2027 will look materially different from today’s: smaller in headcount, broader in capability, and far more integrated with technology. The challenge for hiring managers is not simply finding “tax talent”, but identifying individuals who can operate at the intersection of tax, data and advisory.
The tax professional of 2027
It’s important we start looking ahead to next year and planning accordingly.
The most visible shift we are already seeing is the steady erosion of manual, rules-based tasks. Activities such as data extraction, reconciliations, and elements of compliance reporting are increasingly automated through AI-enabled platforms. What remains - and grows in importance - is interpretation, judgement, and stakeholder-facing advisory work.
In practice, this means the tax professional of 2027 will be less defined by their ability to process information, and more by their ability to apply it.
Technical tax expertise remains essential, but it is no longer sufficient on its own. High-performing individuals will combine:
- Commercial awareness: understanding how tax strategy aligns with broader business objectives, particularly in areas like supply chain restructuring, ESG, and international expansion.
- Data literacy: the ability to interrogate outputs from tax technologies, challenge assumptions, and translate data into insight.
- Systems fluency: familiarity with tax engines, ERP systems, and increasingly, AI co-pilots embedded within workflows.
- Communication skills: confidence in advising non-tax stakeholders, from finance leadership to operational teams.
In this context, the traditional profile of a tax hire - technically strong but operationally focused - begins to look incomplete.
From processors to advisors
One of the most consistent shifts we see across corporate tax teams is a rebalancing of time. Where teams were once heavily weighted towards compliance and reporting cycles, they are now being asked to contribute earlier and more strategically to business decision-making.
This shift is being accelerated by automation. As systems reduce the time spent assembling data, expectations increase around what tax teams do with that data.
Hiring strategies are following suit. There is growing demand for professionals who can:
- Interpret complex regulatory changes in a business context
- Model the tax implications of strategic decisions
- Partner effectively with finance, legal, and operations
- Act as internal consultants rather than back-office specialists
For many organisations, this means hiring fewer “pure processors”, and investing instead in individuals who can operate as hybrid tax advisors.
Evaluating adaptability, not just experience
One of the core challenges in this transition is assessment. Traditional hiring processes in tax have often prioritised depth of technical experience within a narrow scope: years in compliance, exposure to specific regimes, or progression within a Big Four or in-house structure.
While these factors remain relevant, they are no longer reliable predictors of success in an AI-augmented environment.
Instead, leading organisations are placing greater emphasis on adaptability. This is not a soft concept; it can and should be rigorously assessed.
Key indicators include:
1. Learning agility
Candidates who can demonstrate how they have adapted to new systems, regulations, or business models are better positioned to thrive as technology continues to evolve. This might include involvement in system implementations, automation projects, or process redesign.
2. Curiosity around technology
Candidates who can speak confidently about how tools have improved their work, or where they see further opportunities, stand out.
3. Problem-solving orientation
In a world where standardised tasks are automated, value increasingly comes from solving non-standard problems. Scenario-based interviews, case studies, and real-world examples are becoming more effective evaluation tools than purely technical questioning.
4. Cross-functional exposure
Experience working beyond the tax function - whether with finance transformation teams, legal, or IT - signals an ability to operate in the more integrated environments that AI-enabled tax functions require.
Rethinking the job description
If hiring outcomes are not changing, job descriptions often provide the explanation.
Many tax job specifications still emphasise responsibilities that are already being automated, while underplaying the capabilities that will define future performance. This misalignment is one of the most common barriers to attracting the right talent.
Forward-looking job descriptions are evolving in several ways:
- From task lists to impact statements: rather than detailing processes, outlining how the role contributes to business decision-making.
- Explicit technology expectations: referencing experience with tax technologies, data tools, or process automation (not as optional, but as core to the role).
- Broader capability requirements: incorporating stakeholder management, communication and commercial thinking alongside technical skills.
- Flexibility in background: being open to candidates from non-traditional pathways, including those with hybrid finance-tech experience.
The language used matters. Candidates who identify with these hybrid skillsets are often not searching under traditional “tax” job categories. Job descriptions need to reflect the reality of the role, not the legacy structure.
Where to find hybrid tax-technology talent
Perhaps the most consistent frustration we hear from hiring leaders is that “these people don’t exist”. In reality, they do, just not always in the places where organisations are used to looking.
The most effective talent pools tend to be found here:
Big Four and consulting alumni
Particularly those who have worked on tax technology implementations, transformation projects, or data analytics within tax. These individuals often have the blend of technical grounding and systems exposure that corporate teams need.
In-house transformation teams
Professionals who have been involved in finance or tax transformation programmes - ERP implementations, process automation, or reporting redesign - often develop valuable hybrid skillsets.
Data and analytics adjacent talent
Individuals with strong data capabilities who have worked within finance functions (or closely alongside them) can often be upskilled in tax more easily than the reverse.
Emerging career pathways
We are also seeing the early development of more explicitly hybrid roles: tax technologists, tax data analysts and AI-enabled compliance specialists. While the talent pool here is still relatively small, it is growing quickly.
What unlocks these talent pools is a willingness to look beyond traditional credentials. The right hire may not have followed a conventional tax career path, but may be significantly better equipped for where the function is heading.
Building a future-ready tax team
The move towards AI-augmented tax teams is a very pertinent trend which is already reshaping hiring decisions. Organisations that continue to hire purely for historical role definitions run the risk of building teams that are misaligned with the direction of travel.
The opportunity here is to define what capability will look like in two to three years, and to hire accordingly.
That means prioritising adaptability over narrow experience, redefining roles around impact rather than process, and broadening the lens through which talent is identified.
If you would like to discuss building out your corporate tax team or if you are seeking a new opportunity in this field, please contact Dean Dugas for a friendly discussion.
