New research from 176 tax and finance leaders reveals how AI is transforming indirect tax, why governance is lagging behind adoption, and what separates leading tax teams from the rest.

Almost every indirect tax team is now using AI. Far fewer can tell you what it returned, who governs it, or whether they could defend a single AI-assisted decision to a tax authority. That gap, between using AI and being able to account for it, is the most important finding in our new research.

This blog breaks down what that structure looks like, stage by stage, with a diagnostic checklist you can run against your own function. It’s worth reading if AI feels like it’s adding stress rather than removing it, because the data says you’re not alone, and it shows what changes that.