How to hire, retain, and develop tax technologists

Forget startup companies with billion-dollar valuations – tax technologists are the true “unicorns” of 2024.  

I’m exaggerating, of course, but not by much. And I’m doing so to make an important point regarding the current state of tax talent management: Tax technologists are more valuable than ever, and increasingly difficult to find, hire and retain.  

While I’ve made this point before, you don’t have to take my word for it. Instead, look at the transcript from a recent roundtable of chief tax officers conducted by the Tax Executive Institute. “It is a little bit of a unicorn role,” notes Cheria Coram, senior manager, tax data enablement, at Starbucks. “We’re wanting people to understand lots of things with tax and finance and accounting and tech.” Coram lists some of the qualities that the tax technologist role requires, including: curiosity, innovative thinking, a growth mindset, keeping pace with tax technology solutions and the systems they integrate with, and “tying that to capabilities.” By that, Coram means that she wants tax professionals to understand not only what tax automation produces, but what those outputs mean to the tax group and the business as a whole. 

I find these insights, and the discussion as a whole, to be illuminating. I’d like to personally thank the Tax Executive Senior Editor Michael Levin-Epstein for moderating an engaging discussion on a timely topic. 

Besides identifying what companies seek in hiring tax technologists, roundtable participants also share practical steps to helping traditional tax pros develop tax-technologist skills, including: 

• Assigning a tax professional to learn about self-service technologies (or a similarly focused aspect of advanced technology); 
• Facilitating collaborations between the tax team and IT (or even an analytics group) via smaller, more manageable projects; 
• Leveraging technology vendors, especially those offering software-as-a-service solutions, as a source of tax-tech insights; and 
• Fostering a culture of innovation and curiosity within the tax group.  

Yes, that final step is more of a strategy than a tactic, but it certainly warrants consideration. Without fostering a culture that prioritizes technological curiosity, tax groups risk espousing a compliance-only mentality.  

“And that means innovation takes a second seat,” explains Vikesh Patel, director of the tax innovation and technology team at Home Depot. “…[T]hat mindset needs to shift, because now … technology is leading the way, and the compliance comes second. So, by fostering [a] culture that kind of rewards curiosity and learning and that data literacy, I think tax departments can facilitate more cross-functionality…To be a successful tax department is appreciating the technology and innovation that’s available to you.” 

I encourage you to read, and bookmark, the article. It will help you assess the state of your own tax group’s technologist proficiencies and then develop a roadmap for improvement.