In this Q&A, Jason Marx, CEO of Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting, delves into the transformative power of AI and advanced technologies in the tax and accounting sector. He shares insights on how these innovations are reshaping the industry and how Wolters Kluwer is at the forefront of this change.
What excites you most about the explosion of AI and other advanced tech in the tax and accounting industry?
The ongoing cycle of technological advancement in the profession remains a constant, with new technologies regularly causing disruption. What excites me – along with the product leaders and software developers at Tax & Accounting – is how we approach and think about these advanced technologies in delivering new innovation so that we’re staying ahead.
We talk to our customers about friction points in their ways of working. We look at how they work and collaborate, what they are trying to accomplish, and how they interact with clients. Then, we invest in future technologies, like generative AI, extended reality capabilities, blockchain, and other emerging technologies to provide new, more efficient ways of solving problems. What makes it so interesting is that we get to think about what’s possible for the accounting firm of the future and then we innovate and solve for it.
As futuristic tech becomes a reality, we don’t see this as building a digital replacement or bot as the firm’s newest coworker, but that we are harnessing the power of advanced technologies in developing ways to enhance human connection, human objectivity and human ingenuity. The goal is not just to enhance efficiency, but to use AI to work smarter and more strategically, enabling professionals to focus on activities that drive higher value for clients, and that enhance empathy and understanding.