The Automation Advantage in Compliance

Businesses are hitting the accelerator on automating compliance activities – and they have plenty of good reasons to do so.

Many organizations are investing in new compliance solutions in response to increasing regulatory complexity. Companies also ensure that these investments take advantage of new technologies (like artificial intelligence (AI) and edge computing) enhance effectiveness and reduce the cost of compliance activities. These trends are evident in tax departments, where leaders are working to connect fragmented compliance systems, integrate data sources and standardize processes.

Eighty-two percent of businesses are planning to invest more in technology to automate and optimize compliance activities, according to PwC’s Global Compliance Survey 2025. The top three areas of technology use (both current and planned) include:

1. Training (cited by 82% of respondents)
2. Risk assessment (76%)
3. Compliance and transaction monitoring (75%)

Keep in mind that PwC’s survey – of 1,800-plus global executives – addresses organizations’ complete compliance ecosystems. While that includes indirect tax compliance, it also includes every other compliance function.

Companies report some important benefits from these automation investments:

• 64% say they achieve greater visibility into discovering risks and employing better risk management activities
• 53% point to faster identification and response to compliance issues
• 48% indicate that they produce higher quality or more insightful reporting.

Not surprisingly, the survey results show that AI is enabling new approaches and garnerning supporters: 71% of respondents expect AI to have a net positive effect on compliance activities. The most common AI use case is data and predictive analysis; 46% of respondents are currently using or planning to use AI for compliance in this area.

Tax leaders will want to consider these findings in light of their current tax technology stack.

PwC also offers some useful suggestions for compliance leaders considering a range of new technology investments:

1. Start AI pilots to help your team learn
2. Work with the board to create a target model for your compliance environment (including advanced tax automation)
3. Assess or forecast the benefits to determine ROI.

These actions, in turn, will help tax leaders support business leaders and achieve objectives related to integrating AI frameworks, connecting data for integrated compliance reporting and including compliance in transformation initiatives. If you need a primer on agentic AI, by the way, this post from Vertex Vice President of Technology Strategy, Chris Zangrilli, is a great place to start.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE VERTEX BLOG PROVIDES INFORMATION FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES, NOT SPECIFIC TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE. ALWAYS CONSULT A QUALIFIED TAX OR LEGAL ADVISOR BEFORE TAKING ANY ACTION BASED ON THIS INFORMATION. THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THE VERTEX BLOG ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OFFICIAL POLICY, POSITION, OR OPINION OF VERTEX INC. ⁠