EY report indicates CFOs and tax leaders innovating with AI to manage mounting geopolitical turbulence, talent shortages and regulatory developments

• 91% of Singapore respondents (global 81%) plan to make business changes — like updating supply chains — within two years.
• 94% of Singapore respondents (global 86%) say leveraging data, GenAI and technology is a top priority.
• Leaders expect AI to free up about a quarter more budget for strategic activities.

The latest EY Tax and Finance Operations (TFO) Survey reveals tax and finance leaders of surveyed organizations are innovating with generative AI (GenAI) and agentic AI to future-proof their operating models to contend with unprecedented challenges, including geopolitical disruption, evolving trade and tariff policies, and talent shortages.

The survey of 1,600 chief finance officers (CFOs), senior finance and tax leaders across 30 jurisdictions (including over 30 from Singapore) and 22 industries highlights a transformative shift in how tax and finance functions are adapting to a constantly changing environment. 

Transforming amid disruption

Amid this turbulence, 91% of responding organizations in Singapore (global 81%) are already making moderate or significant changes to their business operations, including supply chains, over the next two years. For Singapore respondents, this was an increase of 21 percentage points (global 20 percentage points) compared with the last 12 months.

Elaine Yeo, EY Asean Tax and Finance Operate Leader, says:
“Across Southeast Asia, we see more companies embrace transformation and automation. This includes leveraging emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline finance and tax processes to stay competitive and agile in the fast-changing regulatory and economic environment. Companies are also increasingly recognizing that robust data management is the fundamental building block for a solid and effective process with clean, connected and well-governed data. However, transformation cannot happen in silos. For the transformation to be truly effective, teams from various functions, such as finance, tax and IT, will need to come together and collaborate to create an integrated and agile solution that helps enable meaningful insights to support the organization’s growth.”

The survey further finds that the implementation of Pillar Two global minimum taxes is the most significant legislative and regulatory change impacting organizations (Singapore 91%, global 81%) surpassing tariffs, country-level tax reform and e-invoicing. Eighty-eight percent of Singapore respondents surveyed (global 85%) say their tax liability overall will increase because of Pillar Two. Despite the scale of these changes, only 15% of Singapore respondents (global 21%) say they are very prepared to comply with Pillar Two reporting requirements.

The AI and data imperative

Ninety-four percent of Singapore tax leaders surveyed (global 86%) are prioritizing leveraging data, GenAI and technology to drive innovation, insights, predictive analytics and automated reporting. There was also increased confidence in the potential of AI, as respondents from global and Singapore expect the ability of the technology to help enhance the effectiveness of tax and finance functions by 29% (global 30%) over the next two years and unlock up to 23% (global 24%) more budget for reallocation to strategic, high-value activities.

Fifty-eight percent of Singapore respondents (global 44%) say the inability to execute on a sustainable plan for data, AI and tech is their biggest barrier to delivering their tax function’s vision. Over half (Singapore 64%, global 51%) of surveyed tax and finance functions are still in the early stages of data management maturity, significantly impacting AI implementation.

As a result, many are still struggling to develop their own solutions, and 91% of Singapore respondents (global 78%) say working with a third-party provider with deep AI capabilities in the coming two years will moderately or significantly benefit their tax function. 

Yeo says:
“In the tax world, data is key – especially when effectively paired with AI. However, without the right foundations, its true potential remains out of reach. In the tax function of the future, clean, organized and accessible data should work hand in hand with AI, seamlessly integrated to maximize efficiency and free up time to focus on the strategic tasks that really move the needle. Organizations should be mindful to identify real and tested use cases that can help to create measurable value instead of just following trends.”

Building agile, AI-ready teams to meet the talent challenge

Generative and agentic AI are also reshaping the tax workforce, which faces a plethora of challenges. Sixty-one percent of respondents expect the retirement of senior tax professionals to significantly impact their functions, while 66% say fewer new accountants entering the profession will be detrimental to meeting talent needs. Tax professional respondents in Singapore are spending 55% (global 53%) of their time on routine activities and would like to slash that by more than half. Conversely, they would like to more than double the amount of time they spend on higher-value specialized tasks.

Centering AI in workforce transformation seems crucial for helping to bridge this gap and create agile, future-ready tax and finance teams. Respondents are investing and reskilling teams: 85% of Singapore respondents (global 73%) are prioritizing the hiring of data scientists and tax technology experts, while 73% in Singapore (global 89%) are investing in upskilling and reskilling existing staff. Respondents are also increasingly sourcing external expertise (Singapore 91%, global 83%) and focusing on building an AI-literate workforce.

Yeo concludes:
“Tax and finance are no longer just back-office functions, and its role goes beyond compliance and reporting. Today, tax and finance have evolved into a strategic partner in business transformation, collaborating across various functions to bring real enterprise value to the organization. Hence, tax and finance professionals should consider embracing digital fluency, critical thinking and adaptability to change, in addition to their technical skills, to excel in this evolving role.”

For more information, please visit: ey.com/tfosurvey

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