Tax advisory firms are facing a transformation that goes far beyond the next software release. The shortage of skilled professionals is intensifying, the demographic structure of firm owners is changing, and at the same time new players with radically automated business models are entering the market. The question is no longer whether AI will arrive in tax advisory, but how this transition can be shaped.

To address this, the DATEV Innovation Lab is currently developing one possible vision of the future: the agentic firm. Not as an abstract thought experiment, but as an ongoing innovation project involving expert interviews, prototypes, and initial validations by tax professionals themselves.

But what does “agentic AI” actually mean? The key difference from previous AI applications is this: agents do not just respond—they act. They sort data, pre-check documents, orchestrate workflows, and prepare decisions. Not as a replacement for professionals, but as a lever that allows them to focus on what truly makes firms strong: high-quality advisory services, client relationships, and strategic thinking.

In this session, Dr. Felix Volz, project lead of the “AI Agentic Firm” innovation project at the DATEV Innovation Lab, provides insights into the project.

The session is aimed not only at tax advisors, but at anyone who wants to understand how agentic AI can transform entire professions and value chains. What is happening in the tax advisory environment serves as a blueprint: if AI works in one of Germany’s most highly regulated and trust-based industries, it can work anywhere.

Participants can expect concrete insights into questions such as: What might a typical workday in an agentic firm look like? Which tasks are handled by agents—and where does the human remain indispensable? What interaction patterns are emerging? What can other industries learn from this? And how can such a transformation project avoid the technology trap and instead keep people at its center?

A practical look into the future of knowledge-based work, drawn from an ongoing project.