For governments, the big question is pretty simple: if work changes, taxes have to change too. If fewer people are working in traditional jobs—or if AI is doing a bigger share of the work—governments will need to rethink how they collect the money they used to get from employment taxes. They’ll also need to figure out new ways to encourage things like retirement saving, clean energy adoption, or family support, since those incentives have often been tied to work-based taxes.
And then there’s the ripple effect on the economy itself. Any shift in how taxes work can nudge growth up or down, so finding the right balance will be a delicate process.
For companies, the challenge looks a little different. They’ll need to keep an eye on how tax rules evolve and stay ready to adapt. The rules around payroll, benefits, and employee classification could all change—and businesses will need systems that can flex with whatever comes next. But the bottom line won’t change: governments will still need to collect revenue from somewhere, and those costs will still come from the value created in the economy, one way or another.
As AI continues to roll into more workplaces, these questions will only get more important. It’s a moment for policymakers and business leaders to pay close attention—not just to the technology itself, but to the systems that support the societies using it.