Anything But ‘Male, Pale, and Stale'—Justina Tartilaite of Adsum

What is the most common misperception about the tax profession, and how are you working to change it?

When people think taxes, they usually assume “male, pale and stale"—men in government offices wearing suits and using calculators. This may be true for government tax authorities, but it is far from accurate when it comes to the myriad of exciting new startups that work with taxes. It’s the same with finance, which used to mean boardrooms and office cubicles. Now a lot has changed—with countless innovative fintechs driving so much innovation in the market.

The key reasons here are technological innovation and digital transformation—it’s shaken up the entire system. Adsum, for example, works with tax refunds and tax credits, but relies heavily on tech and software. We also strive to be diverse, particularly for roles that have been traditionally under-representative of women, such as computer programming and math. We’re proud of this—and certainly don’t think of ourselves as stuffy or old-fashioned!

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Tax, or its owners.

Author Information

Justina Tartilaite is the co-founder and CEO of Adsum, a tax technology company. She previously was a director in private credit at Deutsche Bank in London and has worked in London, Hong Kong, and Amsterdam for ABN AMRO Bank in various capital markets roles.