alliant is honored to welcome Danny Werfel, the most recent IRS Commissioner, to the firm’s Strategic Advisory Board. Werfel possesses a wealth of experience in tax, public policy, and governance. He is also a leading figure in the consulting field specializing in large-scale transformation, change management, and modernization strategy. Werfel will join other distinguished former government leaders on Alliant’s Strategic Advisory Board, including various former IRS leaders, Governor and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, former Senator Heidi Heitkamp, and former Governor Bob Riley.
“To the alliant family, Danny is the singular, perfect combination of all the things we strive for within our company,” said alliant CEO Dhaval Jadav. “His experience as IRS Commissioner, his consulting background, and his commitment to the growth and development of the United States align with our overarching goals and mission as an organization. More importantly, Danny has demonstrated a history of service to clients and people, and our raving fanatic initiative; it’s just who he is. There’s just not enough I can say about him.”
As head of the IRS, Werfel was respected by colleagues on both sides of the aisle. During his IRS tenure, Janet Yellen, former Treasury Secretary and chair of the Federal Reserve, said, “Danny’s prior service under both Democratic and Republican administrations, his deep management experience, and his work directing significant transformation efforts, make him uniquely qualified to lead.”
Werfel has an extensive history leading large-scale transformations of both corporate and governmental entities. Modern businesses are all struggling with unprecedented disruptive factors, including AI proliferation, shifts in workforce expectations, and political uncertainties. Werfel served as Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group during the COVID years and is all too familiar with consulting large organizations through these changes. This background makes him uniquely positioned to help shepherd alliant’s clients through the challenges of today.
Werfel’s expertise in transformation may best be exemplified by his tenure leading the IRS as Commissioner during a pivotal time in the organization’s history. The Service received a massive, multi-billion-dollar infusion of funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and an accompanying mandate to modernize. When he joined, the Service was facing massive challenges with its workforce, shocking technological deficiencies, and public demands for improved customer service. Werfel led the agency’s 80,000+ employees through a momentous modernization effort, embracing the challenge head on. He spearheaded efforts such as the free-to-use Direct File program, which hundreds of thousands of Americans have now used across over a dozen states.
Such success was not surprising to Mark Everson, alliant Vice Chairman, colleague, and fellow IRS Commissioner. “I’ve known Danny Werfel from the start of his remarkable career, and it’s always been evident how unique his talent is. There are few people, in the IRS or otherwise, who are as competent, intelligent, and capable as Danny.”
Additionally, Werfel helped conduct a rigorous overhaul of the IRS’s aging technological infrastructure, focusing on digital service, security, and access. This effort included automated scanning technology, AI customer assistance chatbots, and replacing outdated digital architecture while retaining the continuity of service for millions of American taxpayers.
“As the tax industry continues to advance and modernize, it’s critical to have the country’s foremost experts helping us stay ahead,” said Joy Taylor, Managing Director and head of alliant’s consulting practice, “Danny Werfel understands the ebbs and flows of this field deeply, and we’re so happy to have him join us. His consultative background and modernization experience will help strengthen alliant’s place as a global leader in the digital landscape.”
As Werfel leaves the IRS, his work with alliant will ensure that his experience and learnings from organizational change, against seemingly impossible obstacles, will benefit the clients we are proud to serve.
“I’m deeply proud to be joining alliant’s Strategic Advisory Board and doing my part to grow what is already an impressive business. This is such a unique organization, but what attracted me was the steadfast commitment to American businesses and people. That resonated with me, as it aligns deeply with what I value and have worked towards in my career. I’m looking forward to furthering the alliant mission and working alongside the rest of the Board and the alliant teams on the ground,” said Werfel.
alliant is a leading professional services and consulting firm specializing in tax, change management, digital transformation, managed IT services, and managed accounting services. With 23 years of experience in organizational evolution, alliant empowers business transformation by combining industry-leading expertise in emerging technology and change management. From its humble beginnings as a two-man operation in a small apartment, alliant has grown into a multi-billion-dollar consultancy. Leveraging its growth journey, alliant guides clients through transformative times, helping businesses evolve across industries. alliant is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with additional offices in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Indianapolis, New York, Irvine, Sacramento, Washington, D.C., Bristol, and London, U.K., and Hyderabad, India.
