[US] IRS to deploy Salesforce AI agents after workforce reduction

In the US, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is implementing a Salesforce artificial intelligence (AI) agent program across multiple divisions following a mass workforce reduction earlier this year, Fox Business reports.

In conversation with Axios, Paul Tatum - Salesforce executive vice president of global public sector solutions - said the IRS will deploy Agentforce in the Office of Chief Counsel, Taxpayer Advocate Services and the Office of Appeals.

The announcement follows the federal agency slashing its workforce by at least 25 per cent earlier this year as part of the Trump administration's moves to shrink the size of the federal government.

Mr Tatum reportedly stated that the AI agents are built with "a lot of guardrails" and are not authorised to make "final decisions" or "disperse funds."

Rob Fitzpatrick - senior counsel in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel - said the agency began modernising its decades-old systems in 2023. Mr Fitzpatrick described the move to AI as both inevitable and competitive.

"I think all of us have to realise that the change is coming," he told Axios, adding the layoffs likely stemmed from multiple factors. "You either adopt the change and make yourself more efficient, so you can produce more work, or you don't, and you leave."

Source: Fox Business

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

In the US, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is implementing a Salesforce artificial intelligence (AI) agent program across multiple divisions following a mass workforce reduction earlier this year, Fox Business reports.

In conversation with Axios, Paul Tatum - Salesforce executive vice president of global public sector solutions - said the IRS will deploy Agentforce in the Office of Chief Counsel, Taxpayer Advocate Services and the Office of Appeals.

The announcement follows the federal agency slashing its workforce by at least 25 per cent earlier this year as part of the Trump administration's moves to shrink the size of the federal government.

Mr Tatum reportedly stated that the AI agents are built with "a lot of guardrails" and are not authorised to make "final decisions" or "disperse funds."

Rob Fitzpatrick - senior counsel in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel - said the agency began modernising its decades-old systems in 2023. Mr Fitzpatrick described the move to AI as both inevitable and competitive.

"I think all of us have to realise that the change is coming," he told Axios, adding the layoffs likely stemmed from multiple factors. "You either adopt the change and make yourself more efficient, so you can produce more work, or you don't, and you leave."

Source: Fox Business

(Link and quotes via original reporting)