IRS Trades 25K Humans for Salesforce’s AI Sidekicks

KEY POINTS

•The IRS workforce dropped 25% in two years, from 100,000 to about 75,000 employees due to Trump administration layoffs.
•Salesforce’s AI program Agentforce is being rolled out across IRS divisions like Chief Counsel and Taxpayer Advocate Services.
•Paul Tatum emphasized AI will assist but won’t make final decisions or disperse funds, aiming to speed up case resolution.
•After 38 years, senior counsel Rob Fitzpatrick said in 2023 that using AI tools was necessary to compete with law firms.

In a plot twist stranger than a tax audit dream, the IRS is waving goodbye to 25,000 real humans, shrinking from 100,000 to about 75,000 workers in just two years thanks to Trump-era layoffs. Enter Salesforce’s AI agent Agentforce, now infiltrating the Office of Chief Counsel, Taxpayer Advocate Services, and Office of Appeals to ‘augment and supplement’ the IRS workforce. Paul Tatum promises the bots won’t dole out cash or file returns blindly but will speed up case summaries. Senior counsel Rob Fitzpatrick, after 38 years dodging tech, finally caved in 2023, fearing AI will mop the floor with top law firms otherwise. Essentially, efficiency or extinction is the IRS motto now.