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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is implementing Salesforce’s artificial intelligence (AI) agent program across multiple departments following major layoffs earlier this year, according to a report.
Paul Tatum, Salesforce’s executive vice president of global public sector solutions, told Axios in a report published Friday that the tax collection agency plans to implement Agentforce in the Office of the Chief Counsel, Taxpayer Advocate Services, and Appellate Division.
The announcement comes after the IRS cut its staff by at least 25% earlier this year as the Trump administration works to downsize the federal government.
Tatum said the AI agents are built with “a lot of guardrails” and don’t have the power to make “final decisions” or “distribute funds.”
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Internal Revenue Service in Washington, DC, February 13, 2025 (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
“Salesforce does not support AI blindly processing tax returns without humans reviewing or supplementing them,” he told the outlet.
The program is designed to help overworked IRS staff process customer requests more quickly and efficiently, Tatum added.
Tatum said the AI agents are built with “a lot of guardrails” and don’t have the power to make “final decisions” or “distribute funds.” (/ensemble)
FOX Business reached out to the IRS and Salesforce for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
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Rob Fitzpatrick, senior counsel in the IRS Office of the Chief Counsel, said the IRS began modernizing its decades-old system in 2023 and said the transition to AI is inevitable and competitive.
“I think we all need to recognize that change is coming,” Fitzpatrick told Axios, adding that the layoffs likely stemmed from multiple factors. “Either you embrace change and become more efficient and create more work, or you quit.”
The U.S. flag flies over the International Revenue Agency headquarters in Washington, DC, on January 3, 2024. (J. David Eyck/Getty Images)
Along with this year’s cuts, the IRS announced it would also disband its Office of Civil Rights and Compliance, which handles discrimination protections, audits, and investigations. The remaining staff were reassigned.
At the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, the IRS employed about 100,000 people. Since then, roughly 12,000 people have left the company, including 7,000 who were fired while on probation and another 5,000 who left within the first three months of Trump’s presidency.
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By contrast, the Biden administration had previously increased the IRS staff by about 20,000 people in an effort to increase the agency’s tax revenue.
Fox Business’ Daniella Genovese and Eric Revell contributed to this report.
