Written By Satta Sarmah-Hightower
Imagine an instruction manual with thousands of pages of complex detail and unfamiliar terminology.
Now think about our country’s tax code with its ever-changing regulations and various state tax laws. It’s no wonder the tax-filing process can be such a daunting task for those tackling their own returns.
Intuit Expert
That’s why tax and accounting software provider Intuit in 2019 launched its Intuit Expert Network—an AI-driven platform connecting millions of consumers and small businesses with tax and bookkeeping professionals.
But the company doesn’t rely on technology alone to help customers file returns or manage their books with more confidence. It’s pairing AI with the deep domain expertise of its tax professionals to streamline these processes, minimize error and deliver a high-touch customer experience.
Transforming Tax Advice With AI-Based Technology
When it comes to taxes, many people don’t have confidence that they’re doing things the right way. From collecting documents to determining credits and deductions, and then ensuring all the information is correct, the entire process poses ample room for error (and even the potential for penalties).
That’s where AI steps in to augment the experience. “Intuit’s mission is to power prosperity around the world. We help put more money in the pockets of consumers and small businesses, saving them time by eliminating work and ensuring they have confidence in every financial decision they make,” says Donato Masellis, Intuit’s vice president of product development. “Our expertise in AI has helped us transform what we offer our customers: from products that enable them to complete tasks, to a platform that does tasks for them. We combine the power of rich data, AI and human experts to seamlessly blend digital and human financial expertise to deliver personalized experiences that give our customers complete confidence.”
Using AI technologies, Intuit’s platform leverages machine learning to build decision engines and algorithms that learn from rich data sets to transform user experiences, apply knowledge engineering and turn compliance rules into code, and use natural language processing to revolutionize how customers interact with products and services.
According to Masellis, Intuit’s platform capabilities and model design enable the company to custom-train millions of models for individual customers, with an impressive 730 million AI-driven customer interactions per year, 58 billion machine learning predictions per day and 400,000 customer/financial attributes per small business.
How AI Enhances Connections Between Experts And Customers
Understanding AI’s limitations is key to Intuit’s approach, which is why human expertise is a vital complement. It’s this balanced strategy that gives Intuit a competitive edge when it comes to providing financial support that’s both personalized and accurate.
“Trust and confidence are an essential part of the value proposition,” says Masellis. “You still need a fair amount of expertise in a given field to trust the results that AI delivers. People with rich domain expertise can intervene and assess AI-generated suggestions to determine whether those suggestions are, in fact, good.”
AI returns the favor by automating routine tasks and enhancing communication so those human experts can focus on providing meaningful support. Michele Catlett, a CPA with nearly 30 years of experience who’s served as an Intuit tax expert since 2012, says that legacy tools (like a temperamental phone system, for example) once interfered with exceptional customer service.
Today, AI facilitates her work on the Intuit Expert Platform by delivering near-instant background on clients as cases come in and seamlessly integrating records and documents, allowing for prompt review, real-time collaboration and easier troubleshooting.
“We have just about every tool an expert could possibly need at their fingertips. The portal enables a seamless experience from beginning to end, which makes for a happy customer,” Catlett says.
She recently reviewed a customer’s self-prepared tax return, sharing their screen and addressing questions in detail. The customer’s work was solid, but Catlett knew of a subtle nuance in state law that meant the customer could file as married but calculate separately. “By clicking a single button, her refund increased several hundred dollars.”
A Supercharged Strategy
Masellis says this is just one example of Intuit’s invaluable human service. AI might augment experts’ work, but their smart feedback and domain knowledge help Intuit more effectively train its AI models—in turn enhancing service for its 100 million customers.
“We think of AI supercharging experts by eliminating routine work, and experts supercharging AI by teaching [the technology] how to do that,” Masellis says. “In this way, the strengths of both humans and computers are engaged to produce a superior experience than either could provide on their own.”
