Danny Werfel

Golden Gov: Federal Executive of the Year

Danny Werfel’s tech priorities were on full display in his second year as IRS commissioner, with the launch of new digital products, an acceleration of modernization priorities and the embrace of artificial intelligence to improve customer service and enhance enforcement efforts. The crown jewel of the past year for Werfel was the agency’s successful Direct File pilot, a free electronic filing program that earned permanent status and is set for expansion across the country next tax season. Werfel said in May that Direct File represents the IRS’s “effort to make taxes as easy as possible for Americans, including saving time and money.” Going forward, he’s looking to AI to “help taxpayers get the answers they need. … We have a strong baseline and momentum in using [Inflation Reduction Acts] funds, of starting to build AI, build chatbots and other solutions to go after these basic questions, but we’re really just getting started.”