Having spent a decade helping retailers optimize customer service, Fumi Tamaki (MBA 2014) could not pass up the opportunity in June 2024 to take on the challenge of improving the customer experience at the government organization that serves more Americans annually (over 160 million individuals) than any other—the Internal Revenue Service. As Chief Taxpayer Experience Officer, Tamaki is modernizing the historic agency’s processes and technology to benefit both IRS employees and taxpayers. Excerpts from a conversation with Tamaki follow.

“We map out a taxpayer’s journey with a particular tax issue and diagnose the root causes of pain points along that journey. Then we repeat the process for employees, because behind every taxpayer pain point is an employee pain point. After that we can make investments in technology that improve both journeys.”

“This is one of the biggest digital transformations in government in a generation. We have to invest not only in the traditional channels through which we resolve taxpayer issues, but also new channels where taxpayers can self-serve 24/7 in a convenient way without having to mail paper documents or pick up a phone.”

“The Simple Notice Initiative is a project I’m particularly proud of. Our ambitious goal was to redesign the long, complex notices we send. We made simple but high impact changes like putting a headline up front, converting paragraphs into action-oriented bullets, and making 10-page notices into one double-sided page. We also invested in new platforms and technology to redesign notices more quickly. By the end of this year, we will have redesigned 200 types of notices, which will also be available in taxpayers’ IRS online accounts.”

“We are never going to be done improving the taxpayer experience because the expectations of the millions of taxpayers we serve are constantly evolving. The private sector raises the bar for us every year. We don’t want to be behind. We want to be a modern IRS that can meet the demands and expectations of our current and future taxpayers.”

“IRS employees are the unsung heroes of the federal government. NASA sends people to space; the Federal Aviation Administration keeps air travel safe; the Department of Defense protects our country; the National Park Service cares for our natural and cultural resources—things we cannot do without the revenue the IRS collects. The IRS is critical because it enables federal government to perform all its essential functions.”

Featured Alumni

Fumi Tamaki

MBA 2014

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