AI Research
Avalara unveils AI assistant Avi to simplify complex tax research
Avalara has announced the launch of Avi for Tax Research, a generative AI assistant embedded within Avalara Tax Research (ATR), aimed at supporting tax and trade professionals with immediate, reliable responses to complex tax law queries.
Avi for Tax Research draws on Avalara’s extensive library of tax content to provide users with rapid, comprehensive answers regarding the tax status of products, audit risk, and precise sales tax rates for specific addresses.
Capabilities outlined
The AI assistant offers several features to advance the workflow of tax and trade professionals.
Among its core capabilities, Avi for Tax Research allows users to instantly verify the taxability of products and services through straightforward queries. The tool delivers responses referencing Avalara’s comprehensive tax database, aiming to ensure both speed and reliability in answering enquiries.
Additional support includes access to up-to-date official guidance to help mitigate audit risks and reinforce defensible tax positions. By providing real-time insights, professionals can proactively adapt to changes in tax regulations without needing to perform extensive manual research.
For businesses operating across multiple locations, Avi for Tax Research enables the generation of precise, rooftop-level sales tax rates tailored to individual street addresses, which can improve compliance accuracy to the level of local jurisdiction requirements.
Designed for ease of use
The assistant is built with an intuitive conversational interface intended to be accessible to professionals across departments, including those lacking a formal tax background.
According to Avalara, this functionality should help improve operational efficiency and collaboration by reducing the skills barrier usually associated with tax research.
Avalara’s EVP and Chief Technology Officer, Danny Fields, described the new capabilities in the context of broader industry trends.
“The tax compliance industry is at the dawn of unprecedented innovation driven by rapid advancements in AI,” said Danny Fields, EVP and Chief Technology Officer of Avalara. “Avalara’s technology mission is to equip customers with reliable, intuitive tools that simplify their work and accelerate business outcomes.”
The company attributes Avi’s capabilities to its two decades of tax and compliance experience, which inform the AI’s underlying content and context-specific decision making. By making use of Avalara’s metadata, the solution is intended to shorten the time spent on manual analysis, offering instant and trusted answers to user questions and potentially allowing compliance teams to allocate more time to business priorities.
Deployment and access
The tool is available immediately to existing ATR customers without additional setup.
New customers have the opportunity to explore Avi for Tax Research through a free trial, which Avalara states is designed to reduce manual effort and deliver actionable information for tax research. Customers can use the AI assistant to submit tax compliance research questions and receive instant responses tailored to their requirements.
Avalara delivers technology aimed at supporting over 43,000 business and government customers across more than 75 countries, providing tax compliance solutions that integrate with leading eCommerce, ERP, and billing systems.
The release of Avi for Tax Research follows continued developments in AI applications for business compliance functions, reflecting the increasing demand for automation and accuracy in global tax and trade environments.
A new and unique supercomputing collaboration between the UK and France was announced at the UK-France Summit today (10 July).
As two of the most advanced countries in the development and use of AI for science, industry and public services, this partnership will significantly strengthen both countries’ national AI ecosystems and the wider European AI ecosystem.
The Bristol Centre for Supercomputing (BriCS) based at the University of Bristol and the Grand équipement national de calcul intensif (GENCI) will work on building and establishing a collaboration on supercomputing for the benefit of their respective communities and the broader European research ecosystem.
This joint initiative will foster bilateral scientific collaborations in the field of AI-specialisation across materials science, life sciences and medical, cybersecurity, AI security and safety, energy, and engineering, and more globally in AI for science.
The collaboration will ensure sharing of best practice on industrial involvement as well as establishing joint training and education tracks, exchange of students and researchers, hackathons, and the organisation of joint scientific seminars.
Both parties will collaborate in assessing new scientific and technical approaches including federated/distributed learning, agentic and frugal (cost efficient) AI, as well as jointly developed gathering and analysing information about advancements and trends in AI hardware and software.
Professor Simon McIntosh-Smith, Director of the Bristol Centre for Supercomputing, said: “We are delighted to work alongside GENCI to deliver an innovative and productive European supercomputing ecosystem. Our AI supercomputer, Isambard-AI, is the 11th fastest and 4th greenest supercomputer in the world and having delivered on this project successfully and at pace, the BriCS team is perfectly positioned to co-lead this with the GENCI team.”
Professor Evelyn Welch, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Bristol, said: “The University of Bristol is proud to have forged this pioneering new European partnership that will enable unique collaboration with our French colleagues. We will continue to develop and grow the UK’s AI and supercomputing strategy alongside the Government, accelerating critical research and supporting industry innovations at home and internationally.”
A Letter of intention between BriCS and GENCI (PDF, 309kB) provides further information on the ambitions of the partnership.
Further information
About Isambard-AI
Isambard-AI is set to become the UK’s fastest and most powerful supercomputer, purpose-built for AI research following build completion in Summer 2025. Designed to provide open-source intelligence, it will transform research and drive AI-led breakthroughs in critical areas like automated drug discovery and climate research.
From robotics on factory assembly lines to ChatGPT, artificial intelligence (AI) is as prevalent in major industries as it is on our smartphones. From some perspectives, that expansion is revolutionary; recent studies have found that AI has the potential to provide more accurate medical diagnoses and help make sense of complex and unwieldy data.
But AI is lacking in one critical workplace quality: soft skills.
“Soft skills are highly transferable skills that power most of our day-to-day interactions — things like collaboration, communication, creativity and the ability to learn,” says Madeline Mann, a human resources and career strategist.
This aligns with the U.S. Department of Labor’s findings that emotional intelligence at work, such as teamwork, communication, critical thinking and professionalism, are now essential and precisely the areas where artificial intelligence falls short.
Here’s why soft skills matter more than ever for the future of work and how they may be the real differentiator in your next job search or promotion.
Why soft skills matter in today’s job market
If soft skills involve things like empathy and communication, hard skills are measurable abilities — such as data analysis, coding or technical writing — typically acquired through training or education. Those things are essential, of course, but they serve as a baseline.
Mann uses a doctor as an example. “The doctors who are most appreciated and have the lowest rate of litigation have great bedside manner. That’s soft skills,” she explains. “Most people don’t know where their doctor went to school, but they do remember how that doctor made them feel.”
According to 2023 research from the science journal Heliyon, even in tech fields like engineering or logistics, more than 40% of all skills required by employers are skills AI can’t replace, including critical and analytical thinking, problem-solving and flexibility.
Mann says it’s the same for any career. “Soft skills shape how people experience you, and that can be the edge that sets you apart,” she notes.
How to showcase soft skills to hiring managers
So, how do you demonstrate these skills when it counts?
In an interview, you won’t necessarily mention the soft skills you possess, but you can demonstrate them to a hiring manager. The key is to prepare examples from your past roles that show your character.
“Instead of just saying you launched a campaign that increased app downloads, explain your thought process: How did you come up with the idea? How did you get others on board? Did you have to collaborate across departments, navigate cultural dynamics or adjust on the fly when budget or timing shifted?” Mann says.
Those small details that demonstrate your ability to communicate and be flexible will make you stand out.
“People land interviews because of their hard skills, but they land jobs and promotions because of their soft skills,” she says.
AI can’t replace relationship-building
Among all soft skills, the ability to build genuine relationships stands out as especially irreplaceable in an AI-driven world. Even when teams are fully remote, the workplace remains a social community, not just a network of tasks.
Employees who can forge genuine connections, collaborate across departments and leverage emotional intelligence are becoming indispensable.
“We’re entering a phase where personalization is rare, and authenticity is craved,” Mann explains.
Her observations have borne out. A study in the Journal of Vocational Behavior highlighted that professionals who engage in networking (especially via platforms like LinkedIn) see better promotions, higher compensation and greater career satisfaction.
In other words, networking isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a relationship-building exercise that machines can’t mimic, and it can directly impact your upward mobility and help set you up for a promotion.
How soft skills can fast-track your promotion
Promotions rely heavily on AI-proof skills, Mann notes. It’s not just about doing great work; it’s about making sure the right people see it. That’s why building strong relationships with your manager, teammates and colleagues across departments is essential.
According to LinkedIn’s 2025 Workplace Trends Report, managers say soft skills are equally — if not more — important than hard skills. Communication has consistently ranked among the top skills employers seek and was the most in-demand skill in 2024.
To raise your profile, Mann recommends staying connected with colleagues across the organization and paying attention to their needs. This awareness allows you to step in on high-impact projects, often before you’re even asked.
“The goal is to keep raising your value through relationships, visibility and contribution. The more people who see you as valuable and easy to work with, the more likely they are to advocate for what you want in your role,” says Mann.
The human edge
As AI continues to reshape what jobs look like, the human edge will come from what machines still can’t do: build trust, read the room and rally a team. “So yes, master your craft,” Mann says. “But also cultivate likability, strong communication and collaboration to have a successful career.”
In other words, the most future-proof skill might just be your humanity.
What is USA TODAY Top Workplaces 2025?
If you’re looking for a job where soft skills are rewarded, we can help. Each year, USA TODAY Top Workplaces, a collaboration between Energage and USA TODAY, ranks organizations across the U.S. that excel at creating a positive work environment for their employees. Employee feedback determines the winners.
In 2025, over 1,500 companies earned recognition as top workplaces. Check out our overall U.S. rankings. You can also gain insights into top-ranked regional employers by checking out the links below.
AI Research
UK research and industry join forces to tackle AI, STEM skills, and sustainability challenges — EdTech Innovation Hub
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has announced funding for 23 new Prosperity Partnerships aimed at solving complex challenges across UK industry, from AI-enabled assessments to clean energy and biopharma manufacturing.
The £41 million investment from EPSRC is matched by £56 million from business and academic partners. This marks the sixth round of the initiative, which encourages universities and companies to co-create research projects aligned with national priorities.
Focus on AI, education, and quantum computing
Several of the funded projects align closely with educational technologies and artificial intelligence. A partnership between King’s College London and the exam board AQA will explore the use of AI to support examiners marking GCSE and A-level papers. The goal is to improve accuracy and consistency through a virtual assistant trained to support human judgment.
At the University of Strathclyde, researchers will collaborate with Quantum Motion Technologies to enhance cryogenic electronics for quantum computing. The FIRETRACE project focuses on managing thermal effects in ultra-low temperature environments—considered essential for building scalable quantum systems.
A separate project at the University of Edinburgh, in partnership with Axa, will investigate insurance models for AI systems to manage performance risk and incentivize safer design in emerging technologies.
Science Minister and EPSRC chair welcome initiative
Science Minister Lord Vallance says the new projects highlight the role of research in solving real-world problems.
“These partnerships show the range of real-world challenges the UK’s world-class research base is helping to tackle—from cutting carbon emissions in heavy transport, to improving access to life-saving medicines,” he says.
EPSRC Executive Chair Professor Charlotte Deane adds, “Our flagship Prosperity Partnerships scheme brings together world-class expertise from businesses and academia to solve big challenges to support the growth of industry and advance UK research.”
Health, climate, and manufacturing projects
Other partnerships aim to improve sustainability and healthcare delivery. The University of Cambridge is working with Hitachi Cambridge Ltd to develop enzyme-based systems for converting CO₂ into useful chemicals, and the University of Nottingham is focused on advancing lithium-sulfur batteries that could extend the range of electric vehicles.
At University College London, multiple projects with AstraZeneca and Lonza are targeting improvements in biopharmaceutical development, using AI and automation to speed up production and reduce environmental impact.
University of York is partnering with Synthomer to create biodegradable specialty polymers that reduce reliance on fossil fuels. And at Swansea University, researchers are working with Thales to improve cyber resilience in national infrastructure.
A long-term funding model
Since its launch in 2017, the Prosperity Partnerships program has awarded over £600 million in joint funding from government, research institutions, and business. Previous collaborations have supported innovations such as zero-emission buses and advanced aerospace simulations.
A new project between the University of Edinburgh and Rolls-Royce will extend work from a previous partnership, ASiMoV, focused on simulating next-generation gas turbines for cleaner aviation.
“These 23 ambitious projects present a significant investment in the UK’s future,” says Professor Deane. “From speeding up drug manufacturing to longer lasting batteries, these partnerships have the potential to make a real difference to people’s lives and help boost the economy.”
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