J osh Sandler’s pitch beings with a grievance more taxpayers understand: Your bill gets bigger when someone else doesn’t pay theirs. His startup, Govra, is building AI agents for government agencies, beginning with tax audits. While the prospect of more tax audits might sound unpleasant, Sandler thinks it’s in our best interest: Better enforcement is how governments collect what is already owed without raising taxes on everyone else.

“No one wants to pay more because someone else is skirting the system,” Sandler said. Recovering unpaid taxes, he argues, could finance public services, reduce debt or make room for tax cuts.

Govra, a member of Forbes’ inaugural Agentic 20 list, is building for the other side of the counter. While most AI agents are pitching consumer solutions to fight tickets or file taxes, Govra’s software is designed to help the government agencies handling those submissions.

Sandler, who previously studied development economics and built a trucking marketplace in Africa, says his past experiences taught him that successful businesses depend on functioning governments delivering basic services. And functioning governments need tax revenue.

He estimates the combined federal,........

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