Build Club Spotlight: Empathetic AI

Welcome to the Build Club Spotlight Series, where we highlight some of the most promising startups built by top AI builders! 🚀

This week, we’re thrilled to feature Angela Shi, the founder of Empathetic AI.

Let’s get right into it 👇

Empathetic AI is a Generative AI startup operating across three cities in Australia (Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane). They’re launching Australia’s first AI Tax Copilot Luna, designed to assist tax professionals by analyzing complex tax scenarios, providing instant answers and reasoning behind the decisions, offering real-time updates on ATO cases and private rulings, and conducting automatic reference checks.

Let’s discover how Luna is set to transform tax compliance and delve into Angela's journey of creating Empathetic AI.

What is your background and your story of founding Empathetic AI?

My background is in Finance within the Fintech space. I spent 14 great years as a finance professional in this sector, working with companies that are heavily technology-driven. The idea for Luna came from my own experiences with the complexities of tax compliance, especially when I had to handle tax optimization across different jurisdictions as a regional CFO for global companies.

I believe Finance and Tax are naturally great areas for AI applications because of the massive amounts of data involved, which is the foundation of AI. I also wanted to bring a human touch back to technology, so I named the company Empathetic AI. I think we are moving from the stage of ‘automation’ to ‘intelligence.’

How would you describe your product offerings to a new customer and to an AI engineer?

New customer: Australia’s tax system is one of the most complex in the world, with various legislations and laws. It operates on a case law basis, meaning new cases arise every single day. Luna, our AI Tax Copilot, assists tax professionals by analyzing complex tax scenarios, providing instant answers with detailed reasoning, offering real-time updates on ATO cases and private rulings, performing automatic reference checks, and ensuring compliance with tax regulations. Luna enhances productivity by 10x, reduces costs by 90%, and ensures data privacy with advanced security measures. It transforms tax research, analysis, and advice drafting from a process that takes weeks to one that takes minutes.

AI Engineer: Luna leverages Generative AI and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to restructure the ATO database and provide tax advice with reference to ATO data, efficiently processing extensive tax information. By incorporating Natural Language Processing (NLP) for intuitive user interactions and employing data desensitization techniques for secure data handling, Luna stays at the forefront of tax technology through continuous updates and user feedback.

Our collaboration with CSIRO’s Data61 enhances data security and responsible AI practices, utilizing their expertise in Large Language Models (LLM) and RAG specialties. Additionally, we use chain-of-thought techniques to incorporate intermediate reasoning steps, restructure the ATO legal database with data hierarchy, and improve querying accuracy through reranking techniques to ensure the most relevant information is prioritized.

New features, including DocWise, a financial document analysis tool, and Drafty, a tax advice drafting tool, will be rolled out in the next couple of months.

How has the journey been so far - how has Empathetic AI evolved?

The journey of Empathetic AI has been both challenging and rewarding. The idea for Luna came from my own experiences as a finance professional dealing with the complexities of tax compliance in the past. It started as a simple idea, turned into a product that won 3rd place in Australia's inaugural AI Sprint, and eventually led to a collaboration with CSIRO's Data61.

We've been fortunate to receive tremendous support and encouragement from many sources, including the ongoing backing from the National AI Centre. I'm especially grateful to our supporters, first believers, early adopters and our incredibly resilient team members. Everyone has learned so much along the way.

At Empathetic AI, we treat every day as Day 1, staying agile and adaptable. This is the heart of our company culture - forward-looking and resilient. We’re excited to keep evolving and making a real impact in the world of tax compliance and beyond.

What advice would you give to aspiring AI builders?

I’m not sure if I am qualified to give advice as we're also on the way to our destination, but here are my two cents as someone who has worked in corporate roles for decades before founding an AI startup.

If you're building something for B2B, deep domain knowledge really matters. Understanding the specifics of a vertical domain or even a niche space can make a significant impact.

Closed source data and specialized knowledge are crucial. Eventually, every sector will be transformed by AI, but you need to truly understand the pain points to make a meaningful difference.

How can our audience help you build and grow Empathetic AI?

We would greatly appreciate it if you could spread the word about us. We are building Luna, an AI Tax Copilot for tax professionals in Australia (with plans to roll it out to other countries in the future).

As AI develops rapidly, finding good talent is always a challenge. We would love to hear from AI engineers who are interested in collaborating with us. Your support and connections can help us grow and make a bigger impact.

Sign up to Luna from here: https://empathetic-ai.com

Follow Empathetic AI on LinkedIn:

Liked this post and want to be featured next? Reach out to Daniel Malkinson or [email protected] 

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Written with 💗 by the Build Club team