Data and technology have the potential to transform the way governments operate and provide services to citizens. But bringing about change on this scale is never easy.
On the podcast, senior government and public sector leaders share inspiring stories of how they are paving the way to a better future. The series showcases actionable examples across education, artificial intelligence (AI), grants management, human services, workforce transformation, sustainable cities and more.
Dive in to discover the pathway to a better world for citizens.
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Episodes
Monday Mar 09, 2026
Monday Mar 09, 2026
At the South African Revenue Service (SARS), AI-powered fraud and risk detection have stopped 100 billion rand in impermissible refunds and recovered 20 billion rand in revenue by dismantling illicit schemes. SARS also uses third-party data to auto-assess almost six million personal income tax returns, with a 99% acceptance rate.
Carl Scholtz, Deputy Commissioner, Strategy Enablement and Modernisation at SARS, tells Thomas Erwin, EY Global Government and Infrastructure Co-leader, how his organization designs digital services so that “tax just happens”. It also combines experimentation with world-leading governance and an ethical-by-design approach – for example, testing AI bot responses for relevance rather than deterministic consistency. The North Star: making sure taxpayers and employees have a great experience.
This is the third episode of AI Pioneers, a miniseries featuring speakers from pioneering government organizations identified in EY’s data and AI reports. Listen in for practical lessons from peers who have successfully moved from ambition to impact – scaling AI to transform their organizations and how they serve citizens. 26 mins
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