How Kintsugi Intelligence Works

Updated 5 days ago

Kintsugi Intelligence is the AI layer inside the Kintsugi platform. It does the repetitive judgment work in sales tax compliance, such as classifying products and correcting addresses, then hands you the result to approve. It does not act on your account without your review, and this article explains exactly where the line falls.

Quick Overview

Kintsugi Intelligence is a feature of the Kintsugi platform, not a separate product you buy
It suggests, you approve. Classifications and address corrections wait for your confirmation
It works on data your integrations sync, so its accuracy depends on the quality of that data
It is not the same thing as the chat support assistant you may be talking to
It does not give tax advice and it does not decide your tax position for you

What Kintsugi Intelligence Does

Task	What the AI does	What you do
Product classification	Assigns a category and subcategory to each synced product	Review and approve, individually or in bulk
Default classification	Applies your chosen default to newly synced products	Set the default once, adjust when your catalog changes
Address validation	Flags invalid or incomplete addresses and suggests corrections	Accept corrections in bulk or one at a time
Exemption detection	Identifies transactions that appear tax exempt and adds them to your exemptions	Confirm the exemption and upload certificates where required
Exposure monitoring	Tracks your sales against nexus thresholds in every jurisdiction	Decide when to register once you are alerted

Every one of these lands in the Pending Tasks section of your dashboard rather than being applied silently. If your dashboard is clear, the AI has nothing waiting on you.

Why Your Review Matters

Two products with similar names are often taxed differently, and a classification error carries through to every transaction that uses it. The same is true of addresses, because in many jurisdictions the tax rate follows the ship-to address. Approving suggestions takes minutes and it is the step that makes the automation trustworthy.

Address corrections you accept in Kintsugi apply inside Kintsugi. They do not sync back to your source system, so update the address in your platform too, and adjust that platform's settings so future transactions capture full address data.

Kintsugi Intelligence vs. Chat Support Assistance

These are two different things and customers reasonably confuse them.

	Kintsugi Intelligence	Support chat assistant
Where you find it	Inside the Kintsugi app, in your data and Pending Tasks	The chat bubble in the app and Help Center
What it works on	Your products, addresses, transactions, and exposure	Kintsugi help articles
What it produces	Suggestions you approve	Answers, and a ticket when a person is needed
Can it change my account?	Only what you approve	No

If you ask the chat assistant something outside sales tax compliance, it will say so and point you back to what it can help with. Asking it to escalate connects you to the support team.

What Kintsugi Intelligence Does Not Do

It does not file or remit without the approvals your plan and settings require
It does not give tax advice for your specific situation
It does not classify products it has never seen data for, which is why CSV columns matter
It does not read data your integration does not send, so a read-only connection with limited scope limits what the AI can work with
It does not replace a tax advisor where the treatment of your product is genuinely unsettled

FAQs

Q: What does Kintsugi Intelligence do?

A: It classifies your products, validates and corrects your customer addresses, identifies exempt transactions, and monitors your nexus exposure, then presents each result for you to approve.

Q: Is Kintsugi Intelligence a separate product or an add-on?

A: Neither. It is built into the Kintsugi platform. Automatic tax code classification is included from the Starter plan.

Q: Does Kintsugi Intelligence make changes without asking me?

A: No. Classifications and address corrections appear as Pending Tasks and wait for your approval.

Q: How accurate is the product classification?

A: Accurate enough to save most of the work, not accurate enough to skip the review. Categories drive tax treatment, so the approval step exists on purpose.

Q: Is the chatbot I am talking to Kintsugi Intelligence?

A: No. The chat assistant answers from Kintsugi help articles. Kintsugi Intelligence works on your account data inside the app.

Q: Does Kintsugi Intelligence give tax advice?

A: No. It automates compliance work. For advice about your specific situation, speak with a tax advisor, and reach out to us for anything about how the product behaves.

Need Help?

For further concerns, we're always here to help. If you can't find the answer you're looking for, just reach out to us using the chat in the bottom right corner of your screen.