Most AI companies make big claims. Sai built a guarantee into the business model.
Sai Dhanak is the founder of Deduction, an AI tax firm that pairs licensed CPAs with AI agents to deliver tax advice, planning, and filing for US consumers — at a fraction of traditional accountant prices. We talked about what happens when accountability is actually on the line, why services that were "unscalable" are suddenly the hottest pitch in VC rooms, and what the SaaSpocalypse gets completely wrong about junior talent.
In this episode:
- Why "own the customer outcome" might be the only real moat right now
- The CPA shortage nobody's building fast enough for
- AI agents with names and phone numbers (meet Taylor at deduction.com)
- Why predictable workflows scale and litigation doesn't
- The Deduction partner program — a franchise model for the AI era
- Whether Google I/O just quietly ate vibe coding for the masses
- The real reason companies are laying people off (hint: it's not productivity)
- Senior engineers saying they need zero engineers on their team — and whether that ends in burnout
Sai is one of those founders who thinks clearly about messy questions.
Timestamps: 00:00 - Navigating the AI Landscape
11:06 - The Role of Human Touch in AI Services
21:59 - Building Trust in AI-Driven Tax Services
30:28 - The Need for AI Guidance
31:50 - Integrating AI into Daily Life
32:26 - The Reality of AI Implementation
36:24 - Balancing AI and Human Interaction
37:03 - Data Infrastructure Challenges
40:46 - The Cost of Building vs. Buying Software
44:19 - The Future of Vibe Coding
50:29 - Building Trust in AI Solutions
Sai - https://www.linkedin.com/in/saayuj/
Deduction - https://deduction.com/
─── sounds good. — a podcast with Anna Nadeina soundsgoodpod.com
anna@soundsgoodpod.com sounds good. is sponsored by saas.group - serial acquirer of profitable SaaS businesses. If you're thinking about an exit, they're worth a conversation. https://saas.group/
