The comments were made during a webcast about financial results for the year ended December 31. Automation will take an increased role in deciding where companies should file returns, populating data and filing returns.

For its first year as a public company, Avalara ended on a strong note with the fourth quarter showing a narrower loss and accelerating revenue.

In 2018, Avalara lost $75.6 million, compared to $64.1 million for 2017. The company reported $272.1 million in revenue for the most recently ended year, an increase of 28 percent from $213.2 million for the prior year.

However, for the fourth quarter the loss improved to $18.4 million, from $22.4 million for the corresponding period in 2017. Revenue in the final three months last year was $76.9 million, an increase of 33 percent from $58 million a year earlier.