The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance (TDCI) proudly announces the arrival of Iris, an A.I.-powered chatbot providing high-quality customer service support for licensed Tennessee professionals 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Named for Tennessee’s state flower, Iris is a powerful communications tool specifically designed to answer licensing questions for the more than 357,000 licensees across TDCI’s Division of Regulatory Boards’ 26 regulatory programs. Citizens can request information about state licensing requirements and request information about licensed individuals and businesses.
After Iris’ successful soft launch in August, all customers who connect with TDCI’s Customer Service Center either during TDCI’s regular business hours (Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. CT) or outside those days and times can receive round-the-clock support from Iris at CORE or TDCI’s Regulatory Boards Division website via the chat icon.
“Iris is a seamless transition between traditional customer service representatives and artificial intelligence,” said TDCI Commissioner Carter Lawrence. “The successful launch of Iris is the culmination of over two years’ work and puts our Department and the State of Tennessee at the forefront of the A.I. revolution and, most importantly, continue to provide state-of-the-art customer service to Tennesseans.”
Iris, which is fluent in both English and Spanish, can currently answer questions related to licensing questions. While Iris’s program can access individual licensees’ applications and files in the CORE database, the chatbot cannot share customers’ personal data. Additionally, Iris will inform customers when the program has reached its limit of knowledge thus necessitating an interaction with a human customer service representative.
“By using Iris, professionals who may work nontraditional hours such as real estate agents, motor vehicle salespersons, and contractors can receive assistance with their questions at times that might not be convenient for a traditional customer service center,” said Assistant Commissioner for Fiscal, Operation Paul Hartbarger. “With the chatbot Iris on our team, TDCI can provide assistance to the real people who drive Tennessee’s economy at any time of day or night.”
The addition of Iris further strengthens TDCI’s Customer Service Center, which is one of TDCI’s busiest sections. In 2025, 163,910 initial and renewal applications for professional licenses were processed while the Customer Service Center received 220,960 customer inquiries. Last year, the average wait time was reduced by more than four minutes, and the center maintained a 96% customer satisfaction rating.
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