SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 30, 2026--
Thumbtack, the technology company helping millions of people take care of their homes, today announced its new AI-powered experience, a major milestone in the platform's evolution. The new experience replaces search with a guided approach—helping homeowners describe what’s going on, understand their needs, and confidently choose the right pro for the job.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260430186888/en/
“In an industry where word-of-mouth has long guided how homeowners find help, AI gives us an opportunity to recreate that confidence at scale,” said Marco Zappacosta, CEO and co-founder of Thumbtack. “When technology consistently delivers better matches and outcomes, it builds trust. By embedding AI into our core platform, we’re empowering homeowners to manage projects with more certainty from start to finish.”
Homeowners on Thumbtack can now start projects by simply describing what’s happening in their home through text, photos, or voice. The AI-powered interface interprets the problem, scopes the project, and turns that information into clear guidance on next steps, helping homeowners identify the right pro with confidence and clarity.
“It's frustrating trying to explain a problem in my house that I can’t quite pinpoint,” said homeowner Deanna Durr. “If I could take a picture and get help figuring out what’s wrong, I’d feel more confident reaching out to a pro.”
In a recent survey, more than half of homeowners admit they get it wrong when trying to diagnose issues, and almost 85% struggle to find the right expert for the job. With the new experience, homeowners can:
In early testing, 87% of customers found it valuable to express their issues through photos or voice, and those using the new experience were more confident moving forward with their projects than those using traditional search.
“Home projects don’t always start as perfect plans—they often start as questions, problems, or ideas. With our new AI-powered experience, we’ve designed for the way projects really begin,” said Waqas Sheikh, Senior Director of Product at Thumbtack. “Our vision here goes beyond a set of features. It’s a fundamental redesign of how Thumbtack works, ensuring homeowners feel confident moving forward and pros get better matches with customers ready to hire.”
Thumbtack is testing its AI-powered experience nationwide now, with plans to launch it to all users in 2026.
About Thumbtack
We’re Thumbtack, a technology company helping millions of people confidently care for and improve their homes. Our homeowners get personalized guidance on what to do and when to do it, as well as who to hire from our growing community of 300,000 local service businesses. Every day in every county of the U.S., people turn to Thumbtack to complete small fixes, routine maintenance, and major improvements. With over 15 million 5-star projects and counting, we help homeowners and home professionals accomplish more.
Thumbtack Introduces AI-Powered Experience to Reinvent How Homeowners Care for Their Homes
WASHINGTON (AP) — A key inflation measure jumped in March as gas prices soared, the latest sign that the Iran war is pushing up the cost of living and delaying any interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
An inflation gauge monitored by the Fed rose 0.7% in March from February, up sharply from the previous month, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Compared with a year ago, prices rose 3.5%, the biggest increase in almost three years.
Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation rose 0.3% in March from February, and it was 3.2% higher than a year earlier. The annual figure is above February’s reading of 3%.
The jump in gas prices has pushed inflation further away from the Fed’s 2% target. Outgoing Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled at a news conference Wednesday that the central bank would likely be on hold for months as it evaluates the impact of the Iran war. The Fed has kept its key short-term interest rate unchanged after cutting it three times last year. The central bank typically keeps rates elevated — or even raises them — to combat higher inflation.
At the same time, Thursday's report showed that Americans' incomes — wages, business income, and government benefits — increased 0.6%, a solid increase but slower than the rate of inflation, for the second straight month.
The decline illustrates the other risk created by higher gas prices: The extra costs will likely siphon away spending that would have gone to other products and services, potentially slowing the economy. For now, consumers have been bolstered by healthy tax refunds, which were lifted by last year's tax cut legislation, but much of that benefit is being eaten up by higher prices at the pump.
“A year that was set to benefit from tail winds associated with a large tax cut and boom in artificial intelligence-led investment has been partially derailed by the impact of what as of today is an adverse and growing supply shock caused by the war in Iran,” said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, a tax and advisory firm. “Unfortunately, war and the supply shock that ensued has altered the probable growth path this year.”
Brusuelas now expects the economy to expand just 1.7% this year, down from an earlier estimate of 2.4%.
Gas prices jumped nearly 21% in March from the previous month, the report said, while grocery prices actually slipped 0.1%. Clothing costs climbed 1% just in March.
The average price of a gallon of gas nationwide rose to $4.22 a gallon Thursday, according to AAA, up from $2.98 before the war began. U.S. oil prices cooled a bit Thursday morning but still topped $105 a barrel, up from about $67 before the war.
Still, the Fed typically pays more attention to core prices, and how much higher energy costs feed through to core inflation in the coming months will be a major factor in how the central bank decides on its next moves.
“We’re very well aware that people are experiencing higher gas prices all over the country now,” Powell said Wednesday. “And that hurts.”
Thursday’s report also showed that consumer spending soared 0.9% last month, with most of the increase reflecting the sharp jump in prices. But it also indicates Americans lifted their spending a bit even after adjusting for inflation, a sign of consumer resilience.
The economy expanded at a modest 2% annual rate in the first three months of the year, the Commerce Department also said Thursday, up from an expansion of just 0.5% in last year’s final quarter, when growth was held back by the six-week government shutdown. Still, consumer spending growth slowed compared with the final three months of last year.
Luciano V. replaces the fuel nozzel after filling the tank of their 1999 Mazda Miata at an Astro gas station on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
