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Unify Platform Vision

Governments and community organizations struggle to launch benefit programs. Manual document review requires armies of staff. Fraud detection systems slow legitimate applicants. Language barriers exclude entire communities. Setup takes months instead of days. As a result, $140 billion in public benefits go unclaimed every year.
Unify is the easiest and best way to design, launch, and scale benefit programs. We’ve processed nearly 500,000 applications across 16 states, proving that speed and dignity can coexist at scale.

The Platform

Unify is not a single application—it’s an integrated platform of specialized tools that work together:

How They Connect

Data Flow

  1. Program Manager uses Forge to design a new benefit program, generating eligibility rules, required documents, and all messaging variants
  2. Forge exports the program template to Terra as a draft form
  3. Applicants discover the program through Pathfinder and submit applications via Terra
  4. Submissions flow to Airtable for case management review
  5. Sentinel analyzes submissions for fraud patterns, flagging suspicious applications
  6. Hub shows the complete applicant lifecycle across all touchpoints

Shared Infrastructure

All Unify applications share common infrastructure:
ComponentTechnologyPurpose
DatabaseSupabase (PostgreSQL)Single source of truth for all data
AuthWorkOSEnterprise SSO, role-based permissions
Identity@unify/identityUnified applicant profiles across apps
FilesSupabase Storage + Google DriveSecure document storage
NotificationsResend (email) + Twilio (SMS)Multi-channel communications
SecretsDopplerEnvironment management across apps

Shared Packages

packages/
├── database/     # Supabase types, client, schemas
├── identity/     # Applicant management, profiles
├── extraction/   # Document extraction (OCR, AI)
├── ai/           # Shared LLM utilities
└── ui/           # React component library

AI Capabilities

The platform leverages AI to remove barriers at every stage:
Extract structured data from paystubs, IDs, bank statements, and proof of address. Feed extracted data into Terra forms, fraud analysis, and case management systems.
Analyze patterns across 450,000+ applications. Identify synthetic identities, coordinated fraud attempts, and document forgery. Maintain low false-positive rates to protect legitimate applicants.
Analyze existing programs and public benefit models to generate eligibility criteria, documentation requirements, and workflow designs. Compress program launch from months to days.
Generate all program communications—social media, notifications, approval letters, outreach materials—and auto-translate to 20+ languages while preserving cultural context.
Inform applicants about relevant opportunities, upcoming deadlines, and next steps in their preferred language and communication channel.

Grant Context

This platform expansion is funded by the GitLab Foundation’s AI for Economic Opportunity grant. The grant supports deploying AI to:
  1. Foundation Phase: Document extraction pipeline, baseline fraud detection, multilingual translation infrastructure
  2. Intelligence Layer Phase: Cross-program insights, program template generation, personalized outreach engine
  3. Integration & Validation Phase: Partner validation, measurement, documentation for scaling

Success Metrics

MetricTarget
Document extractionReduce manual review from hours to minutes per application
Fraud detectionMaintain <15% false positive rate while catching coordinated fraud
Language coverageExpand from 2 languages to 20+
Program launch speedCompress setup from months to <2 weeks
Geographic expansionGrow from 16 states to 25 states
Distribution capacityScale from 5Mto5M to 15M annually

Architecture Principles

All applications live in a single repository. Shared packages prevent duplication. Database migrations stay in sync. One team can work across all apps without context-switching.
Every high-stakes decision (fraud flagging, eligibility determination, benefit denial) requires human review. AI serves as a support tool, not a replacement for human judgment.
PII is encrypted at rest. Separate queryable metadata from sensitive values. Audit all access. Never log credentials or sensitive URLs.
Benefit applicants trust us with their most sensitive information. Every architectural decision prioritizes data protection. Files are never publicly accessible. Submissions succeed even if integrations fail.
Someone flagged for fraud in one program should not be barred from all future programs without recourse. Fraud flags are program-specific unless confirmed through human review. Clear processes exist to exit fraud status.

Next Steps