Welcome to the latest edition of the #ConversationAI Newsletter! January 2023 has been a productive and exciting month in the field of #ConversationAI, with new advancements, innovations and applications being developed and rolled out. From the latest developments in natural language processing to the new ways, conversational AI is being used in sales and customer service, there is no shortage of exciting news to share. So, sit back, relax and enjoy this update on all things #ConversationAI
Investment/Partnership Deals
Stay tuned for updates, news on finance & technology
NLX, a conversational AI start-up, has raised $4.6 million in funding from IAG Capital Partners, JetBlue Ventures, and Flying Fish Ventures. The company, founded in 2018, offers AI-powered multimodal self-service tools for organizations to build and manage automated, personalized conversational experiences. Through its no-code platform, NLX enables brands to create voice, chat, and multimodal conversations in one place. With the new funding, the company’s total raised capital reaches $9.6 million. The funds will be used to expand its marketplace and improve its product.
Kore.ai, the world’s leading conversational AI and platform solutions company, and mParticle, a leading AI-native customer data platform for consumer brands, join hands together. This partnership aims to revolutionize shopping experiences by providing an AI-based natural language processing (NLP) search engine and intelligent chatbots. As retail sales continue to soar, reaching an estimated 8.5 trillion US dollars globally by 2025, brick-and-mortar and online stores must improve the customer experience. This partnership will allow businesses with digital shopping interfaces to enhance customer support and purchasing processes through the deployment of NLP search assistants and customer-insight-powered chatbots. By incorporating AI into the shopping experience, Kore.ai and mParticle are taking a crucial step towards meeting the demands of today’s consumers.
Konect.ai, a provider of an artificial intelligence-powered SMS platform for automotive dealerships, and TotalCX (formerly InteractiveTel), a provider of AI-driven customer experience management solutions, are partnering to provide a comprehensive solution for automation and accountability in the auto retail industry. Konect.ai’s AI-powered SMS platform for dealerships allows for two-way conversations with customers, while TotalCX’s customer experience management solutions incorporate these conversations to gain deeper insights into customer perspectives. The partnership aims to improve sales and customer service by offering call recording and conversational AI capabilities. Konect.ai’s platform will also be available in the TotalCX Market Place. The partnership is expected to bring a successful solution for dealerships to enhance their customer experience.
SoundHound, a Santa Clara-based company that specializes in providing cutting-edge conversational AI services for various industries, including automotive, connected home, and hospitality has raised $25 million in equity funding from a diverse group of investors, including both existing shareholders and new capital providers. This new funding will provide the company with the necessary resources to further solidify its market position and fully fund its business plan. The investment will also help SoundHound strengthen its balance sheet and work towards its goal of operating on a GAAP positive cash flow by the end of 2023. With a focus on delivering intuitive and user-friendly voice-based solutions, SoundHound has established itself as a leader in the voice AI space.
Inbenta, an enterprise conversational AI startup, closed a $40 million funding round led by Tritium Partners. Inbenta provides companies from insurance, telecom, finance, travel and other verticals with a platform to integrate conversational AI into their customer service chatbots, with minimal setup required in 35 different languages and across multiple platforms. Its advantage in the conversational AI market stems from its proprietary Natural Language Processing and Neuro-Symbolic AI technology, as well as its versatility and global reach. The company has the ability to connect with customers across different languages and lexicons, making it a standout in the industry. With the support of Tritium Partners, Inbenta is now poised for rapid growth and the development of a comprehensive, end-to-end AI platform.
New product features, highlights & use cases
Peppercorn, a UK-based startup, has launched its innovative insurance chatbot assistant that is powered by conversational AI and natural language processing. This chatbot is designed to interact with customers and answer common queries while they wait for a human agent to take over the instant messaging interface. The chatbot is trained to provide relevant policy recommendations based on the customer’s needs and is even capable of making preliminary underwriting calculations. According to Peppercorn, developing effective natural language algorithms while controlling costs has been a key focus for the company, as reducing costs will help lower end prices and provide a solution for legacy insurance firms looking to tackle overhead expenses.
Agiloft launches conversational interface to contracts. Agiloft, a global leader in agile contract lifecycle management, has launched ConvoAI, a new platform that enables users to interact with contracts through natural language conversations. The platform is powered by Cognizer AI’s Genius™ contract intelligence technology and allows business users to easily and intuitively find details in their contracts by simply asking questions in natural language. ConvoAI will be available to all new and existing cloud-hosted CLM customers in the US and Europe and can be accessed from the Agiloft CLM user interface and Agiloft for Microsoft Teams. This integration makes it possible for business users to access contract data through the Teams interface in which they already work. The platform also ensures that data access permissions established in Agiloft are carried over to the Teams user.
Zoom is getting into the conversational AI arena with the launch of Zoom Virtual Agent. The chatbot solution aims to improve how businesses assist their customers and employees by delivering fast and highly-personalised responses. Zoom Virtual Agent works across both the web and mobile and relies on proprietary AI and machine learning technology to accurately interpret what customers or employees are asking. Zoom’s chatbot solution does not require extensive coding and claims to integrate seamlessly with various CRM, chat, and contact centre platforms.
Microsoft has rolled out its Azure OpenAI service, this new offering provides businesses with the ability to integrate advanced AI tools such as DALL-E into their own cloud applications. The Azure OpenAI service features a range of AI models developed by OpenAI, including GPT-3.5, Codex, and DALL-E, enabling businesses and developers to harness these systems in their own projects and workloads. Microsoft has combined the power of GPT-3.5 with the scalability of Azure and added management and data handling capabilities. The Azure OpenAI service provides a wealth of opportunities for developers to create AI-powered apps for support tickets, content matching, and improving search results in online stores. The AI models available through this service are already being widely used for summarizing documents and text analysis.
Industry Trends
Conversational AI is making its mark in the sales industry, with the technology now being used to uncover sales opportunities, move prospects through the sales funnel, and close deals more efficiently. Companies are using analytics to analyze customer data, and tying it back to their CRM data using conversational AI. The technology is being applied throughout the sales funnel and is used to capture prospective customers visiting websites, qualify sales leads for outbound efforts, and analyze sales meetings both in real-time and after the fact. Additionally, conversational AI is being leveraged to generate more sales or increase existing order values by uncovering additional sales opportunities and upsell or cross-sell possibilities. ~ CRM Magazine
Ecommerce-based shopping is set to change with the emergence of AI-powered conversational commerce. In retail, artificial intelligence is quickly becoming a widely used tool to provide more efficient and personalized customer service. A recent study highlighted that AI-powered chatbots are predicted to play a significant role in customer interactions over the next few years, handling 70% of customer conversations in 2023. ~Juniper Research