Welcome to the latest edition of the Conversational AI Newsletter. In this issue, we will recap some of the key developments in conversational AI during the months of November and December 2023.
Investment/Partnership Deals
Conversational commerce startup Connectly has raised $7.85 million in a new funding round led by Volpe Capital. This brings the company’s total capital raised to $17.5 million as it looks to accelerate development of its AI-powered conversational platforms. At the core of Connectly’s solution is an AI assistant called Sofia that integrates with businesses’ systems to deliver personalized suggestions and engage customers across messaging channels. The funding will allow Connectly to further develop its plug-and-play conversational commerce tools that enable brands to automate two-way conversations with leads and customers. Connectly is poised to transform retail and e-commerce by allowing companies to meet consumers where they are today — on messaging apps. The platform’s AI assistant tailors conversations and surfaces product recommendations, unlocking more effective campaigns and customer experiences through the power of conversational AI.
Conversational AI startup Yellow.ai has raised $20 million in Series B funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. The Bengaluru-based company provides conversational solutions like chatbots to enterprises. The new capital brings Yellow.ai’s total funding to $24 million. The company will use the funds to drive international expansion in the US, Europe, Latin America and APAC. Investments will also go towards enhancing Yellow.ai’s voice bot capabilities, enterprise integrations and launching a virtual assistant developer marketplace. As adoption of conversational AI rises, Yellow.ai is capitalizing on demand with its quick deployment and multi-language support. The startup aims to advance product innovation to power more natural and contextual enterprise-customer conversations across voice and chat channels. The Series B enables Yellow.ai to scale globally and tap into the irreversible market pull towards automating engagements through AI.
Siena AI has raised $4.7 million in seed funding to develop empathetic AI agents for customer service. Siena aims to move beyond scripted chatbots to enable more natural conversations that resolve complex issues. The company’s AI can juggle multiple tasks in one interaction and adapt tone and style for different audiences. Siena’s cognitive reasoning engine considers optimal paths to resolve support queries. With 65 brands already using the platform, Siena will leverage the new capital to accelerate hiring, market reach and product enhancements over the next year. The startup plans for its AI to become fully autonomous in handling customer needs. Siena also launched an AI Academy to help businesses integrate conversational AI into workflows. The seed round, led by Sierra Ventures, enables Siena to scale its mission of enabling service agents that display empathy and reasoning — unlocking the next generation of conversational experiences.
The Dubai Integrated Economic Zones Authority (DIEZ) has partnered with Sprinklr to elevate customer service through AI-powered chatbots and unified cross-channel management. DIEZ will implement Sprinklr’s Conversational AI chatbots along with integrated agent desktop capabilities to streamline interactions across live chat, email, WhatsApp and more. With a unified dashboard, agents can manage multiple languages seamlessly. DIEZ aims to redefine convenience and ease of doing business by enabling smooth digital customer experiences. As a catalyst for business growth in Dubai, DIEZ plays a strategic role in the region’s ecosystem. By adopting Sprinklr’s cutting-edge conversational AI engine and unified CXM platform, DIEZ can further its commitment to customer-centricity. Businesses in DIEZ’s economic zones will benefit from enhanced tools and support needed to succeed today. The implementation exemplifies how conversational AI and omnichannel management can empower modern, efficient customer service.
New product features, highlights & use cases
Aktana, the leader in intelligent customer engagement for the life sciences industry, announced Aktana Copilot’s conversational AI and field engagement capabilities. This will allow Aktana to deliver real-time suggestions and insights directly to field reps’ mobile devices through an AI assistant called Aktana Copilot. Copilot provides on-demand recommendations and market intelligence to reps during customer interactions to drive more personalized and coordinated engagement. By integrating Tact.ai’s conversational interface, Aktana can now offer nudges and insights to users via AI chat on their phones. This acquisition positions Aktana at the forefront of conversational AI for field teams in life sciences. The technology promises to simplify call planning and equip reps with the latest insights exactly when needed to boost effectiveness.
Web design platform Wix has introduced a conversational AI chatbot to guide users through creating an online presence for their business. The chatbot asks questions about the user’s business and tailors follow-up questions based on their responses. It then recommends website templates, applications, images, text, and other components suited to the specific business needs identified through the conversation. This AI-powered dialogue allows for a highly personalized website building experience. Rather than manually determining what they need, users have an AI assistant that suggests tailored solutions based on the details provided about their business. With this new capability, Wix is utilizing conversational AI technology to simplify the process of creating an effective online presence. The chatbot serves as an intuitive starting point that delivers customized recommendations to match each business’s unique requirements.
Conversational AI startup Native Voice has partnered with AccuWeather to launch “Hey AccuWeather,” a voice-powered way to access AccuWeather’s weather forecasts. By simply saying “Hey AccuWeather,” users of Native Voice’s app with an Onn. FM Transmitter can get hands-free weather updates through AI conversation. Native Voice leveraged its proprietary framework and large language models to develop an AI assistant that has natural back-and-forth dialogue about weather. Users can ask questions about forecasts, clothing suggestions, upcoming trips and more. This marks the first direct voice interface to AccuWeather’s trusted weather data. Native Voice moved beyond rigid command-response AI to deliver a truly conversational experience that can understand a wide range of weather-related questions. The company aims to provide an intuitive way to access AccuWeather’s accurate forecasts when screens aren’t ideal.
Conversational AI startup Hyro has integrated its platform with Salesforce Health Cloud and Service Cloud to bring advanced conversational capabilities to healthcare organizations. This new offering leverages large language models like GPT to enable natural patient interactions across voice and chat channels. For patients, it improves access to information and care through AI-powered self-service. Contact center agents can use the AI assistants to efficiently handle initial patient contacts before escalating complex issues. At an organizational level, providers benefit from more personalized engagement, streamlined workflows, lower costs, and better patient outcomes. By connecting Hyro’s adaptive conversational platform with Salesforce’s health-specific CRM, providers get a unified view of patient journeys to drive engagement and care quality. This integration exemplifies how AI can augment human capabilities to address healthcare’s workforce challenges. Hyro’s conversational solutions on AppExchange aim to reduce agent burnout and attrition while ensuring needs are served quickly.
Conversational AI company DeepBrain AI unveiled its AI avatar technology for the finance industry at Euro Finance Tech Day 2023, in collaboration with AKA Ausfuhrkredit-Gesellschaft. AKA showcased a prototype leveraging DeepBrain’s AI Human platform to demonstrate natural conversational abilities for customer service. The AI avatar engages in human-like exchanges using DeepBrain’s fine-tuned large language model developed with AKA. Its realistic visual appearance also creates an engaging user experience. This demonstration highlights the potential of AI avatars to transform 24/7 customer support in finance with personalized, conversational interactions available in the customer’s language. As digitalization advances, smart AI humans can overhaul customer experience through natural human-computer conversations. DeepBrain’s sophisticated platform matches rising expectations for AI capabilities. The collaboration with AKA exhibits the applicability of DeepBrain’s conversational AI in the financial sector to modernize services.
Enterprise AI company Stardog has released Voicebox, a large language model platform enabling knowledge workers to access critical business data through natural conversation. Voicebox connects employees directly to organizational data without losing context. It allows asking questions in plain language and receiving immediate answers based on trusted enterprise sources. This overcomes limitations of siloed, inefficient data storage that have long prevented easy access. Now any employee can get trusted insights on-demand through Voicebox’s conversational interface. As a foundational layer for generative AI, Stardog is also offering Voicebox to AI partners, supplying the timely, accurate data their solutions need. The Voicebox launch signals a major step toward democratizing enterprise data access through AI conversation. It promises to unlock productivity and efficiency gains by putting critical knowledge at every worker’s fingertips.
Conversational AI platform Jio Haptik has launched Contakt, a customer experience suite powered by generative AI and large language models like ChatGPT. Contakt aims to enhance user experiences across the customer lifecycle through AI-enabled self-service, task automation and agent assistance. The platform provides chatbot capabilities to facilitate customer self-service along with a co-pilot that suggests responses to agents during conversations. Contakt also analyzes bot and agent performance to optimize interactions via AI recommendations. The launch enables brands to deploy conversational experiences comparable to ChatGPT for improved customer satisfaction. As more companies explore adopting generative AI, Contakt offers a robust suite covering the entire CX lifecycle — from automated assistance to agent empowerment. With Contakt, Jio Haptik aims to make enterprise-grade generative AI accessible for elevating user experiences.
Global communications platform Infobip has launched AI Hub, integrating analytics, AI and generative capabilities into its SaaS portfolio to power conversational customer experiences. The hub allows businesses to build end-to-end journeys across marketing, sales and support without coding. Infobip collaborated with Microsoft to integrate OpenAI’s ChatGPT through Azure into the hub securely. AI Hub features a copilot for workflows, generative AI for campaigns and insights, and chatbot development. This aligns with Infobip’s strategy to create a conversational ecosystem enabling digital transformation. The hub makes it easy to leverage AI advancements like ChatGPT for smoother customer and agent interactions. With pre-built integration with tools like Salesforce, AI Hub supports creating next-level customer journeys fast. The launch promises to drive smarter, more natural conversations between businesses and customers at scale through AI.
ElliQ is an AI-powered device by Intuition Robotics aimed at providing companionship and assistance for older adults vulnerable to isolation. Resembling a table lamp, ElliQ engages users in personalized conversations based on their interests, tells jokes and stories, provides health reminders, and more. It even leads exercises and can facilitate emergency video calls to caregivers. A key aspect is privacy — no conversations are heard by the company. ElliQ is being used by older Americans across the country, with average users interacting over 30 times daily and reporting reduced loneliness. This exemplifies how conversational AI can meaningfully impact lives by tailoring interactions to individuals’ needs. Intuition Robotics highlights that companion AI must be implemented thoughtfully, with user privacy at the core. As populations age globally, ElliQ demonstrates a humanistic approach of using technology to nurture bonds and empower independent living.
Industry Trends
A new study published in JMIR demonstrates how conversational AI can improve efficiencies and outcomes in mental healthcare. Researchers examined data from 64,862 patients across NHS services using Limbic AI’s platform. The AI facilitated assessments and provided clinicians with insights ahead of appointments. Results showed this significantly reduced clinician workload and improved patient recovery rates. The research highlights AI’s potential to augment human capabilities in mental health treatment, addressing workforce strains. By streamlining processes like assessments, the technology alleviated clinician burdens. And by supplying relevant patient insights, it enabled more effective care plans. As demand for mental health support surges globally, AI-driven solutions can empower practitioners and enhance care quality. The study exemplifies AI’s role in supporting clinicians to foster improved patient experiences and recovery.