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Zendesk Acquires AI Startup Cleverly
Customer support technology giant Zendesk say it believes a key component of providing great customer experiences includes ensuring that helpdesk and call center agents are armed with the right tools and processes to deliver them. However, with conversation volume increasing by more than 20 percent year over year, over a growing number of channels, support teams are struggling to keep up. As a result, businesses are increasingly turn to artificial intelligence (AI) to provide faster and more reliable service and make teams more efficient.
This week, Zendesk announced that it has acquired artificial intelligence startup Cleverly to do just that. Cleverly provides AI-powered solutions with insight-driven automation that can help make support teams more productive.
Zendesk said that it plans to integrate Cleverly’s technology across its platform, enhancing the Zendesk AI solutions already enabling teams to automate more of their processes, reduce costs, and keep up with customer demand.
In announcing the acquisition, Zendesk’s executive VP of product, Shawna Wolverton, noted that while it has invested in AI to help its customers achieve better, faster, and more reliable customer service, the company believes there is still so much untapped potential in AI.
“Today, our AI-enabled capabilities help businesses automate the conversations they have with customers, boost agent productivity, and increase operational efficiency with features like Answer Bot, macro suggestions, and Content Cues. With Cleverly, we will deliver a range of capabilities that automate key insights, further reduce manual tasks and improve workflows, and overall lead to happier, more productive support,” said Wolverton.
Zendesk provides its customers with a CRM experience focused on customer service and sales needs. With sales automation software, pipeline visualization and management tools, mobile access, lead management, and reporting capabilities, Zendesk is a good fit for organizations that prioritize sales pipeline development and progression. The company also offers industry-specific solutions for education, healthcare, financial, government, manufacturing, retail, media, software, and telecommunications.
Edited by Luke Bellos