While 2016 has been a year for artificial intelligence, as we’ve seen again and again and again, it has subsequently fostered the proliferation of chatbots.
Still in their infancy, but increasingly popular as a model for software, chatbots are interactive services that offer conversational experiences. These bots either have their own apps or live inside other products, such as Facebook or Slack, to provide dynamic responses to user needs.
In comparison to traditional apps, which are static in nature, bots simulate human conversation and are powered by artificial intelligence. While New York City is carving out a space for AI startups, bots are also having a moment here.
This year, startup studio Betaworks launched its first ever ‘Botcamp,’ a 90-day pre-seed program for chatbot startups. Slack, which in the midst of launching its ‘Search, Learning and Intelligence’ group in its New York City office, also announced a $2 million fund for bot-style services this year.
We took a look at the startups permeating the nascent bot ecosystem in New York City. Check them out here:
Troops, a bot that lets you speak with your Salesforce data, launched out of beta last month on the heels of a $7 million funding. Troops lets users instantly push and pull CRM data in and out of Slack, turning it into a sales hub for teams. At its core, the new company is innovating enterprise workflows through messaging, biting at the future of how people use Salesforce with a focused, intelligent product.
Wade and Wendy is building virtual personalities in the realm of recruiting and hiring. The company operates two conversational personalities: Wade acts as a personal adviser throughout your career and Wendy acts as the frontline of a company, vetting candidates as a recruiter would.
Founded with a mission to become part of the next generation of software that benefits companies and employees through the automation of tasks, Abacus is the only intelligent and predictive expense management solution on the market. The company announced a first-of-its-kind integration with Slack back in June, which allows finance teams to review and approve expenses within the messaging platform.
Init.ai allows companies to easily create AI-powered conversational apps. The platform handles messaging, natural language understanding and generation, machine learning and business logic to integrate with third-party APIs.
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