Conversable

Conversable Inc. was a software company founded in Austin, Texas, in 2015 by Ben Lamm and Andrew Busey. The company focused on conversational commerce: software that enabled businesses to communicate with customers through messaging channels and voice applications, provide on-demand content, automate customer self-service, and support transactions or other commercial interactions through conversational interfaces. Its work reflected the broader movement toward using chatbots, artificial intelligence, and messaging platforms as customer-service and marketing channels. Lamm brought experience as the founder and chief executive of Chaotic Moon Studios, a digital creative design studio later acquired by Accenture. Busey had previously been chief executive and co-founder of Challenge Games, a social-gaming company later acquired by Zynga. Conversable reportedly raised $2 million from angel investors during its early development. Rather than positioning itself solely as a consumer chatbot provider, the company supplied an enterprise platform intended to help brands design, manage, and deploy automated conversational experiences. The platform was used by a range of consumer-facing organizations and event-related businesses. Companies identified as users included Budweiser, Wingstop, Pizza Hut, T.G.I. Friday's, Sam's Club, Shake Shack, Whole Foods, and 7-Eleven, while CES was also cited among organizations using the platform. These examples indicate a focus on sectors such as food service, retail, consumer packaged goods, hospitality, and large-scale events, where automated answers, ordering assistance, promotions, and customer support could be delivered through digital conversations. In March 2017, Conversable introduced AQUA, short for Answer Questions Using AI. AQUA was described as a business-intelligence platform, extending the company's activities beyond customer-facing chat and toward the analysis and use of business information through artificial intelligence. In January 2018, Conversable announced a partnership with Phobio. It also maintained relationships or partnerships involving Olo, Hinduja Global Solutions, Booz Allen Hamilton, Ernst & Young, Mindtree, WPP, and Pactera. LivePerson acquired Conversable in 2018. LivePerson described the transaction as supporting its objective of accelerating conversational-commerce products for customers. Following the acquisition, Conversable ceased to operate as an independent company or brand in the form described by its standalone Wikipedia article. The acquisition placed Conversable's technology and expertise within LivePerson's broader conversational-engagement business. No independent post-acquisition financial information or continuing standalone operating metrics are identified in the supplied reference material.

Conversable was established in Austin, Texas, in 2015 by Ben Lamm and Andrew Busey. The founders brought experience from technology and digital ventures: Lamm had founded and led Chaotic Moon Studios, while Busey had been chief executive and co-founder of Challenge Games. Both predecessor companies were subsequently acquired by larger businesses, Accenture and Zynga respectively. Conversable received $2 million in funding from angel investors, according to the supplied reference material. The company developed software for conversational commerce and enterprise customer engagement. Its technology was designed to let organizations publish content, answer questions, support customer self-service, and facilitate commercial interactions through messaging services and voice applications. This placed Conversable within the early enterprise chatbot and conversational-interface market, where brands were experimenting with automated interactions as an alternative or complement to websites, mobile applications, call centers, and conventional advertising. Conversable's reported customers and platform users included Budweiser, Wingstop, Pizza Hut, T.G.I. Friday's, Sam's Club, Shake Shack, CES, Whole Foods, and 7-Eleven. The customer list covered restaurants, retailers, consumer brands, and events, suggesting that the platform was intended to be adaptable across use cases such as ordering, product information, promotions, customer support, and event assistance. The supplied material does not provide detailed contract values, user volumes, or revenue figures for these relationships. In March 2017, Conversable expanded its product portfolio with AQUA, an acronym for Answer Questions Using AI. AQUA was presented as a business-intelligence platform, indicating an effort to use conversational artificial intelligence not only for external customer interactions but also for querying and working with organizational information. In January 2018, Conversable partnered with Phobio. The company was also associated with Olo, Hinduja Global Solutions, Booz Allen Hamilton, Ernst & Young, Mindtree, WPP, and Pactera. These relationships appear to have supported the deployment, integration, consulting, or commercial use of its conversational technology, although the supplied source does not specify the terms or scope of each arrangement. Later in 2018, LivePerson acquired Conversable. LivePerson said the acquisition would help it advance its goal of providing conversational-commerce products to customers. The deal brought Conversable's technology and capabilities into LivePerson and removed Conversable as an independent operating company. The available reference material does not identify a purchase price, post-acquisition executive structure, or the extent to which the Conversable name and products continued after the transaction.

• 2018

  Partnership with Phobio

  [1]Conversableen.wikipedia.org

  Conversable entered into a partnership with Phobio while continuing to maintain a broader set of technology and services relationships.

• 2018

  Acquisition by LivePerson

  [1]Conversableen.wikipedia.org

  LivePerson acquired Conversable to expand and accelerate its conversational-commerce offering.

• 2017

  AQUA is launched

  [1]Conversableen.wikipedia.org

  Conversable launched AQUA, or Answer Questions Using AI, a business-intelligence platform using artificial intelligence to support questions and access to business information.

• 2015

  Conversable is founded

  [1]Conversableen.wikipedia.org

  Ben Lamm and Andrew Busey founded Conversable in Austin, Texas, to develop enterprise software for conversational commerce and automated customer interactions.

Enterprise conversational-commerce and customer-engagement software for brands seeking automated service, content delivery, and commercial interactions through messaging and voice channels.

• Conversational commerce software · 2015

  Conversable platform

  Conversable's principal platform enabled businesses to create conversational experiences through messaging channels and voice applications. It supported on-demand content, automated answers, customer self-service, and commerce-related interactions. The platform was used across food service, retail, consumer brands, and events, with cited users including Budweiser, Pizza Hut, Whole Foods, 7-Eleven, and CES.

• Business intelligence and artificial intelligence · 2017

  AQUA

  AQUA, whose name stood for Answer Questions Using AI, was introduced as a business-intelligence product. It extended Conversable's use of artificial intelligence toward querying and interacting with business information rather than focusing exclusively on consumer-facing messaging and commerce.

• 2018

  Acquisition by LivePersonM&A

  Background

  LivePerson was seeking to accelerate its conversational-commerce products and identified Conversable's technology and expertise as complementary to its own business.

  Action taken

  LivePerson acquired Conversable in 2018.

  Aftermath

  Conversable ceased to operate as an independent company in the form documented by its standalone article, while its capabilities became part of LivePerson's conversational-engagement business. The purchase price and detailed integration results are not provided.

  Source

• 2017

  Launch of AQUAProduct launch

  Background

  Conversable was expanding beyond basic conversational customer engagement and sought to apply artificial intelligence to business information and intelligence workflows.

  Action taken

  The company launched AQUA, short for Answer Questions Using AI, as a business-intelligence platform.

  Aftermath

  AQUA broadened the scope of Conversable's product portfolio, although the supplied sources do not report adoption, revenue, or subsequent product development.

  Source

• 2018

  Conversable partners with Phobio[1]Conversableen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Conversable formed a partnership with Phobio as part of its broader network of commercial and implementation relationships.

• 2018

  LivePerson acquires Conversable[1]Conversableen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  LivePerson acquired Conversable to strengthen and accelerate its conversational-commerce product offering. The transaction ended Conversable's independent corporate operation.

• 2017

  Conversable launches AQUA artificial-intelligence business-intelligence platform[1]Conversableen.wikipedia.org

  Product launch

  Conversable introduced AQUA, meaning Answer Questions Using AI, as a business-intelligence product designed to apply artificial intelligence to business information and questions.

1. 1Conversableen.wikipedia.org