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Tomato.ai, a startup co-founded by CEO Ofer Ronen and CTO James Fan, has launched a machine learning model that can soften accents in real-time for call center agents. The company recently raised $10 million in funding and added an extension to their seed funding of over $2.1 million from existing investors Cardumen Capital and Recursive Ventures, along with new investor Gaingels. This brings their total funding to over $12 million, positioning them for further growth and development.
Tomato.ai aims to make global communication easier by reducing the level of accent heard during conversations. The goal is twofold: to improve intelligibility and to build trust.
This accent softening technology addresses a significant issue for many offshore call centers in countries like India, the Philippines, and Pakistan. These centers often struggle to meet the performance metrics of their onshore counterparts, leading to lower customer satisfaction scores and difficulty in securing new business.
Tomato.ai’s internal dashboard displays key call center metrics like monthly active seats, handle time, and total minutes, which their accent softening technology aims to improve. The data visualizations provide insights into the potential impact of Tomato.ai’s solution on call center efficiency and performance.
Empowering Human Agents with AI
Ronen, who has prior experience with contact center AI at Google, saw an opportunity to use AI to assist human agents rather than replace them. He observed that the voice AI technology was not yet available at scale, and his team was well-equipped to develop it.
Tomato.ai’s solution is easy to implement, taking just five minutes to install on lower-end PCs without requiring any integration. Simplifying the onboarding process was a key priority for Ronen, who wanted to avoid the complex integrations he encountered at Google.
Zero-Shot Learning and Ethical Considerations
The technology also features zero-shot learning capabilities, meaning it can adapt to new speakers without any warm-up period. As soon as someone starts speaking, the system applies the appropriate adjustments immediately.
While the accent softening technology can significantly improve call center performance, it also raises ethical questions regarding cultural sensitivity and potential bias. Tomato.ai is committed to maintaining speakers’ identities and offers varying levels of accent softening to provide users with more control.
The tech offers different models with various levels of accent softening. This allows users to choose a model that suits their needs, whether that be more of an American accent or a blend of their original and American accents.
A Game-Changer for Offshore Call Centers
From a business perspective, Tomato.ai’s technology could revolutionize offshore call centers by helping agents communicate more effectively with customers. This could help these centers close the performance gap with their onshore competitors and secure more business.
The global call center market is projected to reach $496 billion by 2027, driven by the increasing adoption of AI and automation technologies. With its innovative accent softening solution, Tomato.ai is well-positioned to capture a significant share of this growing market.
However, the company must carefully handle the ethical complexities surrounding accent modification. As AI continues to transform the call center industry, balancing efficiency with cultural sensitivity will be crucial for long-term success.