Customer service is essential for the success of many businesses across various industries. Doing it right helps build long-term relationships and fosters brand loyalty. However, despite technological advancements in recent years, customer experience (CX) has been declining, making it harder for customers to get timely assistance.
Today, Zingly, a startup based in California, stepped out of stealth mode to tackle this issue using AI and data. The company also revealed that it has raised $10 million in seed funding, led by WestWave Capital and including other investors like Dell Technologies Capital and Scribble Ventures.
While many companies are using AI to help agents address customer queries, Zingly is taking a unique approach by putting customers in control. The company has created an AI-powered collaborative space that eliminates the frustration of long wait times on automated calls or dealing with rigid chatbots.
Although it is still in the early stages, Zingly is already seeing positive results with its first customers.
Addressing the CX problem today involves managing scale, as there are countless brands and billions of customers. Traditional automated interactive voice response (IVR) systems are becoming more expensive and lack sufficient agents to provide timely assistance. Chatbots, while scalable, often fail to offer a personalized experience.
Gaurav Passi, an industry veteran who has worked at companies like Avaya and Amdocs, recognized this broken CX issue. He teamed up with experts from Five9, Talkdesk, and Glia to launch Zingly. Their platform gives brands a collaborative space to connect with customers using AI and data, enhancing the experience.
Zingly has created a low-code platform that integrates seamlessly with existing CRM, contact center technologies, customer support systems, and core operations. This integration funnels customer data into the Zingly interface. When customers contact the service, they see a comprehensive panel that showcases their journey with the brand, including past orders and cases, and provides options to launch new interactions.
Once a customer initiates a Zingly-Room, an AI assistant named Buddy steps in to gather information about the issue, allowing the user to upload photos or videos. The assistant tries to resolve the problem independently, but if the issue is too complex, it flags the room as urgent for a human agent to step in.
Zingly’s Relationship AI analyzes various parameters to determine when a human agent should get involved. The agent can then use AI-generated replies and bring in technical experts if needed. This collaborative approach streamlines processes like payments and scheduling visits.
Once resolved, customers can close the case in the same room. If the issue reappears, they can reopen the room and pick up where they left off, a feature previously managed by agents through calls or messages.
The impact of Zingly’s approach remains to be seen, especially as next-generation chatbots continue to develop. Companies like Sierra are creating AI agents that connect to enterprise data and systems, enabling them to reason, problem-solve, and make decisions, similar to Zingly but with customers having more control over interactions.
Currently, Zingly focuses on high-value industries such as financial services, healthcare, and product companies. One early customer, a Fortune 500 company, has successfully implemented the platform, engaging with five times more customers than traditional phone conversations and significantly reducing conversion times, leading to substantial revenue gains.
Zingly’s technology can also be applied to other critical business areas like customer acquisition, onboarding, and success. The company is looking to build on its early success by expanding its teams in data science, engineering, sales, and marketing, with plans to double its headcount by the end of the year.