Hot Vendors™ in Conversational AI, 2019 

Conversational AI is use of artificial intelligence technologies, primarily natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML), in application interfaces that accept user input in natural language (via text or speech), interpret the input using natural language understanding (NLU) technology, and respond with a context-appropriate natural language output or event trigger to a system to take action (ranging in complexity from raising the volume on the system to triggering a secure financial transaction). Aragon identifies four Hot Vendors in Conversational AI.

Conversational AI is transforming the customer or user experience; it is the ubiquitous choice for personal devices and is becoming increasingly popular in enterprise applications, from contact centers to maintenance and repair operations.

Today, there are several trends accelerating the adoption of conversational AI. The benefits of adding a conversational interface to an application are clear and accrue quickly. This research note profiles vendors who offer tools, platforms, or services to help firms improve customer and internal effectiveness with conversational AI.