Jetson AI is a software-as-a-service platform featuring intelligent voice technology. This platform enables businesses to sell products and services through smart speakers and other “conversational” channels.
Less than two years after being founded, Jetson AI has filed multiple patents on its technology, and partnered with notable companies including Amazon and Delivery.com. It’s initially targeting the food, retail, and hospitality industries. Future markets include health, banking, automotive, telecommunications, and media.
The U.S. e-commerce market is growing rapidly, reaching $517 billion in 2018. This growth is being driven by technological advancements, convenience, and an increasing reliance on online retail channels.
But now, the growing use of smart speakers has the potential to drive this market even further.
According to a January 2019 report from Voicify, a software company, smart speaker ownership rates grew 40% in 2018. Today, more than 66 million Americans own a smart speaker — more than 1 out of every 4 adults.
Meanwhile, according to eMarketer, a market research company, by the end of 2019, more than 22 million Americans are expected to use these speakers and voice technology to purchase goods and services.
Jetson AI is capitalizing on this trend by enabling businesses to sell their products through smart speakers and other conversational channels. Here’s how it works:
The company utilizes Artificial Intelligence to conduct intelligent conversations with consumers on behalf of a business. This AI is based on the neuro-linguistic processing of systems such as Google Home and Amazon Alexa.
Additionally, the company has developed a proprietary machine learning algorithm to offer a more sophisticated AI system which can perform deductive reasoning and complete other complex actions.
This machine learning has been developed to learn from each conversation with users and continually self-improve. It collects voice metadata on the backend of the system to introduce a greater level of accuracy and better interaction over time.
Here’s an example of a customer using Jetson’s system to purchase a product:
A customer tells their smart speaker they’d like to place an order with a business. As the customer is ordering, Jetson’s system is able to answer product questions and make recommendations using its Artificial Intelligence technology.
Once the order is placed, the customer can authorize payment through Jetson Pay, a feature that stores their payment information and enables voice ordering. The order is then sent to the business’s dashboard, where it’s filled.
Jetson Pay aims to unify payments across all devices and channels. It can link consumer payment accounts across various systems, and enable consumers to pay for all voice transactions instead of having to input new payment details for each purchase.
To begin offering voice commerce features, merchants must set up their Jetson dashboard. The dashboard is a self-service tool which operates similar to Shopify (NYSE: SHOP), a popular e-commerce platform.
Merchants create their own workspace where they can input business information such as hours of delivery, hours for pickup, and business classification. They can also upload their products, product descriptions, pricing, and custom dialog. The Jetson system then pulls the item details from the dashboard when conversing with customers.
In short, Jetson’s software makes it possible for consumers and voice assistants to have multi-step conversations in which voice assistants can accurately respond to various customer requests and securely process transactions.
The company offers two versions of its technology: Jetson and Jetson Enterprise.
Jetson is the base version of the voice technology that comes in the form of a self-service dashboard. It comes with the features necessary to process voice transactions and integrates with voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home. Customers can also place orders through communication channels like Slack and SMS messaging.
Jetson’s Enterprise offering provides clients with licensing and integration of its tools into existing client operations. Jetson can provide companies with end-to-end integration so they can develop their own systems with Jetson’s technology built in.
Pricing for Jetson’s software includes a flat monthly fee ($125) or annual fee ($1,140), as well as a licensing fee. Licensing fees are calculated as a percentage of each order placed through Jetson’s software.
Since launching in 2017, Jetson has raised $1.3 million from angel investors. In addition, it’s filed for patents covering its speech recognition ordering system, voice authentication method, and Jetson Pay.
The company has signed partnerships or Letters of Intent with several notable clients, including:
Amazon Pay: Jetson’s core technology will be offered to Amazon’s third-party merchants, enabling them to sell products using voice technology.
Blue Chip: In Q3 2019, this marketing company will begin a pilot in 1 to 2 retail locations allowing one of its major clients to collect valuable consumer data.
Delivery.com: Jetson’s core technology is offered to Delivery.com’s restaurants and merchants, enabling them to sell products using voice technology.
Golfpay: This is a tee-time booking platform for golf courses. Through this partnership, golfers will be able to arrange services more easily through conversational capabilities. Jetson expects to begin generating revenue from this contract in Q3 2019.
Volara: This is a hospitality software company used by Marriott. Jetson’s technology will enable existing Volara-partnered hotels to offer voice-powered food ordering through a smart speaker.