Voiceflow CEO Braden Ream on The Future of Voice & Conversational AI

Voice has long been the final frontier of computing interfaces, and now with the technology of smart speakers and other voice-enabled technologies we are finally able to access what science fiction has been writing about for decades. Our guest today, Braden Ream, founder and CEO of Voiceflow, is helping create that future. Voiceflow, then known as Storyflow, was one of the first portfolio companies backed by Ripple Ventures. Back then it was a platform that helped build skills on Alexa, but has since grown to become the go-to platform for voice and chat-based interfaces and is being used by global Fortune 500 companies like USAA, McDonalds & BMW.

About Braden Ream:Braden Ream is the Co-Founder and CEO of Voiceflow, a platform that helps teams design, prototype and launch voice & chat assistants. Founded in 2018, Voiceflow currently powers 300M monthly messages and is deployed across 75,000 teams. Prior to Voiceflow, Braden worked at RBC and founded a social media app.

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In this episode we discuss:

03:12 The history of voice tech leading to Voiceflow

09:32 Why Alexa, Siri, and other voice-enabled platforms are succeeding where prior platforms have failed

14:02 How the pandemic has helped shape the voice tech industry

16:36 The other factors pushing forward voice tech

21:42 How the voice apps are the new landing pages and the next internet

25:23 Becoming a standard toolset for developing voice interfaces

31:32 Addressing privacy concerns around voice tech

36:02 How wake words work on Alexa and other platforms

38:29 Plans for their recent raise from Felics Ventures, Ripple Ventures, True Ventures, Craft Ventures and others

Fast Favorites:PodcastEconomics Explained

Newsletter/BlogPaul Graham

Tech GadgetiPad/Apple Pencil

New TrendChess

BookCrossing the ChasmBlue Ocean Strategy

Life LessonThe world is run by people no smarter than you.

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