Twilio Announces the Honorees of the 2024 AI Startup Searchlight Awards

Twilio’s Global Search for Startups Forging the Future of Customer Engagement and Communications with AI Celebrates Six Standout Innovators

San Francisco — January 29, 2024 — Twilio (NYSE: TWLO), the customer engagement platform that drives real-time, personalized experiences for today’s leading brands, today announced the honorees of its AI Startup Searchlight awards, which recognizes innovative startups that are creatively using Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Twilio to enhance digital communications and experiences for their customers.

The AI Startup Searchlight honorees are pioneering the practical application of AI across industries including healthcare, logistics, hospitality, and more. An expert judging panel comprised of Khozema Shipchandler, CEO of Twilio, Brandon Leen, Head of Twilio Ventures, and Sinead Bovell, Futurist, AI Expert, and Founder of WAYE, evaluated applicants from around the world based on their level of creativity, business and technical impact, and potential for creating long-term benefits for customers. 

“We introduced CustomerAI last year to empower businesses to unlock better customer engagement with AI,” said Khozema Shipchandler, CEO of Twilio. “It’s inspiring to see how the AI Startup Searchlight honorees are doing exactly that – innovating with data, communications, and the power of AI to transform their customer relationships.”

“I am so impressed by how these startups are leveraging AI in new ways to solve pervasive problems in such a diverse range of industries," said Sinead Bovell, Futurist, AI Expert, and Founder of WAYE. “Though we are still in the early days of AI and it will continue to evolve, this cohort is a testament to the exciting potential of the technology. Through this initiative, Twilio has really shone a light on the opportunities AI creates to strengthen relationships between businesses and their customers.”

The AI Startup Searchlight honorees are: 

• Arist enables enterprise learning and enablement teams to deliver critical training to employees over their most-used communication channels. San Francisco-based Arist combines AI with Twilio’s Programmable Messaging and WhatsApp services to build a content creation assistant that reduces administrative work in facilitating employee learning and education.

• FleetWorks automates the coordination of freight movement and logistics management by layering AI on top of legacy systems. New York-based FleetWorks uses Twilio's Voice, IVR, and SIP Trunking products to automate phone calls, emails, and live order issue handling.

• Milo is an AI collaborator to help parents manage the invisible load of running a family, via simple SMS. San Francisco-based Milo uses Twilio Programmable Messaging to make managing the daily reminders, logistics and details as simple as having a conversation by text.

• Next Order, based in Melbourne, offers a cloud-based POS system that brings everything restaurants need into one place. Utilizing AI and Twilio, including Programmable Messaging, Email API, Voice, IVR, and SIP Trunking, Next Order automates customer interactions and helps restaurants put customer service first with their leading AI assistant.

• Rely Health designs transformative Patient Care Navigation programs for hospitals, providing a dedicated and empathetic partner to guide individuals through the aftermath of stressful healthcare events. San Jose-based Rely Health leverages Twilio's Email API, Voice, IVR, SIP Trunking, and AI to seamlessly integrate a cutting-edge AI Patient Relationship Suite, fostering hybrid human-AI conversational experiences.

• Smith.ai provides live chat, virtual receptionist, and sales outreach solutions for businesses by combining the precision of AI with the empathy of humans. California-based Smith.ai relies on Twilio's Programmable Messaging, Voice, and Conferencing to deliver 24/7/365 service with remarkable uptime, automate its entire workflow, and bolster agent productivity.

The six honorees will receive $10,000 in Twilio credits and a complimentary consultation with Twilio Ventures, which aims to support the next generation of builders reinventing the future of customer engagement.

The AI Startup Searchlight honorees demonstrate how, with the help of technology like Twilio, businesses of all sizes and in all industries are capitalizing on AI. With its CustomerAI technology, which couples the power of large language models (LLMs) with the rich customer data that flows through Twilio’s Customer Engagement Platform, Twilio aims to help companies unlock the full potential of their customer relationships. 

Learn more about CustomerAI and how Twilio is fueling better customer relationships here.