Freshworks taps gen AI space,  launches new customer service suite

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company Freshworks on Thursday launched its AI-powered Customer Service Suite which brings together self-service bots, agent-led conversational messaging, and automated ticketing management in an all-in-one solution. 

In 2018, Freshworks launched Freddy, its AI engine that focused on reducing repetitive tasks. In June, the company introduced three new generative AI services – Freddy Self Service, Freddy Copilot, and Freddy Insights, which brought generative AI enhancements to a wide range of Freshworks products. These releases built upon the company’s AI enhancements it announced in March this year, which are already reducing agent time required on certain tasks by more than 80%, the company said in a statement. 

The company also said that it is working on proprietary language models and integrating general-purpose LLMs to meet customer needs.  

Deploying ML models remains a challenge for many enterprises. According to Deloitte’s State of AI in the Enterprise, 5th Edition published in October 2022, 94% of CIO/CTOs have agreed that AI is critical to success over the next five years. However, many (42%) see implementing AI technologies a barrier to doing that.  

Freshworks claimed that it has addressed this issue by accelerating AI model deployment and offering up to 83% reduction in effort during beta deployments. They have also allowed developers who use the Freshworks Developer Platform to utilise Freddy Copilot, enabling faster app development. 

“The new solution can help businesses to automate customer resolutions, supercharge agent productivity and make smart decisions quickly at a price point that every company wants,” said Freshworks’ Chief Product Officer Prakash Ramamurthy. 

The company has formed strategic partnerships with big names like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to ensure the success of their AI-driven solutions.  

By integrating Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service into their Freddy AI solutions, as well as by leveraging Azure Cognitive Services and OpenAI models, Freshworks has incorporated advanced features like message expansion, tone enhancer, summariser, and rephraser, that the company said, can change user workflow pattern and increasing efficiency. 

Founded in Chennai in 2010 by Girish Mathrubootham, Freshworks has over 5,000 employees and a strong presence globally. With over 400 technology partners, it operates 13 offices with headquarters in California and has a client base of over 65,000, including companies like American Express, Blue Nile, Bridgestone, Databricks, Fila, Klarna, and OfficeMax, among others. It was the first Indian SaaS company to be ever listed on Nasdaq.  

The SaaS-based company registered a 5.3% Q-o-Q (Quarter-on-Quarter) growth during its second quarter ending June 2023. The net loss of the company dwindled by 17.8% during the same period. Freshworks' revenue from operations grew 5.3% to $145 million in the second quarter from $137.7 million in the first quarter of the calendar year, according to the SEC filing. 

Also, Freshworks generated over $498 million in revenue in FY22, marking a 34% growth compared to the previous year and surpassing $500 million in annual recurring revenue. 

A report by SaaSBoomi in partnership with McKinsey published on 26 July, said that Indian SaaS companies stand poised to embrace the wave of Generative AI by building world-class AI-powered products. 

Globally, over 60 high-impact domains across horizontal, vertical and developer SaaS tools are emerging along with rapid adoption of AI to drive 15-40% higher internal productivity, according to the report which sees Indian SaaS companies are also following the footsteps of global software giants and investing heavily in Generative AI. 

To be sure, another Chennai-based company Zoho Corporation in May integrated OpenAI’s ChatGPT into its Zia artificial intelligence (AI) engine. The SaaS player said, it intends to facilitate Zia's integration with third-party intelligence, as it has done with ChatGPT, bringing generative AI into the company's broad portfolio of business solutions. 

The Sridhar Vembu-led company also said that it plans to take generative AI technology in-house in the near future to cater to the demands of its 90 million global users. Zoho believes this integration will improve customer experience, add value and protect user privacy.