Smartsheet acquires Converse.AI to accelerate natural language user experiences and conversational workflow automation

Acquisition of 'ChatFlow' creator will deliver 'no-code' workflow automation that can link across popular messaging platforms and business systems

BELLEVUE, Washington, Jan. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Smartsheet, a leading cloud-based platform for work execution, today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Converse.AI, a UK-based pioneer in the field of intelligent bots for business automation. With these new capabilities, Smartsheet customers will be empowered with new natural language user experiences and sophisticated workflow automation that can link - with no coding required - across popular messaging platforms and business systems like Slack, Workplace by Facebook, Salesforce, Google, Vonage, Hubspot, and PayPal. The acquisition will enable Smartsheet to use Converse.AI's chat flow engine to complement and accelerate its workflow automation roadmap, creating new ways for customers to accelerate work execution and innovation.

"The need for a better way to execute work is real and immediate, and automation plays a critical role in helping organizations achieve competitive advantage," said Mark Mader, Smartsheet's CEO. "With Converse.AI's team and technology, we gain the type of innovative natural language and chatflow capabilities that will accelerate our ability to empower business users to automate important workflows and use intelligent natural language interactions to execute work."

Following Smartsheet's recent unveiling of new automation features to accelerate workplace productivity, the Converse.AI acquisition represents another step forward in the company's long-held philosophy of "practical innovation"? empowering knowledge workers to build and manage powerful workflow and automation solutions, irrespective of their technical prowess. The Converse.AI Chatflow technology, launched in 2016, is a workflow orchestration engine that enables business users to easily build and manage bots?via a drag-and-drop interface?without writing any code.

"As we started to engage with Smartsheet, we saw an exciting opportunity to bring the capabilities of Converse.AI to Smartsheet's global customer base. Smartsheet's entrepreneurial culture and approach to enabling accessible workflow automation in the enterprise is very much aligned with our own vision. Together we form a complementary platform that is reflective of how businesses want to extract value from technology," said Tony Lucas, Converse.AI founder and CEO.

In the coming months, Converse.AI's core technology will be integrated into the Smartsheet platform to enable organizations to address significant business problems. Time-consuming business processes that span multiple systems, such as onboarding new customers, cross-departmental reporting, and qualifying leads, can be made much simpler and completed in a more intelligent and natural way?through conversation. 

Commenting on the acquisition, Alan Lepofsky, VP and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research added, "With the rapid growth in the adoption of work execution platforms, individuals and teams are able to get work done more efficiently and accurately. The addition of next-gen capabilities, like natural language processing and intelligent workflow automation, improves the way enterprises interact with these tools, and helps accelerate the pace of innovation in organizations."

Financial details of the deal are not being reported. The entire Converse.AI team, including founders Tony Lucas and Gihan Munasinghe, will stay intact as a wholly-owned subsidiary under Smartsheet, and the company will continue to hire in order to meet growing customer demand. Existing Converse.AI customer relationships and agreements will not be impacted by the acquisition, and the Converse.AI platform will continue to be supported.

About Smartsheet

Organizations need a way to get work done, not just talk about it. Smartsheet is the best way to plan, track, automate, and report on work, enabling you to move from idea to impact ? fast. Smartsheet's cloud-based platform for work execution empowers collaboration, drives more efficient decision making, and accelerates innovation for over 70,000 brands in 190 countries, including more than 50 percent of the Fortune 500. Smartsheet complements existing enterprise investments by deeply integrating with applications from Microsoft, Google, Salesforce, Atlassian, and many others.

Headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, Smartsheet has more than 760 employees in its Bellevue and Boston offices as of January 2018. To learn more, visit www.Smartsheet.com.