The video from Forbes highlights Jesse Jiang, the 28-year-old co-founder and CEO of Decagon, an AI customer service startup based in San Francisco. Despite competing against industry giants like Salesforce, Intercom, and Zendesk, which are much larger and more established, Jiang remains confident and unphased. Decagon’s team of 200 recently celebrated a significant deal with manufacturing giant Hunter Douglas, showcasing the startup’s growing traction in the competitive AI customer service market.
Founded just two years ago, Decagon has quickly made a name for itself by providing AI-powered customer service agents that help companies handle inquiries such as product questions, refunds, replacements, and subscription cancellations. The startup’s technology is already used by over 100 companies, including notable names like Notion, Duolingo, Substack, and Rippling. Decagon’s rapid growth is reflected in its valuation of $1.5 billion as of June and its impressive funding haul of $255 million from top venture capital firms.
Decagon’s AI agents are built using a combination of advanced models from leading AI labs such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and 11 Labs. These agents are trained on enterprise-specific data, including FAQs, help center content, manuals, and past customer interactions, enabling them to engage in natural, human-like conversations. The AI can handle voice, chat, and email communications, and has processed over 80 million conversations to date. The system also integrates with internal databases to retrieve relevant customer information automatically, improving efficiency and accuracy.
To ensure consistent and effective responses, Decagon has developed an “agent operating procedure,” a detailed instruction manual that guides the AI on how to source information and tailor replies based on the customer’s identity and query type. The company’s pricing model is based on the volume and complexity of conversations handled, with more advanced features commanding higher fees. This approach allows Decagon to scale its services according to client needs while competing in a crowded market.
Despite its impressive growth, Decagon faces stiff competition from established players like Salesforce, which reported $440 million in annualized revenue from its AI segment, Intercom with thousands of paying customers and significantly higher revenue, and Zendesk targeting $200 million in AI product revenue. Nevertheless, Decagon’s innovative technology, rapid expansion, and strong leadership position it as a formidable challenger in the AI-driven customer service space. Jesse Jiang’s vision and the company’s momentum suggest that even a relatively small startup can compete with industry giants by leveraging cutting-edge AI and focusing on customer-centric solutions.