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On
a Friday afternoon in late October, Jesse Zhang, the 28-year-old cofounder and CEO of AI customer service startup Decagon, strides through the lush greenery of San Francisco’s Salesforce Park, a sprawling rooftop garden in the shadow of the 1,070-feet Salesforce Tower—named for one of his biggest rivals. But he’s nonchalant in the face of stiff competition from public giants 10 times the size of his tiny upstart. “What’s there to be intimidated about?...We like competing,” he said. “We enjoy winning.”
That’s evident. A few moments ago in his South of Market office, Zhang and cofounder Ashwin Sreenivas’ team of 200 erupted in hoots and cheers after a team lead rang a sales gong, touting a freshly signed deal. Blinds manufacturing giant Hunter Douglas had agreed to use Decagon’s AI software for customer support tasks like ordering replacements for damaged parts and answering questions about rebates and warranties.
