Amplitude, a public company that makes software for digital analytics, has bought Command AI
A startup that helps app users interact with each other, which used to be called CommandBar. Most 30 people working for Command AI in San Francisco will join Amplitude. James Evans, co-founder and CEO of Command AI wouldn’t say what the deal was, but he said he hadn’t planned an acquisition.
Evans told TechCrunch, “Our growth was great, and we had a lot of room to grow.” It wasn’t like we were shopping or anything. We got excited about the idea when Amplitude contacted us this summer. We were sure that we could grow faster and reach more people together.
Evans began Command AI in 2021 so developers could easily add search features to their web apps. He built Command AI’s first product, an in-app search bar that gave custom results, shortcuts, and the ability to show off new app features, with co-founders Richard Freling and Vinay Ayyala.
Command AI’s products have grown to include an assistant and AI Co-Browsing, a feature that takes over a user’s mouse to guide them through in-app features. Nudge Autopilot is a newer tool that is still being worked on. It automatically sends “nudges” to users, like notes to try out certain app features.
Evans said that apps made by clients like Hashicorp, Gusto, Yotpo, and LaunchDarkly reach 25 million end users who regularly use Command AI’s products. Before Amplitude bought it out, Command AI got $23.8 million from investors such as Itai Tsiddon, Insight Partners, and Thrive Capital.
How does the technology from Command AI fit into Amplitude’s plans for new products? CEO and co-founder of Amplitude Spenser Skates says the company will let Amplitude offer “personalized user assistance” through tours of the product, onboarding experiences, and other things.
In particular, Command AI will release checklists and guides for Amplitude early next year. These will let customers make action plans for apps and websites and live tours of the products. Announcements is another Command AI-powered feature that is coming to Amplitude. It will let users set up “smart triggers” in apps for updates and deals.
Evans thinks the additions are an obvious next step for Command AI, which has already been connected to Amplitude for a while.
“There’s a tight loop between Amplitude, which helps you understand how people behave, and us, which helps you change how people behave,” he said. “Let’s say you find a group of users who don’t like your product.” Then, it makes sense that you might want to use a survey to ask those people a question or try to direct them to a feature they might be interested in.
Then, you could collect that feedback or look at how that change affected things. That link has always been fixed by integrating them, but having everyone on the same team will let us make the feedback loop much tighter.
After the deal, Evans will be in charge of products at Amplitude, and Ayyala will be in charge of engineers. They will be in charge of Amplitude’s new Command AI product organization. This organization will continue to help present Command AI customers until the end of the year.
Command AI is the third company that Amplitude has bought since it began ten years ago. In 2020, Amplitude bought the predictive analytics company ClearBrain. The next year, in 2021, it bought the data flow company Iteratively.
Amplitude says it has more than 2,700 paying users, 26 of which are in the Fortune 100.