Here at Cimulate, we are seeking to bring digital commerce into the future with the help of cutting-edge LLM technology and decades of combined digital retail and technology experience. 

When Vivek Farias and I founded the company, we knew there was a massive opportunity to truly revolutionize the customer experience by creating a new commerce experience server built on an LLM-native operating system. 

Having spent the majority of our careers in the retail and commerce space with proven track records in retail innovation at Celect, Nike, Endeca, and MIT, our combined expertise in commerce and AI has helped us position Cimulate at the forefront of delivering transformative customer experiences.

By leveraging generative AI, Cimulate enables businesses to deliver personalized, context-aware interactions that drive engagement and conversion.

Why We Founded Cimulate

We founded Cimulate to address a pressing challenge in the retail and commerce sector: the inability of many businesses to provide truly personalized, data-driven customer experiences at scale.

A few years ago, Vivek was educating me on the benefits of this new technology focused on building transformer models, enabling truly generative artificial intelligence.  This was long before Gen-AI popped in the public consciousness with ChatGPT 3.5.  We began looking at use cases that would fully transform the commerce search experience.  Having run product at Endeca back in the day (for those who remember, the OG of commerce search and navigation), I thought search was a solved problem.  It is not, and not even close.  But with a generational technology in gen-AI, and an enormous amount of innovation and IP to make it scale at the speed of commerce and at a reasonable cost, we realized we were on to something big, especially in an increasingly competitive and digital-first world.

The Gap in Customer Experience

We began our journey with the observation that while many companies collected vast amounts of customer data, they lacked the tools and insights necessary to transform this data into actionable insights and increased conversions.

Legacy search and browse solutions often fell short in delivering the level of relevance and engagement modern consumers demand. This disconnect not only led to missed opportunities for businesses but also to a subpar experience for customers.

AI as the Key to Transformation

Vivek and I shared a deep belief in the transformative potential of artificial intelligence. We envisioned a platform that could harness the power of generative AI and machine learning to bridge the gap between customer data and meaningful interactions. Our goal was to create a solution that not only understood customer intent but also proactively suggested next steps on the customer journey.

A Customer-Centric Approach

Cimulate’s founding mission is rooted in the belief that every customer interaction should feel intuitive and tailored. We wanted to empower businesses with tools that simplify this complexity, enabling them to:

• Deliver hyper-relevant content and product results.
• Respond dynamically to customer behavior in real-time.
• Seamlessly integrate conversational and traditional shopping experiences.

Driving Business Success Through Innovation

We also saw an opportunity to redefine the business value of the customer experience. By leveraging generative AI, our platform aims to not only enhance the shopping experience for customers but also improve key business metrics such as engagement, conversion, and revenue.

Our Solution: CustomerGPT

Our experience led us to build CustomerGPT, a generative AI platform tailored to each business's unique product and behavioral data.

This transformer-based customer choice model comprehends customer intent and predicts individual responses to content and product assortments. By optimizing content delivery in real-time, CustomerGPT enhances the shopping experience, leading to increased satisfaction and higher conversion rates.

Key Features of CustomerGPT

• Intent-Based Relevancy: CustomerGPT accurately discerns what is most relevant to each customer at every interaction, ensuring personalized experiences that resonate.
• Conversational Search Integration: Recognizing the shift towards conversational commerce, CustomerGPT offers a unified platform that seamlessly integrates advanced search capabilities with robust conversational engines, effectively handling a wide range of customer queries and interactions.
• Advanced Merchandising Tools: Cimulate provides automatic merchandising tools that leverage data science to streamline optimization and reduce the need for manual interventions.

Where We Are Going

In late 2024, we secured $28 million in Series A funding led by Spark Capital, with participation from Sierra Ventures, Pillar VC, LFX Venture Partners, and Commerce Ventures. This investment underscores the industry's confidence in our vision and will accelerate the company's mission to transform commerce through AI-driven personalization. 

We founded Cimulate to create a paradigm shift in how businesses engage with their customers—using cutting-edge AI to make every interaction meaningful, efficient, and profitable. Our vision continues to drive Cimulate’s innovation, helping businesses navigate the future of commerce with confidence.

Our CustomerGPT platform represents a significant advancement in the commerce sector, offering businesses the tools to understand and anticipate customer needs effectively. By integrating AI-driven insights into the customer journey, Cimulate empowers retailers and brands to meet the evolving demands of today's consumers, fostering engagement and driving growth.

For more information or to schedule a demo, just contact us.