Darren Ford from The CAI Company

Ewan MacLeod

Oct 30, 2024 — 1 min read

It's time for another podcast interview with an industry giant: This time I'm meeting Darren Ford, the founder and director of The CAI Company.

Those of you who came to the Conversational AI Mini Summit last month may remember meeting Darren during the event – I was delighted he was able to make it as he'd almost literally stepped off a plane from the States to be with us.

Darren and his team are amongst the most experienced Conversational AI experts around, having driven the strategies and implementations for some of the largest players around. He's been fortunate enough to have watched and shaped the development of the ecosystem from its origins.

Our discussion is wide-ranging: We start first with Darren's background and the origin story of ⁠⁠The CAI Company⁠⁠. Then we get into some key use cases, he talks about how consumer acceptance is really changing (for the positive) and he highlights some of the key requirements for any successful implementation – namely, executive sponsorship and commitment, data-led decision making and the importance of talent development.

Reach out to Darren ⁠⁠at his company website⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠via his LinkedIn Profile⁠⁠.

Quick Links for listening now:

Listen online: Episode 8: Darren Ford of The CAI Company
Listen on Spotify: Episode 8: Darren Ford of The CAI Company
Listen on Apple: Episode 8: Darren Ford of The CAI Company
Watch on YouTube: Episode 8: Darren Ford of The CAI Company (embedded below too)
Or simply search 'Conversational AI Podcast' and you will find it in your favourite podcast player

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Conversational AI and CAI Company
02:47 Darren's Background and the Origin of CAI Company
04:10 Use Cases and Growth of Conversational AI
10:08 Consumer Acceptance and Chatbot Horror Stories
12:30 Generative AI and Executive Awareness
15:48 Talent Development in Conversational AI
18:44 Ethics in Conversational AI
20:59 Internal vs External Chatbots
23:46 Key Considerations for Executives in Conversational AI

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