ElevenLabs' CEO on margins, IPO timing, and telling customers they're talking to a bot
ElevenLabs powers the AI voice on the other end of a lot of customer service calls, and its CEO told me this week that businesses should probably tell you that — at least until getting a machine is what everyone expects anyway.
TL;DR
- ElevenLabs develops AI models that convert text to human-sounding speech, used by companies like Klarna, Deutsche Telekom, and Cisco for customer service.
- The company is reportedly valued at $22 billion, with an annual recurring revenue pacing at $600 million.
- CEO Mati Staniszewski advocates for businesses to disclose when customers are interacting with AI, suggesting it will become a societal norm.
- ElevenLabs differentiates itself by focusing on conversational AI that includes emotional intelligence, aiming to eventually pass the Turing test for AI.
- The company's business is split between enterprise (55%+) and smaller businesses/creators (45%), and it uses a mix of frontier and open-weight models depending on the application's sensitivity.
- Staniszewski indicated that ElevenLabs is preparing for a potential IPO but will assess the timing and market conditions.
- The company emphasizes data annotation and the use of voice coaches for accurate accent detection and emotion in its training data.