For decades, acquiring accurate and actionable customer feedback has been an arduous, costly, and time-consuming process. Fortune 500 companies relied heavily on traditional market research firms, which often charged hefty fees and took weeks — sometimes months — to deliver insights. This delay hampered business agility, forcing companies to make strategic decisions based on outdated information. The landscape is finally shifting, thanks to the innovative application of voice AI technology. Emerging startups are challenging the status quo by offering solutions that are faster, cheaper, and remarkably more precise.
The Dawn of AI-Driven Customer Engagement
Keplar, a two-year-old startup, epitomizes this paradigm shift. Founded by tech veterans Dhruv Guliani—whose background at Google centered on speech and voice AI—and William Wen, an experienced machine learning engineer, Keplar offers a radically different approach to customer research. Instead of traditional surveys and human-led interviews, Keplar leverages voice AI to conduct customer conversations in real time. By transforming questions into an interactive interview process, the platform can elicit honest, detailed feedback directly from customers in mere minutes.
This approach fundamentally alters how businesses understand their clientele. The AI-driven voice assistant can reach out to customers—either through existing CRM data or new participants—and engage them in natural, probing discussions about products or services. The conversations are so realistic that participants often forget they are speaking to an AI, blurring the lines between human and machine interaction. These dialogues are then analyzed automatically, with the insights summarized into comprehensive reports and presentation-ready outputs, drastically reducing the reliance on costly human analysts.
The Power of Voice AI and Future Implications
Recent advancements in large language models and speech recognition have catapulted voice AI from a novelty to a serious tool for market research. Guliani emphasizes that the conversational quality of Keplar’s AI is exceptional, resulting in interactions that feel genuine and engaging. This authenticity is critical, as it fosters honest feedback and eliminates many biases associated with traditional methods.
By automating the process, firms like Keplar are slashing research costs and turnaround times without compromising data quality. Their early clients, including Clorox and Intercom, are already experiencing the benefits of faster insights and more detailed understanding of customer preferences. As the technology continues to evolve, the potential for broader applications becomes evident—ranging from real-time customer sentiment analysis to personalized marketing strategies.
Despite fierce competition from players like Outset and Listen Labs, Keplar’s emphasis on conversational AI marks a compelling evolution in customer research. The promise of rapid, cost-effective, and authentic customer insights is redefining what is possible in market intelligence. As AI continues to mature, it is clear that traditional research models must adapt or risk being left behind in a rapidly changing business environment.