Get to know ConverseNow

Shaping the future of restaurants

Powering our best-in-class voice AI technology is a passion for the restaurant industry and customer service, with a mission to to take artificial intelligence to the next level

Our impact on the restaurant industry

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Live in 40 states and counting

Partnering with prominent national and international restaurant chains, ConverseNow is proud to serve a growing list of partners across the US. We work with corporate-owned and franchised brands alike, tailoring our AI platform to equally serve restaurants run from a central headquarters as we do franchisees who own one, two or 200 stores and everything in between.

Leading industry partnerships

We work with many of the restaurant industry’s leading POS systems, drive-thru providers and other technology suppliers. Our growing list of industry partnerships supports the mutual goal of supporting restaurant owners, operators and staff maximize performance and take their businesses further than they ever thought possible

Our story

ConverseNow was born from a shared dedication to the restaurant industry, restaurant staff and anyone seeking an enjoyable dining experience. Our team brings a wealth of experience across restaurants and QSR, technology and engineering, foodservice operations and customer service to solve one of the restaurant world’s biggest problems: automating high-touch and vastly complex voice orders that restaurants rely on, but don’t have the resources to process manually.

We know the stresses facing restaurant operators and staff, and created our virtual ordering assistants to serve as a digital ‘best friend’ to handle the repetitive, time-consuming task of taking orders so their team can focus on other tasks. The results were amazing from day one, reducing stress and driving bottom-line results while being well-received by customers, some who even came by with tips and gifts for the ‘person’ taking their order. Our self-learning AI has continued to evolve every day since then, now processing conversations by the millions.

Co-Founders Vinay Shukla and Rahul Aggarwal first met in college, where they found common ground as engineers. Each of them went on to make big waves in the corporate world–Vinay with UBS and Barclays and Rahul with Unilever–but a shared vision and hunger for more brought them together on a lasting entrepreneurial journey. They launched their first venture, Endeavor Software Technologies, in 2002, leading the company through a successful acquisition by Genpact in 2016. In 2018, now with decades of experience under their belts, Vinay and Rahul founded ConverseNow to take artificial intelligence to new heights. They each reside in ConverseNow’s global headquarters of Austin, TX.

ConverseNow-Founders-Vinay-Shukla-and-Rahul-Aggarwal

Our investors

We’re humbled to be backed by some of the most illustrious investment firms in tech, as well as some of the restaurant world’s biggest names.

$35M

funds raised

 

1,250+

live store count

Awards & recognition

Leadership team

Vinay Shukla

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Rahul Aggarwal

Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Product Officer

Rober Hucik VP of Engineering

Robert Hucik

Vice President, Engineering

Dean Schmaus

Vice President, Sales

ConverseNow in the News

Learn more about voice AI's explosive growth

Learn more about our impact

AI vs. call center vs. taking orders in-store

AI vs. Call Center vs. Taking Orders In-Store

Voice AI for Drive-Thru

AI is here to stay: how virtual assistants are shaping the future of drive-thru

Restaurant management: baristas looking at a tablet

Why Voice AI Is the Best Restaurant Management Strategy

Restaurant AI: kitchen staff preparing a dish

A Guide to the Restaurant AI Installation and Training Process

Join us as we build the future of voice-based assistants

Career-Callout_Company

Vinay Shukla

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

As Co-Founder and CEO, Vinay is shaping the future of restaurants and taking voice AI to new heights with ConverseNow’s groundbreaking technology. A lifelong innovator and repeat entrepreneur, Vinay has built, grown and led successful software companies for more than 20 years, each time solving unique, complex technology problems that make the most meaningful impact in work and life.

Prior to ConverseNow, Vinay co-founded Endeavour Software (with ConverseNow Co-Founder Rahul Aggarwal), an enterprise digital transformation company that was acquired by Genpact (NYSE: G) in 2016. He began his career as a software engineer, working with UBS and serving as an executive with Barclays before ‘taking the leap’ into the startup world. He holds a degree in technology from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur and currently resides in Austin, TX.

Rahul Aggarwal

Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Product Officer

As Co-Founder, COO and CPO at ConverseNow, Rahul brings three decades of operational and product experience to reshape the way top QSR brands utilize high-volume voice channels. He leads world-class teams across engineering, product, customer success and HR, allowing ConverseNow’s technology and infrastructure to scale at unprecedented rates.

A repeat entrepreneur, Rahul co-founded Endeavor Software Technologies (also with ConverseNow Co-Founder Vinay Shukla), a global mobile consulting firm acquired by Genpact (NYSE: G) in 2016, as well as KiCube, a cloud-based technology company. He has also served in multiple management roles with Unilever. Rahul holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur and currently resides in Austin, TX.

Robert Hucik

VP of Engineering

Robert Hucik serves as Vice President of Engineering for ConverseNow, leading worldwide engineering operations focusing on bringing innovative AI solutions to the market. With over 20 years of experience leading innovative, high-performing engineering teams, Robert most recently was the CTO of Fyllo, responsible for delivering innovative solutions in the compliance, insights, and audience activations spaces. Before Fyllo, he was VP of Engineering responsible for creating the next-generation Platform at Outsystems, a leading low-code startup. He joined OutSystems from ForgeRock, where he was SVP of ForgeRock’s Identity Cloud Platform, responsible for bringing the company’s first true Cloud Platform to market and a successful IPO.  Robert has also held various key leadership roles at Midigator and CA Technologies. During that time, he sharpened his skills in leading global engineering teams, cloud transformation, engineering best practices, and M&A activities.  

Based in Austin, TX, Robert is married with three children that keep him busy with all their extracurricular activities.  He enjoys golfing, baseball, and smoking meat.

Dean Schmaus

Vice President, Sales

Dean’s team focuses on the enterprise segment of ConverseNow’s customer repertoire. His initiatives are further establishing ConverseNow as the market leader for all restaurant AI verticals including voice, drive thru and digital line busting.

Prior to ConverseNow, Dean worked at large conglomerates focused on Fortune 250 clients in a multitude of industries. From his tenure at Partech in the restaurant industry servicing the likes of Inspire Brands and CKE to his time at Dell servicing Coca-Cola, Dean has maintained a consistent focus on driving value for customers.

Dean has a wonderful wife and three amazing children aged 9, 7 and 4. Based in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA, Dean get involved in as many of his kids’ activities that they will allow.