Ultimate was born at a hackathon in Helsinki, in 2016. That felt like the beginning of something special.
8 years on, I have that same feeling again.
I’m so proud to announce that we’re officially being acquired by Zendesk.
Embracing the AI-first era
This means that our mission of building the best AI solution for CX can be scaled even faster.
Customer service as we know it is undergoing a paradigm shift. Gone are the days of long wait times and generic bot responses. The AI-first era is being ushered in by leading companies that see customer service as a competitive advantage and want bots that are proactively solving problems and working hand-in-hand with their human agents.
AI is the future of customer service. And by joining forces with Zendesk, we have the resources, as well as the tech, team and talent to get ahead of this shift and completely revolutionize the industry.
As CEO and Co-founder, this is what has driven me these last years — as we’ve grown from an emerging Finnish startup to a confident company of close-to 150 ambitious Ultimates across the globe. And this is what continues to drive me today.
The entire Ultimate crew at our team offsite in Lisbon.
I’ve loved seeing the demand for AI shoot up so dramatically in the post-ChatGPT era. But here, we’ve been obsessed with it for a long time now — since uni days studying knowledge management and thinking about its practical applications. It’s this obsession with solving real-world problems that’s led to an iconic journey for team Ultimate.
Here’s a snapshot:
- Building and researching AI in-house — pioneering generative bots that deliver world-class customer service across systems, channels, and languages
- Working alongside the world’s most customer-centric brands (like Finnair, Taskrabbit, Zalando, Stitch Fix, and Lush) — automating up to 80% of support requests across all digital channels, increasing CSAT, and tackling sophisticated use cases with cutting-edge tech
- Maintaining a 99% customer retention rate — topping G2 leader boards with rave reviews for our people and product, saving human agents time, and leveling up careers
- Creating the Ultimate team — it’s a cliché but it’s true. It’s the people that make the product. I couldn’t be more thrilled about the driven and diverse team (45 nationalities and counting!) that my founders and I have built, and will continue to build
My team of incredible founders that helped make Ultimate what it is today.
So, what’s next?
There will be no changes in how we work with our valued customers. We appreciate their trust, and will continue to listen to them, learn with them, and collaborate on delivering industry-leading CX.
And now that we have the support and resources of Zendesk backing us:
- The sky’s the limit for our ability to innovate more and iterate faster
- The Ultimate platform will integrate even more deeply into Zendesk
- We’ll keep realizing our vision of creating the best AI platform for CX
I know I speak for the entire team here when I say that it’s already been the ultimate journey (what other adjective could I use?). But, also, that a bold and bright, new chapter with Zendesk is just beginning.
I’m excited to journey through it, together.