SoundHound AI: Restaurants Gain Efficiencies and Upsells From Voice AI

Voice artificial intelligence (AI) solutions from SoundHound AI have been deployed by seven of the top 20 quick-service restaurants (QSRs).

These QSRs and other restaurants are using the technology for drive-thru, phone ordering, kiosks, mobile apps and for supporting their staff, SoundHound AI CEO and Co-Founder Keyvan Mohajer said Tuesday (Nov. 12) during the company’s quarterly earnings call.

“While our customers realize efficiencies during the order process for their customers, what they are also excited about is the upsell per order our solution is creating for them,” Mohajer said.

The company’s voice AI solutions for phone ordering in the restaurant category have handled more than 100 million interactions, meaning all those inbound customer calls were handled exclusively by AI, Mohajer said.

Restaurants that are using SoundHound’s voice AI tools report that the drive-thru application enables them to accept orders more quickly, the mobile app handles both ordering and business queries, and the employee assist application adds efficiencies in the kitchen, Mohajer said.

These solutions are resonating with businesses of all sizes, Mohajer said.

“We believe we’re absolutely the industry leader driving this,” Mohajer said. “More and more restaurant franchises are coming to us and trying to partner with us.”

Mohajer made these remarks as SoundHound AI reported that during the third quarter, its revenue was up 89% year over year, reaching a quarterly record of $25 million, according to a Tuesday earnings release.

SoundHound AI also reported that it diversified its business in terms of both customers and industries as more companies adopted voice AI solutions.

A year ago, the company’s largest customer accounted for 72% of its revenue; now, its largest customer accounts for only 12% of its revenue.

Similarly, a year ago, 90% of SoundHound AI’s revenue came from the automotive sector; now, automotive, restaurants, financial services, healthcare and insurance each contribute between 5% and 25% of its revenue.

“Over the past year, we have meaningfully diversified our customer base, product set, and industry and geographic coverage,” SoundHound AI Chief Financial Officer Nitesh Sharan said during the call. “We have solidified the capital base and extended our reach into what is clearly generational and foundational technological shifts that are only beginning.”

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