Hartford Business Journal

28 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 2, 2023 Sedarius Tekara Perrotta is the CEO of Stamford-based AI tech company Shelf.io. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Shelf.io's AI-backed tech helps customer service reps quickly find answers By Linda Keslar Hartford Business Journal Contributor M ost companies have their data and other knowledge content managed by various software systems that silo people, processes and technology in different departments like customer service, sales, IT help desks or marketing. A lack of information integration often leads to challenges accessing and understanding that data in a timely manner — especially as the amount of data keeps multiplying. Forty-two percent of employees responding to a recent survey by The Economist Intelligence Unit said the ability to access information quickly and easily has the greatest impact on their productivity levels. Businesses are also expected to compete on customer experience, since consumers today expect quick access to up-to-date information. As a remedy to these challenges, Stamford-based Shelf.io has devel- oped an answers-automation soft- ware that uses artificial intelligence and data analytics. The technology offers companies tools that provide a quick resolution to consumer queries, and gives employees real-time, actionable information. "We set out to create a platform we ourselves could use," said CEO Sedarius Tekara Perrotta, a veteran in the knowledge-management space who co-founded the company in 2017 with Colin Kennedy and Tobias Jaeckel. Customer service support Before starting Shelf.io, the founders worked as knowledge-man- agement consultants, helping compa- nies identify, organize and then disseminate information more broadly across their organizations. But they became frustrated, Perrotta said, by hurdles around information systems integration, automation and poor user experiences. They saw AI as a tool to better manage customized traditional knowledge management systems so content can be more easily accessed, shared and evaluated. "This is about companies being able to use their content produc- tively," said Perrotta, who's from Fairfield and decided to headquarter the company nearby in Stamford, at 6 Landmark Square. Shelf's AI-driven technology — called MerlinAI — essentially plugs-in to a company's information systems to access and then learn from existing data. The technology streamlines an organization's various information systems and makes them acces- sible and searchable in seconds, so that when an employee — from a manager to a customer service rep — needs help, they quickly get answers. Shelf's technology, for example, AT A GLANCE Company: Shelf.io Industry: Tech/AI Top Executive: Sedarius Tekara Perrotta, CEO HQ: 6 Landmark Square, Stamford Employees: 150 Website: shelf.io AI IN CT

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