yeti logo icon
Close Icon
contact us
Yeti postage stamp
We'll reply within 24 hours.
Thank you! Your message has been received!
A yeti hand giving a thumb's up
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Yeti Creates Spin Off Company, Civic Chatbots, & Signs San Francisco as First Client

By
-
January 16, 2018

Yeti LLC is pleased to announce the official launch of Civic Chatbots, an independent company we are spinning off that focuses on building a world where us citizens can have productive conversations with civic entities. We’ve created a machine learning platform that navigates the complex rules-based system of governments in easy-to-use chatbot interfaces.

“We’re excited to create a dedicated company built around this platform to focus on improving government communication,” said Yeti President and Co-Founder Tony Scherba. “We’ve been playing with chatbot technology in government for a while and can see the clear need in a broad range of government departments for a better form of engagement.”

Civic Chatbots came about after Yeti’s involvement in the Startup in Residence (STIR) program in San Francisco in the fall of 2017.

Yeti worked with the San Francisco Office of Contract Administration and the Committee on Information Technology to develop a chatbot application, PAIGE. PAIGE, Procurement Answers and Information Guided Experience, is a chatbot solving procurement related issues for the City and County of San Francisco.

Robert Henning of San Francisco’s Office of Contract Administration summed up procurement in an article in GovTech, “We get inundated with questions from city employees about procurement, and a lot of them are very repetitive. Every time someone ask me about RFPs, a small part of my soul dies.”

Civic Chatbots - PAIGE

After the STIR program, the City of San Francisco was pleased with the solution PAIGE provides for city government procurement pains and has signed on as a new Yeti client.

Chatbots promise the ability to reduce employee frustration in departments call centers. Chatbots can easily guide users through standardized step by step process for the solutions they are looking for. Additionally, the knowledge a chatbot provides is always consistent and accessible.

Speaking on the vision for the new company, Mr. Scherba says, “Governments are rules-based organizations that are complicated to navigate. Machine learning chatbots that can answer questions and guide people through these rules to make governments accessible to citizens and public servants. As it is now there is a lot of confusion, frustration and mixed guidance when dealing with governments. Chatbots and governments are the perfect match of a problem and technology solution.”

To learn more about Civic Chatbots, visit the website.

About Yeti LLC

Founded in 2010 by Tony Scherba and Rudy Mutter, Yeti is a collaborative product design and development studio that works with companies to bring their software product ideas to life. Clients include Google, PlayStation, AKQA, Qualcomm, MIT, and Westfield Shopping Centres. For more information, please visit www.yeti.co.

You Might also like...

Section 174Section 174 is Killing Innovation: A Taxing Tale for R&D

Amidst the labyrinth of tax legislation, a formidable obstacle looms large for American innovation: the notorious Section 174. Join us as we explore its impact on the R&D landscape, and the steps you can take to reverse this challenge to innovation.

hands holding sparklersA Year of Innovation: Highlights from 2023

This past year we've been lucky enough to work on an enormous range of projects - including setting a Guinness World Record! Join us as we take a look back on everything we've built in 2023.

QA testing materielsSquash Those Bugs: Why QA Testing is Crucial for Software Development

For an app to be successful, it needs to be flawless. QA testing can help you ensure that every interaction with your app is seamless.

Browse all Blog Articles

Ready for your new product adventure?

Let's Get Started