WayBlazer, a technology company founded in 2014, is closing, CEO Noreen Henry confirmed on Thursday.
"While we have not run out of innovative solutions,
unfortunately we have run out of funding and time," she said in a
statement.
WayBlazer's focus is on the trip-planning aspect of travel.
The business-to-business company has developed artificial intelligence (AI)
technology to help brands improve customer engagement and conversion.
For instance, WayBlazer has worked with InterContinental
Hotels Group on powering the voice component of its mobile app and a Facebook
Messenger interface. The company has also partnered with Trisept Solutions on
its Xcelerator product, an AI search engine for travel agents.
WayBlazer was founded by Terry Jones, who founded
Travelocity and was a founding chairman of Kayak.com, and Manoj Saxena, former
general manager of IBM Watson. Henry came on board as CEO in January 2017.
"Four years ago, we set out to blaze a new innovative
way for users to shop and book travel that leverages the power of AI to
understand a traveler's unique trip intent and offer the most relevant
personalized trip recommendations," Henry said. "Through a visually
engaging chat platform WayBlazer enabled major travel brands to engage
customers thru voice, messaging and even advertising channels to improve the
customer experience and drive increases in conversion."
Henry also said the company is proud of its products and
remains grateful to its partners in the industry.
"We truly hope the path that we have blazed together is
only the beginning of how travel planning will be done in the future," she
said.
In a recent interview with Travel Weekly, Henry expressed
optimism about the future of AI-powered technology in the travel industry.
"I think we're just scratching the surface of what AI
can do," she said. "I also think the messaging channels -- whether
that's chat or voice -- other industries tend to be embracing those a bit more
quickly, and I think that they're just going to start to take off for travel."