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Our mission
As conversations between enterprises and people are increasingly powered by artificial intelligence, our mission is to help the world get those conversations right: human-centred, inclusive, ethical, and goal-oriented.
On the one hand, CDI is teaching thousands of people worldwide how to create better AI assistants. On the other, CDI has a growing team of experts who work with organisations to develop better AI assistants, and the capabilities they need to support and scale them.
History
CDI was founded in 2018 on two basic ideas.
First, in human-machine conversations, human psychology should be just as important as artificial intelligence. Instead of focusing only on engineering capabilities, we need to incorporate design patterns from behavioural psychology and linguistics to create AI assistants that genuinely connect with humans. This principle forms the foundation of the CDI Method.
Second, organisations need expertise and thoughtful planning when scaling their AI assistants to engage with a growing audience. Companies must methodically build their capabilities and develop dedicated in-house conversational AI teams. The CDI Standards Framework emerged from our vision to give organisations a clear roadmap to success.
These foundational ideas about Conversational AI quickly proved valuable to major enterprises worldwide. Within just 12 months, CDI established partnerships with multiple Fortune 500 companies, conducted in-person workshops, and trained over 1,000 students through its online academy. We committed to stay on the cutting-edge and become global thought leaders in conversation design.
As the company grew, several of the world's leading conversation designers joined our team. Most notably, former Google Assistant designers helped refine our approach and develop advanced courses for our academy. Over the years, CDI has guided countless enterprises to success through strategic consulting, hands-on workshops, conversation design training, and innovative solutions for diverse use cases. In 2021, CDI opened its U.S. office in Austin, Texas, to better serve its North American clients.
Today, CDI's approach has stood the test of time and forms the foundation of conversational AI practices at many of the world's largest enterprises. Organisations like Microsoft, Salesforce, Verint, Rasa, Cognigy, Quiq, and more support our mission of human-centered AI by being members of the CDI Foundation. This non-profit organisation contributes to research, develops industry standards, awards inclusivity scholarships, and organizes the Beyond Boundaries Global Festival.
Leadership
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More about CDI Foundation
The CDI Foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to developing and promoting design standards for conversational and agentic AI. It does this through research, education, and industry development.
