AtSpoke

AtSpoke was established in 2016 by Jay Srinivasan, Pratyus Patnaik, and David Kaneda. The company developed an AI-powered workplace ticketing and employee support platform designed to streamline internal requests for departments like IT and HR. The platform utilized a conversational AI chatbot accessible via Slack, email, SMS, and web to provide immediate answers to repetitive employee questions. For more complex issues, it functioned as a centralized hub for support teams to manage, track, and collaborate on requests.

A core component of AtSpoke's service was its smart knowledge base, which grew more effective as it learned from interactions. The system was designed to automate up to 50% of incoming requests by finding and delivering the necessary information automatically. Its business model centered on providing this service desk software to organizations, particularly targeting mid-sized enterprises, to improve internal support efficiency. The platform's features included automated workflows, integrations with other business tools like Jira and G Suite, and user profile integration to provide context-aware support.

The company successfully raised $28 million in two funding rounds from notable investors including Accel and Greylock. In August 2021, AtSpoke was strategically acquired by Okta, a major identity and access management company, for approximately $79.3M to $90M. The acquisition was intended to leverage AtSpoke's access request workflow technology to enhance Okta's Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) offerings. Following the acquisition, the founders and the 20-person team joined Okta. However, Okta later decided to integrate AtSpoke's automation capabilities into its core product and phase out the original ticketing platform, leading to the shutdown of the AtSpoke service for its existing customers. Keywords: AtSpoke, workplace service desk, employee support platform, AI chatbot, internal ticketing system, knowledge base automation, request management, Okta acquisition, Jay Srinivasan, Pratyus Patnaik, David Kaneda, identity governance, access request workflow, conversational AI, IT support automation, HR support tool, employee self-service, Slack integration, helpdesk software, workflow automation