Startups called Dazzle, Duckbill and Wajo built AI agents. When the software falls short, a human picks up the phone.
That's the product. A person with a headset.
The pitch said "autonomous." The footnote said "Gary is on lunch, please hold."
I admire the business model. Raise millions to replace workers. Then hire workers to cover for the replacement. It's outsourcing with extra steps and a better logo.
Call it a hybrid workflow. Call it human-in-the-loop. Call it whatever gets the next round closed. A call center with a pitch deck is still a call center.
The names tell you everything. Dazzle. Duckbill. Wajo. Those are not companies. Those are sounds a toddler makes when you hand him a calculator.
Somewhere, a retail trader read this story and thought, "Bullish. Humans are in demand." Then he bought calls on a company that employs people to make calls. He will lose money on both kinds.
Here is the part that should bother you. The humans are the reliable part. The software is the intern who keeps hanging up on the customer. The people are the ones doing the work. The AI is a very expensive hat they wear.
Picture the meeting. "Can the agent book the appointment?" "Mostly." "What's mostly?" "A guy named Dale." Everyone nods and the valuation goes up.
I'd call it a scam, but scams usually deliver something. This delivers Dale, and Dale does fine.
Buy the stock if you want. Just know you're betting on a robot that needs a human to pretend to be it, and honestly, the human is probably the better investment.
Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash
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