Telli raises $15 million to build AI agents for customer operations

Telli raises $15 million in seed funding to expand Charlie, its artificial intelligence agent builder for consumer-facing customer operations, the company said in a Thursday blog post. The round was led by redalpine and comes as businesses test AI systems for work historically handled through call centers, ticket queues and customer relationship management tools.

The company said Charlie helps business-to-consumer companies create, test, improve, maintain and operate AI agents that interact directly with customers. Telli said agents built with the system have already managed millions of conversations for customers ranging from small and medium-sized businesses to large enterprises.

According to Telli, those AI agents can answer phone calls, assess sales leads, schedule appointments, conduct follow-ups and resolve customer requests. The company said Charlie also gives clients tools to review conversations, identify problems, run experiments and refine how they communicate with customers.

What does Telli's AI agent builder do?

An AI agent builder is software that lets companies design and run automated agents for specific tasks, such as answering customer questions or booking appointments. In Telli's case, Charlie is focused on customer-facing operations, with voice interactions presented by the company as an initial use case rather than the full scope of the product.

Telli said in its blog post that customer communication is spreading across more channels and that companies will need AI systems on their side of those exchanges. The company described voice as an early starting point for a broader shift in how businesses communicate with customers.

Redalpine, which led the seed round, said in a LinkedIn post that Telli offers B2C companies an alternative to established operating stacks built around CRM systems, call centers, tickets, queues and manual workflows. The investor said Telli is developing AI voice agents that can run customer-facing work from end to end.

Redalpine also said Telli's agents already handle millions of conversations for companies including Sky, Enpal and Vaillant Group. Telli did not disclose in its announcement how the seed funding will be allocated across hiring, product development or market expansion.

How widely are companies using AI for customer service?

The funding announcement sits within a broader corporate push into AI-assisted service operations. A PYMNTS Intelligence report, Financial Services Pulls Ahead in the Enterprise AI Race, found that AI-powered customer service chatbots and virtual agents are in use at 60% of healthcare and medical organizations, 50% of financial services and insurance organizations, and 45% of media and advertising organizations.

In healthcare, the report identified customer service chatbots as the leading use case for AI investment. PYMNTS Intelligence said that level of adoption reflects staffing pressure as much as technology demand, with healthcare organizations using AI in areas where it can remove duties from overburdened employees.

The customer service market is drawing capital because AI agents can connect software automation with high-volume customer interactions. For companies, the operational case depends on whether these tools can maintain service quality while reducing manual handling across calls, appointments, follow-ups and routine requests.

This story draws on original reporting from PYMNTS.