Cogito

The story begins not in a garage, but in a lab at MIT. In 2007, Joshua Feast and Dr. Alex "Sandy" Pentland founded Cogito, spinning it out of the MIT Media Lab. The core idea was built on Pentland's research into "honest signals"—the non-verbal cues in our conversations that reveal our true feelings. They aimed to apply this behavioral science, using artificial intelligence to analyze conversations and enhance emotional intelligence. The initial application was ambitious, receiving funding from DARPA to help monitor the mental health of military personnel by detecting signs of psychological distress. This work laid the foundation for the company's AI platform. Soon, Cogito pivoted to the enterprise world, targeting the millions of daily conversations happening in call centers. The technology provides real-time feedback to agents, guiding them on tone, empathy, and pacing to improve the customer experience. A significant milestone came in 2015 with a Series A investment that included Salesforce Ventures, validating its move into the customer relationship management space. The company has since raised a total of $159 million over numerous rounds, with Goldman Sachs leading significant investments. This funding has fueled the expansion of its AI coaching system for the enterprise. Recently, Cogito was acquired by Verint, a move that integrates its real-time coaching capabilities into a larger customer engagement platform.