Welcome to another episode of The Speechly Podcast where you can expect conversations exploring the best opportunities in the world of Voice User Interfaces. Today we have the season finale of the "Voice Pioneers Fireside Chats" series - where we have been doing interviews with individuals who have made a significant impact in the world of Voice Technology. 

Today my guest is the one and only Adam Cheyer. Adam was the Co-Founder of Siri which was sold to Apple and Viv Labs which was sold to Samsung to power the Bixby Voice Assistant. However, looking at his work before starting Siri shines a light on how Adam ultimately came to start 2 of the most used Voice Assistant technologies in the world. Before starting Siri, Adam had already built a prototype of the assistant while working at SRI International in the early 1990's. 

In this discussion we explore a range of topics such as:

- What led to the ultimate founding of Siri?

- The story behind the Apple acquisition and how Adam ultimately turned down an initial acquisition offer from Steve Jobs himself.

- The background of Siri as a standalone application and how it evolved with the acquisition by Apple.

- Why was Viv Labs started and ultimately sold to Samsung?

- What is the concept of Voice being an "Expert UI"?

- What have we gotten right with Voice Technology and what have we gotten wrong?

- Where will Voice-enabled experiences go in the years ahead?

I hope you enjoy this interview with Adam Cheyer on The Speechly Podcast.

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Adam.Cheyer.com

Siri, Back to the Future - Video Presentation

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