Solstice Launches Augmented Intelligence Practice

Solstice, a digital innovation firm headquartered out of Chicago, announced the launch of its Augmented Intelligence (AI) practice area.

The launch marks a milestone in a journey that includes the successful delivery of AI and conversational projects for several key F500 clients, and builds upon a history of digital innovation. Solstice helped enterprises successfully navigate the earliest days of web and mobile, seize new opportunities created by the latest generations of connected, conversational and cloud-native technologies, and will now help drive enterprise innovation forward in the era of augmented intelligence.

“When launching this practice area, making the distinction between artificial and augmented was an important one,” said Kelly Manthey, CEO, Solstice. “We believe AI isn’t about automating the human condition, it’s about enhancing its endless potential, something that is truly aligned with our mission at Solstice of proving what humanity is capable of.”

Solstice will be focused in three key areas of AI: Intelligent Experiences (e.g., AI-driven search and conversational experiences), Cognitive Decisioning and Reasoning (e.g., delivering more predictive information to inform decision making), and Intelligent Process Automation (e.g., digitizing and automating operations to create more efficient operations and compelling customer experiences).

“This practice is dedicated to helping our clients translate the most powerful technologies of our generation into tangible value,” said Paul Heckel, Vice President of Customer Experience. “We’re working with them on areas such as enhanced personalization, reduction of customer churn, predictive maintenance, streamlining the onboarding process, increasing crop yields, elimination of low-value activities, better enterprise search, and empowerment of frontline employees (e.g., customer service reps, financial advisors, etc.).”

Solstice’s work in this area traces its roots back to 2014, when Solstice Labs — dedicated to rapidly advancing the commercial viability of AI and other emerging technologies — was born; and in 2016, when Solstice launched a first-of-its-kind conversational UX practice and the Siena conversational framework. Siena helps enterprises accelerate the creation of richer, smarter chatbots, voice experiences and robotic experiences.

Solstice will continue to leverage its deep partnerships with Pivotal, Google, and Amazon, enabling clients to take advantage of best-in-breed AI technologies, and will announce new partnerships in the coming months. The firm will also increase hiring in the areas of AI and machine learning.

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