Introduction to Conversation Design Institute
Conversation Design Institute (CDI) leads the way in developing methods, skillsets, and standards for scaling great conversational experiences. With offices in Austin (USA) and Amsterdam (NL), CDI helps enterprises build high-quality chatbots and voice applications at scale.
As conversations between enterprises and people are increasingly powered by artificial intelligence, it’s our mission to make sure that these conversations are human-centered, inclusive, ethical, and goal-oriented.
On the one hand, CDI is teaching thousands of people worldwide how to create better AI Assistants. On the other hand, CDI has a growing team of experts who work with organisations to develop better AI Assistants – and the capabilities they need to support and scale them.
CDI started with two basic ideas.
First, in human-machine conversations, human psychology should be just as important as artificial intelligence. Instead of focusing only on engineering capabilities, we need to incorporate design patterns from behavioral psychology and linguistics to create AI assistants that genuinely connect with humans. This principle forms the foundation of the CDI Method.
Second, organizations need expertise and thoughtful planning when scaling their AI assistants to engage with a growing audience. Companies must methodically build their capabilities and develop dedicated in-house conversational AI teams. The CDI Standards Framework emerged from our vision to give organizations a clear roadmap to success.
These foundational ideas about Conversational AI quickly proved valuable to major enterprises worldwide. Within just 12 months, CDI established partnerships with multiple Fortune 500 companies, conducted in-person workshops, and trained over 1,000 students through its online academy. We committed to stay on the cutting-edge and become global thought leaders in conversation design.
As the company grew, several of the world's leading conversation designers joined our team. Most notably, former Google Assistant designers helped refine our approach and develop advanced courses for our academy. Over the years, CDI has guided countless enterprises to success through strategic consulting, hands-on workshops, conversation design training, and innovative solutions for diverse use cases. In 2021, CDI opened its U.S. office in Austin, Texas, to better serve its North American clients.
Today, CDI's approach has stood the test of time and forms the foundation of conversational AI practices at many of the world's largest enterprises. Organizations like Microsoft, Salesforce, Verint, Rasa, Cognigy, Quiq, and more support our mission of human-centered AI by being members of the CDI Foundation. This non-profit organization contributes to research, develops industry standards, awards inclusivity scholarships, and organizes our Conversation Design Festival and the Beyond Boundaries Global Festival.
The CDI Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing and promoting design standards for conversational AI Assistants that interface with people via chatbots, voice applications, and in the metaverse. It does this through research, education and industry development.