Conversational AI firm Boost.ai hires Jerry Haywood as new CEO

Norwegian conversational AI firm Boost.ai has appointed Jerry Haywood as its new CEO, effective 1 December 2022.

Jerry Haywood, Boost.ai’s new CEO. Image source: Boost.ai

Haywood boasts 20 years of experience in the tech space and has previously held sales and senior leadership roles at major players including Cisco and IBM. He was most recently senior vice president, EMEA at fellow conversational AI firm LivePerson, a role he held for three years.

He also previously spent eight years at software giant Salesforce, where he helped lead the firm’s Service Cloud operations initially in the UK, and then across Europe.

Haywood succeeds Boost.ai founder and current CEO Lars Ropeid Selsås, who the firm says “desires to devote more time to product development and innovation”.

Speaking on the move, Selsås, who was actively involved in the selection process, says: “This change in leadership is a natural step in the next growth phase for Boost.ai.”

He adds Haywood’s “outstanding track record” made him a “natural candidate for this key leadership role”.

Headquartered in Stavanger, Norway, Boost.ai’s tech enables businesses to automate customer service and internal support channels. The company says it can maintain resolution rates “above 90 percent” and claims firms such as Telenor, DNB and Silvercar by Audi as customers.

Earlier this month, Scandinavian bank Nordea tapped Boost.ai to leverage virtual agents in a move to improve customer enquiry resolution rates.