Jenna Adkins, CEO of Zoo, “The AI Killer App”
By Hank M. Greene, June 7, 2021
This is the second in a continuing series of interviews with Jenna Adkins, CEO of the Zoo.
Jenna Adkins has had a meteoric rise over the last few years. As CEO of the Zoo, she has been at the core of building and leading a company that has reported unheard of year over year growth since its inception only 4 years ago, and is well on its way to taking over the communication device space with its wildly popular Mesh.
Following is a transcript of the interview, which has been edited for clarity and length.
Hank M. Greene: Jenna Adkins is the chief executive officer of Zoo, a company she helped form and build from a coffee shop brainstorming session to one that is now leading the communication device space. In our first interview, we learned how you and some college friends started Zoo from a lecture and the coffee shop chats. In this interview we’ll drill a little deeper to learn about the Zoo’s killer AI app.
Thank you, Jenna, for taking time to share with us the story of how this all happened. And, on a side note, it’s really cool to talk with you again.
Today I would like to drill into the specific application that seems to be at the center of the start of the Mesh popularity, the Zoo’s AI app.
Jenna Adkins: Hank, it’s a pleasure. And, I’m so glad to see you again. Thank you for reaching out to make this continuing series happen.
Hank M. Greene: In our last talk you shared how the Zoo got started. I thought during this time we could talk a little about what made the Zoo’s Mesh so popular so quickly, like wildfire, the AI.
Jenna Adkins: Shortly after we decided to create the Zoo, and everyone was incredibly busy just pulling together everything needed for the next set of deliverables, I remember reading this article on Medium about what “Love” is and isn’t, and then right behind that on Flipboard was an article about pheromones. Okay, an hour or so passed by and I’m still savoring these two very different in approach yet overlapping articles, and thinking about their import on real life situations, like kids attracted to each other. Then it hit me like a shock, like being instantly ported to a parallel universe, disorienting. People, the bulk of humanity, not the one percenters who pretend they know something they really don’t, but the real humanity want someone to share the moments with. Now, I’m not saying it’s always the same person for everyone, I’m just saying look in any school, any church, any bar, any workplace and you will find people attracted to other people searching for both the courage to say something and the prayer to say the right thing, and guess what, the right thing is going to vary depending on who and where that other person is in their life.
Hank M. Greene: And that was it? That was the moment you thought to merge AI and predictive personality types?
Jenna Adkins: Right. So, I asked, why couldn’t we apply AI and everything we know about behavior patterns to a short video of someone, to see how close we could come to predicting their personality type, and based on their facial expressions, their disposition at those moments, to say, hey, here is a suggested line that the subject would be in the right frame of mind to hear.
Hank M. Greene: That’s not the entire story, is it?
Jenna Adkins: No, the killer AI app had to use that knowledge about the person in the video as the subject for the app owner, to tell the app owner via the earbuds what to say to sweet talk the subject.
Hank M. Greene: A modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac.
Jenna Adkins: Right. But think back to the premise of the human condition in every school, church, bar, and work, where people are looking for the right words to say. Helping those situations is immensely appealing to people.
Hank M. Greene: If everyone is using this app, isn’t that a little weird, even creepy, I mean, where’s the honesty?
Jenna Adkins: Yeah, that makes sense. But on the flip side, everyone really likes to be talked to in a manner they are ready for, so the app is more like a broker coach if you will.
The app really took off with the twenty something demographic, which makes sense. We have a continuous improvement process with the underlying algorithms so the AI suggested comments are on a continuous improvement cycle, another reason I think the app continues to grow in popularity.
Hank M. Greene: Another incredible story. Thank you so much, Jenna, for taking time to share your unique story. I’m sure it will inspire others. I’m looking forward to our next conversation in this series.
Jenna Adkins: Thank you.
Who is Hank M. Greene?
