In March, Tech.eu reported the story of “Rachel”, an AI voice agent created by AI engineer Matt Cortland to call over 3,000 pubs across Ireland and ask a simple question: how much does a pint of Guinness cost? Using voice AI tools, Rachel managed to collect over 1,000 verified prices from pubs across all 32 counties, with most bartenders unaware they were speaking to an AI.
The story went viral, demonstrating the real impact of voice AI. However, beyond the price of Guinness, voice technology is rapidly reshaping customer support infrastructure, replacing rigid phone menus and repetitive call center workflows with conversational AI systems capable of handling millions of interactions autonomously.
Berlin-based startup Synthflow AI is part of a new wave of companies building this layer of infrastructure for business communications.
Founded in 2023, Synthflow’s technology primarily automates high-volume customer telephone interactions with AI voice agents capable of having natural conversations, routing calls, scheduling appointments, qualifying leads, answering support questions, and updating CRM systems in real time.
Companies are deploying the system in customer support, BPO operations, healthcare scheduling, telecommunications, utilities, sales qualification, and utilities, often replacing rigid IVR menus with conversational AI that can be pushed to human agents when needed.
Its platform now handles more than 5 million calls per month for more than 100 enterprise clients globally, following a $20 million Series A round led by Accel, bringing total funding to approximately $30 million.
I spoke to co-founder and CEO Hakob Astabatsyan to find out more.
The Death of “Press 1 for Help”
Traditional IVR systems are the familiar automated phone menus that most people associate with prompts such as:
“Press 1 for sales, press 2 for help.”
Modern AI-powered IVR systems replace rigid menu trees with natural conversational interactions. Instead of cycling through keypad options, callers can just speak normally: “I have to reschedule my appointment.” or “I’m calling about a payment problem.”
The system uses speech recognition, large language models, and workflow automation to understand intent, respond conversationally, route calls, retrieve information, and complete tasks automatically. For example, in a health clinic with multiple doctors, the AI asks you what you need and directs you to the right doctor. This alone saves several minutes per call. Multiply that by thousands of calls and you get a sector change.
Why AI Voice Agents are Becoming the New Reception for Businesses
According to Astabatsyan, the emergence of LLMs has fundamentally changed what these systems can do:
“With the emergence of LLMs, there is suddenly an opportunity to make these conversations dynamic. You can interrupt the AI, change direction naturally, and follow the conversation much more like you would with a person.”
The goal is not to make people believe they are talking to a human. Quite the contrary: you must clearly disclose that it is AI. The real goal is simply to create a better experience. For many simple tasks, people prefer to talk to AI. If it’s something simple (checking a number, rescheduling an appointment for Thursday at 2 p.m., or resolving a basic support issue), it’s much faster and more efficient.
“People are busy. They don’t want to wait in front of endless menus.
Technology is now smart enough to handle appointment scheduling, troubleshooting, support requests, and information capture. It’s not here to give life advice, but it’s very effective for structured, repeatable workflows.
In the Rise of Conversational IVR
The potential for automation extends beyond the conversation itself. AI systems can automatically transfer information to back-end business software, update customer records, and trigger workflows without human intervention. Astabatsyan says what really gets interesting is what happens after the call.
“I think of this as RPA 2.0. AI can extract information from the conversation, update HubSpot or Salesforce, change CRM fields, and automate thousands of repetitive tasks at scale. I’m still trying to demystify the AI side of it all. People immediately turn to ideas like Skynet or Terminator, but the reality is much more practical. Technology still has limits. But there are specific tasks that it is extremely good at, and these are ripe for automation.”
For Astabatsyan, it’s about how you implement voice AI. You might say, “Hello, I’m the AI Assistant. How can I help you?” Then disclose that it’s being recorded. And give the ability to talk to a human. If anyone insists, you are transferred.
He says, however, that the most important use case the company envisions remains human handoff, where AI acts as the first line of defense.
“There is also a lot of noise in contact centers. People dial the wrong numbers or services. AI filters that. In large centers with thousands of calls, even 20,000 can be misdirected. AI can deflect this problem.”
Initially, many people in call centers were skeptical of chatbots, online banking, or voice assistants like Alexa. Additionally, voice cloning is now ubiquitous. Astabatsyan shared:
“At first, we saw attempts at identity theft. We built algorithms to detect and block them. But now the sector is becoming more professional.”
By 2023, the industry was the Wild West in terms of lack of regulation. But there are now fines for unsolicited calls. Telephone numbers require identity checks.
“We have also invested heavily in compliance: healthcare, GDPR, HIPAA and penetration testing.”
Regarding the company’s success in fundraising and rapid expansion, Astabatsyan admits that speed creates challenges when it comes to rapid recruiting and maintaining culture.
“Your business can grow faster than your organization.”
“Voice is Not a Market, It is a Means of Communication”
Regarding the future of Voice AI, Astabatsyan adds:
“Voice is not a market, it’s a means of communication. No single company will own it. It’s a question of who you serve. For us, it’s contact centers. We want to disrupt this industry and free humans for more meaningful work.”
You can read more about this development Here.
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