Pieter de Villiers
Image: Supplied
When ChatGPT exploded into the mainstream, it upended long-held assumptions about how we interact with the internet.
For years, we searched and browsed our way to answers. Almost overnight, prompting became the new way of engaging.
Soon, a new realisation dawned: Netizens needed a more user-friendly way of interacting with the internet.
Right now, there’s no definitive answer on who is building that better interface, but in a conversation with technology veteran Pieter de Villiers, one emerged.
De Villiers, who co-founded Clickatell, the first tech company to connect businesses on the internet with consumers on mobile phones via SMS, using just four lines of code, believes the answer to an AI interface is chat.
His years of experience in building chat mean he’s well-positioned to see what the next big thing in AI interfaces will be.
Clickatell has been the backbone of AI chat services across various sectors, banking, retail, travel, telecoms, healthcare and more and is trusted by global brands, including Fiserv, Ria, Discovery, Absa, Tymebank, Standard bank, FlySafair, Clientèle, Pick n Pay, Massmart (Walmart), MTN, Telkom, Toyota, Europcar and thousands of additional businesses across the US, Europe and Global South markets.
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