AI company relocating U.S. headquarters from San Francisco to North Texas

An artificial intelligence startup is moving its U.S. headquarters from the heart of San Francisco to a new home in Plano.

Cognigy, which has its global headquarters in Germany, is relocating the hub to a site with room to expand. The customer-service automation company, which has customers such as Toyota, Nestle and DHL, has raised about $175 million, including a round last year that pulled in $100 million, according to Joe Havlik, vice president and North America general manager for the company.

North Texas was the right move with its business-friendly approach and access to talent along with a healthy university scene, Havlik said. The central location of Dallas-Fort Worth helps as well with direct flights around the globe — and shorter trips around the country.

The company will have about 50 workers in North Texas in the next three to four months and is set to grow to roughly 150 to 200 in the next three years, Havlik said. It’s looking to hire in areas such as marketing.

The Dallas-Fort Worth region is drawing company hubs in various industries, including technology, as businesses look to tap into the growth and corporate expansion in the region. Last month, Care.com, which provides a digital hub for finding family care and related services, said it’s relocating its headquarters to North Texas from Austin. Simplilearn, which provides training for digital skills, blazed the trail from San Francisco to Plano with its U.S. headquarters as well, according to a statement last year.

“The business environment in Dallas has always been top-notch, and it’s only continued to get better,” Havlik said in an interview.

The company’s other locations include the U.K., Australia and Japan. The San Francisco office is set to stay open during the transition before it’s phased out, Havlik said.

“Dallas offers the perfect mix of innovation, energy and opportunity,” said Philipp Heltewig, CEO and co-founder of Cognigy, in a statement.

Cognigy is tackling the customer service industry with an AI agent platform for contact centers. Its services act as a “digital workforce” in phone and chat support with round-the-clock availability and fluency in more than 100 languages. Other customers for Cognigy include Frontier Airlines and Bayer.