Venture capital, Enterprise, IT management, Content

Moveworks Funding: Artificial Intelligence for ITSM, Help Desk Automation

Moveworks has emerged from stealth mode with a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) solution that automates IT service management (ITSM) and common help desk tasks. The executive team, backed by $30 million in funding, includes Google and Facebook veterans who have machine learning and chatbot experience.

Moveworks CEO Bhavin Shah
Moveworks CEO Bhavin Shah

With Moveworks, companies can "completely eliminate the need for IT staff to work on tasks such as provisioning applications, resetting passwords, unlocking accounts, managing email lists, and answering questions so they can focus on high-value activities," the startup asserts.

Moveworks claims AI can understand and resolve up to 75 percent of enterprise IT support issues. Many of Movework's customers have already experienced 25 percent to 35 percent of their daily IT tickets resolved autonomously, the company claims. Early adopters include Autodesk, Broadcom, and Nutanix, the startup said.

The business and technology sounds intriguing. But here's the really big twist: The platform targets enterprise customers. It's unclear if or when Moveworks will target MSPs and the SMB sector, leaving a potential market gap for other startups and innovators to fill. We're also checking to see if or how Moveworks integrates with ITSM platforms like ServiceNow.

Moveworks Talent, Next Moves?

Moveworks has raised $30 million in Series A funding from Bain Capital Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The founding team includes:

  • Bhavin Shah, co-founder and CEO: He previously co-founded Refresh.io (acquired by LinkedIn).
  • Valbhav Nivargi, co-founder and CTO: He previously founded ClearStory Data
  • Varun Singh, co-founder and VP product: He previously was lead product manager at Facebook, where he designed an AI solution and chatbot to speed engineering talent recruitment.
  • Jiang Chen, co-founder & VP machine learning: He previously was lead engineer in developing machine learning (ML) technology for a Google project.

We'll be watching to see if or when Moveworks potentially extends its vision into the midmarket and SMB sectors. ChannelE2E has repeatedly pointed out that the MSP market, in particular, has been slow to sort out opportunities in artificial intelligence and chatbots for further business automation.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.