Microsoft Acquires Genee

Microsoft has found a magic lamp, as it now has a new Genee. That is to say, it’s acquired the virtual assistant (VA) startup Genee. With this acquisition, Microsoft will be able to enhance its own VA programs by integrating the Genee software.

Artificial intelligence continues to make progress towards being more intelligent than artificial, and Genee is a strong step in that direction, thanks to its natural language processing and decision-making algorithms. It’s intended to provide a natural feeling virtual assistant experience, using context and calendar integration to handle schedules on the user’s behalf.

Microsoft itself has its own virtual assistant, Cortana (named for the “Halo” character), which may be able to be improved with the Genee programming. However, the initial plan for Genee is to integrate it into Microsoft’s cloud productivity suite, Office 365.

Genee was founded in 2014, the creation of Ben Cheung and Charles Lee, both of whom will be joining Microsoft after the acquisition. The software is particularly useful for scheduling appointments, as it can interpret meeting requests from emails, search the sender’s calendar, and pick out some optimal meeting times to suggest.

By CCing the app in emails, users can get Genee to understand the meeting’s requirements, such as how long, what times will not work, deadlines, and so on, then send out meeting invitations on the user’s behalf. In addition to standard default commands, Genee can also understand custom commands added by the users. Large groups in particular can benefit from Genee, as it spares them the trouble of trying to search through everyone’s calendars to find a day that works.

“Artificial intelligence holds many promises to help improve productivity,” explains Jim Burton of CT Link and UCStrategies. “Among the promises is to replace the function of the administrative assistant, including helping to schedule appointments. Microsoft’s acquisition of Genee will deliver on this promise, at least in regards to meetings. Hopefully the function of call and message screening will follow.”

The acquisition will be completed early in September, along with the shutdown of Genee’s private and public beta as it integrates with Microsoft. Of course, this will not remove any existing calendar entries created by Genee, but it will not be able to create any new ones until Microsoft releases its version of the software.

The financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed. For more information, visit www.microsoft.com and genee.squarespace.com.