The Conversational Economy Part 1: What's Causing the Bot Craze?

Back in December, when Slack integrations launched, I wrote Clippy's Revenge about the potential of "smart messaging" to become a new platform. Since then, big players have done much to nurture that possibility -- as if on some secret, jointly agreed-upon master schedule. This looks like the battleground of the next tech war, and all eyes are on Apple this week. But how much of the bot craze is hype, and what's worth paying attention to? The frenetic energy around this emerging ecosystem is well-placed, but often confusing. After meeting with more than 50 founders in this space, I'd like to offer a structured explanation of the emerging conversational economy and to propose some opportunities (for both big companies and startups).