Kayak Expands to New Platforms as A.I. Assistants Proliferate Xconomy

As Kayak attempts to build a better virtual travel agent, the tech firm is expanding beyond its core website and mobile app, and establishing a presence on additional types of technology platforms. Since mid-2015, Stamford, CT-based Kayak has made its travel-search service available to consumers on Apple Watch, Slack, Facebook Messenger, Microsoft Teams, Apple TV, Amazon Alexa devices, and Google Home. The integrations with these outside platforms illustrate how businesses are adapting to changing consumer habits and trying to figure out the right ways to interact with users across an array of apps and devices. The moves also speak to the growing emphasis by consumer-focused businesses on deploying products and services powered by artificial intelligence-related technologies, such as chatbots on Facebook Messenger and Slack, and voice-controlled virtual personal assistants like Amazon's Alexa, Google's Assistant, and Apple's Siri. "We have to be where the consumer is," says Giorgos Zacharia, Kayak's chief technology officer. "The consumer should be able to use Kayak in whatever their platform of choice is."