Microsoft BOT Framework: chatbots and hybris. Skype, Facebook and other communication channels.

This spring, Kik, a messaging app with 275 million registered users, launched a bot store for brands and publishers to build their own bots that deliver services to users. Sephora and H&M have kik-powered bots that help shoppers browse and buy their products. Taco Bell showed off its TacoBot, a way to use the messaging app Slack to place a meal order. Amazon introduced its Echo, Google announced Allo, Facebook built their bot engine on top of their Messenger (and it is capable now of accepting payments!). Recently, Microsoft launched their Bot Framework that allows developers to write bot code once and, using the Microsoft Bot Connector, deploy on multiple channels, including Skype, Slack, and SMS.