Suzanne Lauritzen on Revolutionizing Search Engines with Raffle.AI

In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing various industries, one area that stands to benefit immensely is search technology. Raffle.AI, co-founded by Suzanne Lauritzen and Ole Winther, is at the forefront of this transformation, offering an innovative approach to AI-powered search engines.

In this interview, we delve into the journey of Raffle.AI, exploring the motivations, challenges, and unique solutions that have positioned it as a leader in the field. Suzanne Lauritzen, the CEO, shares insightful perspectives on how Raffle.AI is reshaping the way businesses access and utilize information.

From discussing the company’s early challenges to its future in AI-driven business solutions, this conversation offers a deep dive into the world of semantic search technology and its impact on customer service, data utilization, and business growth.

Background and Vision

SBS – What inspired you and Ole Winther to start Raffle.AI, and how did you envision it changing the landscape of AI-powered search engines?

Suzanne – We were inspired by the rapid development of AI and the opportunities that lie within. As search for businesses are based on keywords and tags, which makes it difficult to find information, Raffle’s vision was to make a semantic search that easily finds the right answers while maintaining the integrity, accuracy, safety, and relevance of the data.

Challenges Overcome

SBS – Can you share some of the initial challenges you faced while developing Raffle and how you overcame them?

Suzanne – When we started Raffle in 2018, it was only the very large companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google, etc., that were utilising AI in the way we wanted to. It took us some time to prove that we could do this in a cost-effective and efficient way.

Unique Selling Proposition

SBS – What sets Raffle apart from traditional search engines and other AI-powered search technologies currently available in the market?

Suzanne – We have developed a modern semantic search consisting of both vector search, keyword search, and large language models that can understand the meaning of search queries out of the box with more than 82% accuracy in the top three and 94% accuracy in top five on both small and very large datasets.

Traditional search caps at 42% in the top five after tuning and fine-tuning for months and with continuous maintenance. AI-powered search is a traditional search with some AI on top, which is like putting a chimney on top of a sailing boat. It can work to some extent, but it will only power the search to a cap of 48%, still far away from Raffle.

Target Market Strategy

SBS – How did you identify and approach your target market, especially with large enterprises and midsize companies?

Suzanne – Our target market is companies that need content search because they have complex data or just a large amount of content sources, eg., Insurance, Banks, Unions, Governments, Education, SaaS help centers, etc.

Customer Experience and Feedback

SBS – How has customer feedback shaped the evolution of Raffle’s features and services?

Suzanne – From the beginning, we have listened to the demands of our clients. When more than 50% of our clients have requested or asked for specific features, we have always made sure to put it into the product roadmap.

AI and Ethics

SBS – In what ways does Raffle ensure the integrity, accuracy, safety, and ethical use of data?

Suzanne – Raffle’s power lies in the ability to rank the right answers high and deliver accurate results to end-users. Raffle is SOC2 audited and upholds all GDPR requirements. We finetune and make our own models and algorithms from industry standards and isolate data on servers in Europe for European clients.

Future of AI in Business

SBS – Where do you see the role of AI in business search and data utilization evolving in the next 5-10 years?

Suzanne – It all starts with great search, and right now, companies are, in general, taking a step back by believing AI can be used on top of traditional search — so called AI-powered search.

It’s not trivial to do a great semantic search. As search is the foundation and input (prompt) to great applications that can find and explain the content and make it useful, I believe we will only be able to utilize data after implementing a great semantic search based on AI. From that day, it will be evolving very quickly.

Technology Adaptation

SBS – How does Raffle stay ahead in the rapidly evolving field of AI technology?

Suzanne – Our core infrastructure is based on AI and designed to apply and adopt new AI rapidly.

Impact on Customer Service

SBS – Can you elaborate on how Raffle has transformed customer service for businesses that have implemented it?

Suzanne – As Raffle answers and directs 78–96% of the questions from customers on the website or in help centers, customer service sees a dramatic reduction in human inquiries as well as higher customer conversion, higher customer engagement, less customer churn, and reduced customer frustration.

Innovation and Sustainability

SBS – How do you balance the need for constant innovation with sustainability in your business model?

Suzanne – We believe innovation and sustainability go hand in hand. We are constantly innovating to minimise our models to use less power whilst being more efficient and quicker.

Growth Strategies

SBS – What growth strategies have been most effective for Raffle, and what future expansion plans do you have?

Suzanne – We are transforming our sales process to product-led sales as our product has developed into an application and platform where companies can onboard themselves and utilise the power of, without our direct involvement.

Leadership Philosophy

SBS – As a CEO, how do you foster a culture of innovation and creativity within your team?

Suzanne – I communicate our vision and mission clearly and make sure our employees are involved in adopting and making their own clear, measurable, and meaningful KPIs aligned with the overall vision and the monthly, quarterly, and annual company targets.

I strongly believe that if you know what your job is measured by, you feel safe and free to innovate in the best interest of the company.