Company Overview

Drift was founded in 2015 by David Cancel and Elias Torres, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Drift is a pioneer in conversational marketing and sales, helping businesses convert website visitors into customers through live chat, AI automation, and intelligent routing. In 2023, Salesforce acquired Drift for approximately $1.2 billion, integrating its conversational AI capabilities into the Salesforce ecosystem.

Related providers: Drift Marketing & Support

Core Products

  • Drift Chat: Intelligent website chat with proactive invites, smart routing, target account identification, and real-time conversation
  • Drift Meetings: Book sales meetings directly through chat, integrated with Google Calendar, Outlook, and Salesforce calendars
  • Drift Email: Behavior-triggered email sequences and follow-ups, leveraging chat data for personalized outreach
  • Drift AI / Conversational AI: AI-powered chatbot with intent recognition, auto-answering, lead qualification, and seamless human handoff
  • Drift Audience: Visitor behavior-based audience segmentation and personalized message targeting

Core Strengths

Conversational Marketing Pioneer: Coined the term "conversational marketing," replacing traditional forms with intelligent conversations that dramatically boost conversion rates
Salesforce Ecosystem Integration: Deep integration with Salesforce CRM, Einstein AI, and Sales Cloud since acquisition
Smart Routing & Qualification: AI automatically identifies visitor intent and qualification, routing to the right sales or support person
Real-Time Revenue Acceleration: Conversation-driven workflow from first visit to closed deal, shortening sales cycles

Key Milestones

  • 2015：Drift founded in Boston, MA by David Cancel and Elias Torres, focusing on conversational marketing
  • 2016：Launched Drift Chat, gaining widespread attention at launch
  • 2018：Released Drift AI (Conversational AI), setting AI chatbot trends in marketing technology
  • 2020：Launched Drift Meetings and Drift Email, completing the conversational sales product line
  • 2021：Released Drift Audience; annual revenue surpassed $100 million
  • 2023：Salesforce acquired Drift for approximately $1.2 billion, integrated into Salesforce Customer 360
  • 2026：Continues operating as a Salesforce brand, enhancing conversational AI and sales automation

Market Position

Drift competes with the following providers in the conversational marketing and sales acceleration market:

  • Intercom：Enterprise customer communication platform with messaging, help center, and AI automation
  • HubSpot：Growth platform combining CRM, marketing, sales, and service
  • LivePerson：AI-powered conversational commerce and customer experience platform
  • Zendesk：Global leader in customer service and ticketing platforms
  • Qualified：AI platform focused on B2B conversational sales and channel partners