About the company

Forethought is transforming customer service through innovative, scalable AI agent support from first inquiry to final resolution. Unlike traditional AI solutions that provide static, FAQ-based responses, Forethought’s Agentic AI uses multistep reasoning and natural, empathetic conversations to empower customers to find answers without increasing human agent workload.

. Backed by $90M+ in funding from top-tier investors, the company currently powers intelligent support experiences in hundreds of organizations, including top enterprises like Upwork, Grammarly, and iFit.

Forethought was recognized by G2 as a high performer and leader for several years in a row, and currently processes over 1 billion customer interactions every month.

The challenge

Forethought aims to build AI-driven, multi-channel customer experience (CX) solutions across every channel. Their goal is to deliver a truly agentic experience with voice AI that delights customers to the same level as traditional interactions while fully resolving their issues

However, delivering agentic AI for voice-based interactions comes with significant challenges. Traditional text-to-speech systems lack the expressive range needed for real-world conversations. Automated end-to-end customer service over voice requires the AI agent to provide accurate answers while sounding engaging, emotionally responsive, and reflective.

The solution

Forethought’s customers needed a voice model to handle thousands of customer service calls while keeping interactions fast and accurate. CX voice engagements require a real-time understanding of tone and intent. Natural, empathetic responses are necessary to gain customer trust. Even minor delays or robotic speech leads to frustration, hurting customer satisfaction scores and the overall experience. 

After testing dozens of AI models, Forethought found its answer in Cartesia. With cutting-edge advancements in generative voice, Cartesia’s voice AI technology, Sonic, delivers:

• Low Latency – Sonic achieves a time-to-first-audio of 40ms, ensuring fast, natural conversations that reduce wait times and improve customer satisfaction.

• Superior Voice Quality – Optimized for phone support, Sonic’s expressive speech at lower frequencies (8kHz) ensures a natural experience that builds trust and engagement.

• Reliablity at Scale – Built for high-demand environments, Cartesia’s infrastructure ensures uninterrupted performance, even during peak call volumes, for consistent, high-quality support without disruptions.

• Fine-Grained Voice Control—Sonic’s precise voice customization allows CX AI agents to dynamically adjust emotion, speed, and tone. They can adapt to an impatient customer and handle complaints with warmth and professionalism.

By integrating Cartesia, Forethought ensures its AI agents sound natural and drive meaningful conversations—enhancing engagement, trust, and revenue generation at scale.

"Cartesia’s voice API power dynamic and empathetic conversational experiences that are consistently dependable. What really stands out to me is how natural and considerate the responses feel—especially the empathetic tone in statements like ‘I’m sorry, that must be frustrating.’"

Sami Ghoche, CEO of Forethought

"At Cartesia, we engineer voices for real-time conversational AI that combine the fastest model latency with natural quality nearly indistinguishable from humans. For CX solutions, Cartesia plays a key role in improving call retention and customer satisfaction, all while maintaining 99.9%+ uptime even during peak demand. We're excited to partner with Forethought to improve business and customer outcomes."

Karan Goel, CEO, Cartesia