--- title: "About — Kinect AI" description: "Meet the people building Kinect. We help brands convert the traffic they already have with useful shopping guidance and pages that adapt. Built in San Francisco, backed by Y Combinator." source: "https://trykinect.ai/about" content_type: "text/markdown" --- About Kinect # Online shopping should feel _more helpful._ Kinect helps brands turn more of the traffic they already have into customers. We build AI that understands the store, helps shoppers choose, and makes pages more relevant. [Meet us in a demo](https://trykinect.ai/contact) Y Combinator Built in San Francisco. Backed by Y Combinator. ![An illustrated plaza with shops and people gathering outside](https://trykinect.ai/_next/image?url=%2Fbrand%2Flanding%2Fhero-plaza.png&w=3840&q=75) Why we started ## We wanted to understand why shoppers leave. Kratik and Varun met at Reevo, building AI that helped sales teams understand their buyers. They saw how much a conversation could reveal: what someone wanted, what worried them, and what helped them make a decision. Online stores had the same need. Brands could see the clicks and abandoned carts, but often missed the question behind them. A shopper needed help choosing a size, comparing products, or finding the right gift. When they left, the reason went with them. We built Kinect to make the help you get in a good store available online. It started with an AI sales rep. Today, the same brand knowledge powers shopping guidance, product pages, landing pages, and storefronts built around a shopper’s request. [Explore what we’re building](https://trykinect.ai/platform) The founders ## The people you’ll work with. We stay close to the brands using Kinect. The same people building the product help you get started and review what happens next. ![Kratik Agrawal](https://trykinect.ai/_next/image?url=%2Fteam%2Fkratik.png&w=3840&q=75) ### Kratik Agrawal Co-founder & CEO [in](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kratikagrawal/) [𝕏](https://x.com/Kratik_ag) Kratik worked on Google’s ads team, trained machine learning models at Anduril, and helped launch new business lines at Verkada. At Reevo, he led Conversational Intelligence, building tools that helped sales teams understand their buyers. He brings that experience to the question at the center of Kinect: what helps someone decide to buy? UCLA · Computer Science ![Varun Kandula](https://trykinect.ai/_next/image?url=%2Fteam%2Fvarun.png&w=3840&q=75) ### Varun Kandula Co-founder & CTO [in](https://www.linkedin.com/in/varunkandula/) [𝕏](https://x.com/VarunKand) Varun worked on data systems at MongoDB, connected customer information for AI tools at Reevo, and consulted on AI features for Sephora. He also ran his own ecommerce store, so he knows what it means to pay for traffic and work for every conversion. At Kinect, he builds the systems that turn a brand’s information into useful shopping experiences. UC Berkeley · D1 squash What we bring ## Built on experience in commerce, AI, and sales. Before Kinect, we worked on ad matching, retail AI, data systems, and sales conversations. That work shapes how we help brands today. ![Google](https://trykinect.ai/team-logos/google.svg) ### Understanding intent How to connect what someone is looking for with something relevant. ![Sephora](https://trykinect.ai/team-logos/sephora.svg) ### Helping people shop How AI can help customers navigate products and make a choice. ![MongoDB](https://trykinect.ai/team-logos/mongodb.svg) ### Making data useful How to bring the right information into a system when it needs it. ![Reevo](https://trykinect.ai/team-logos/reevo.svg) ### Learning from conversations What buyers ask, what holds them back, and what helps them move forward. How we work ## We work with you from setup to results. We keep the team small, give people ownership, and spend our time on what makes the shopping experience better. 1. 01 ### Work directly with the brand We handle setup, review the experience together, and stay involved after launch. Brands work with the people building the product. 2. 02 ### Start with the shopper’s question A feature should help someone find a product, understand a detail, or make a decision. We use real shopping conversations to decide what to improve. 3. 03 ### Keep the brand recognizable The products, knowledge, and voice belong to the brand. Our job is to make them more useful in the moments that matter. 4. 04 ### Be clear about the results We measure against each store’s baseline and explain what the numbers mean. A promising engagement metric is different from a proven revenue improvement. Build with us ## Care about how people shop? We’re building a team that enjoys hard product problems, takes ownership, and wants to work closely with the brands using what we make. [Explore careers](https://trykinect.ai/careers) ## Talk to the people building it. Bring your store and your questions. We’ll walk through where Kinect could help. [Book a demo](https://trykinect.ai/contact) --- _Markdown representation of [https://trykinect.ai/about](https://trykinect.ai/about), served by content negotiation (`Accept: text/markdown`). Request the same URL with `Accept: text/html` for the browser version._ **Other machine surfaces:** [llms.txt](https://trykinect.ai/llms.txt) · [llms-full.txt](https://trykinect.ai/llms-full.txt) · [agents.md](https://trykinect.ai/agents.md) · [agent-instructions.md](https://trykinect.ai/agent-instructions.md) · [sitemap.xml](https://trykinect.ai/sitemap.xml)