Drift

Conversational Marketing Softwaredrift.com

Company typePrivate
Founded2011
HeadquartersBoston, United States
Headcount501–1,000
GTM typeB2B
OfferingSoftware

Drift firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Drift
Legal name: Salesloft, Inc.
Website: https://drift.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2011
Operating status: Acquired
Headcount range: 501–1,000 employees
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Drift industry classification

Industry

Product category: Conversational Marketing Software
NAICS: Telemarketing Bureaus and Other Contact Centers (561422)
SIC: Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
akta.pro primary industry: Conversational AI Platforms (chat/voice bots, orchestration) (HDAAAFAC)

Keywords

Conversational marketing platform
AI chat agents
Lead qualification software
Sales engagement platform
Conversational AI software

Where Drift is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Boston
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Markets served

Drift business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Software
Cost components: Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

SaaS Subscription (Platform): Drift operates as part of Salesloft's revenue orchestration platform, likely offered as a component of enterprise subscription packages. The platform includes AI chat agents, sales engagement, conversation intelligence, deal management, and forecasting capabilities bundled together.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Drift product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Drift provides an AI-powered conversational marketing and sales platform that engages B2B website visitors in real-time personalized conversations, identifies and qualifies high-intent buyers, and routes them into seller workflows. Its flagship Drift AI Chat Agent operates 24/7, deanonymizes visitors, and integrates with Salesloft's Rhythm workflow for end-to-end pipeline generation. The platform is now distributed as a core module of the Salesloft Revenue Orchestration Platform.

Product overview

Drift is a conversational marketing and sales AI platform, positioned as a module within the Salesloft Revenue Orchestration Platform following Salesloft's acquisition of Drift in 2023. The core offering consists of Drift AI Chat Agents that engage website visitors with real-time personalized conversations to convert visitors into qualified pipeline. Key product components include: (1) Drift Chat Agent (AI-powered conversational engagement), (2) Live Chat (real-time human agent handoff), (3) Fastlane (real-time buyer qualification using tech stack data), and (4) ROI Reporting (engagement metrics and pipeline attribution). These products integrate with Salesloft's Rhythm workflow for seller action and broader CRM systems, enabling a unified revenue orchestration experience from buyer engagement through deal close.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

Drift AI Chat Agent AI-powered chat agent that engages B2B website visitors with real-time personalized conversations, identifies high-intent buyers, scores engagement, and routes qualified leads directly into sales workflows. Built for B2B sales and marketing teams seeking to convert anonymous website visitors into qualified pipeline.
Drift Live Chat Real-time human-agent chat capability that allows sales teams to engage target accounts directly on the B2B website, skipping forms and moving prospects through the funnel faster.
Drift Fastlane Real-time buyer qualification capability that uses tech stack data to identify and qualify high-value B2B buyers instantly, allowing them to skip form queues and connect directly with sales representatives.
Drift ROI Reporting Analytics and reporting dashboard that tracks chat engagement metrics, identifies high-converting conversations, and attributes success to pipeline and revenue to refine conversational strategy.

Quantifiable outcome

Drift rated 4.5/5 on G2 platform

Companies that use Drift

Customer profile

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Drift technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability4 records

Feature6 records

Drift partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

SalesloftcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2024Salesloft acquired Drift Inc. in February 2024, integrating it as a core component of its revenue orchestration platform. Drift's real-time conversational engagement capabilities were incorporated to expand Salesloft's ABM orchestration and buyer engagement offerings. The acquisition combined Drift's conversational AI with Salesloft's sales engagement, conversation intelligence, deal management, and AI forecasting capabilities.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Drift competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Direct peers

Intercom: Intercom offers a conversational AI platform for B2B sales, marketing, and customer support, including AI agents for website engagement and lead qualification. It is the most direct head-to-head competitor to Drift's chat agent and live chat capabilities for B2B revenue teams.
Qualified: Qualified provides a B2B conversational marketing platform focused on pipeline generation, real-time buyer engagement, and AI-powered chat agents for enterprise Salesforce customers. It directly competes with Drift in the enterprise ABM and account-based chat space.
LivePerson: LivePerson offers an enterprise conversational AI platform spanning messaging, voice, and AI agents for sales, marketing, and customer service. It overlaps with Drift's AI chat agent capabilities and broader conversational engagement use cases for large enterprises.

Emerging players

Tidio: Tidio provides AI-powered chat and live chat for SMB and mid-market e-commerce and B2B companies, including AI agents (Lyro) for lead qualification and customer engagement. It overlaps with Drift's chat agent offering but is focused on smaller customers with lighter feature requirements.
Chili Piper: Chili Piper offers conversational scheduling, lead routing, and inbox tools for B2B revenue teams, often integrated with Drift and other chat platforms. It overlaps in the inbound lead conversion and routing layer that Drift's Fastlane feature addresses.
ManyChat: ManyChat is a conversational AI platform primarily focused on messaging channels (WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger) for marketing, sales, and support automation. It overlaps with Drift in the AI-driven conversational engagement category, though ManyChat's channel focus differs from Drift's website-centric chat.

Broad incumbents

HubSpot: HubSpot is an established CRM, marketing, and sales platform that includes live chat, AI chat agents (Breeze), and conversational tools as part of its broader suite. HubSpot Ventures also invested in Drift, and HubSpot's chat and AI agent capabilities compete with Drift's offering for B2B customers.
Salesforce (Einstein Bots): Salesforce is the dominant CRM platform and offers Einstein Bots and conversational AI as part of its Marketing Cloud and Sales Cloud portfolios. Drift integrates with Salesforce but Einstein Bots competes directly for conversational AI budget in the same enterprise B2B accounts.
ZoomInfo (Chat & Conversational): ZoomInfo is a large go-to-market platform that combines B2B data, sales engagement, and increasingly conversational capabilities (e.g., ZoomInfo Chat, RingLead). It competes with Drift in the B2B pipeline generation and buyer identification space at enterprise scale.
Salesloft (Drift parent): Salesloft is the parent of Drift and operates a broader revenue orchestration platform including Cadence, Rhythm, Conversations, Deals, and now 1mind AI agents (the successor to Drift). Salesloft's expanded platform competes with Drift's standalone value proposition and ultimately absorbs Drift's conversational AI use cases.

Market position

Strengths2 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Drift financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Drift leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Drift subsidiaries and ownership

Company hierarchy

Subsidiaries1 record

Drift funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors10 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Drift M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A3 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Drift

What does Drift do?

Is Drift a public or private company?

Drift is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently acquired.

When was Drift founded?

Drift was founded in 2011. It employs 501 to 1,000 people.

Where is Drift based?

Drift is headquartered in Boston, United States, in the North America region.

How does Drift make money?

One revenue line is on record: saaS Subscription (Platform).

Who are Drift's main competitors?

Direct peers on record are Intercom, Qualified and LivePerson. Emerging players are Tidio, Chili Piper and ManyChat. Broad incumbents are HubSpot, Salesforce (Einstein Bots), ZoomInfo (Chat & Conversational) and Salesloft (Drift parent).

Does Drift have an API?

No public API is recorded for Drift.

What industry is Drift in?

Drift's product category is Conversational Marketing Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAAAFAC, Conversational AI Platforms (chat/voice bots, orchestration). Its NAICS code is 561422 and its SIC code is 7370.