C3.AI, founded by tech industry veteran Thomas Siebel, is in talks to merge with privately held startup Automation Anywhere being reported by The Information.
Which got me to thinking - C3 is a dot ‘ai’? When did that happen?
Heh Claude (because for this I really do not have the time or inclination) …
“What was C3 before c3.ai - when did it change - wasn’t it energy or something?”
🤖 Claude
You’re absolutely right! C3.ai has gone through quite the identity evolution:
2009 - Started as C3, where “C” stood for “carbon” and “3” represented “measure, mitigate, and monetize.” The original mission was helping companies manage their carbon footprints.
2012 - Rebranded to C3 Energy after founder Tom Siebel (who previously sold Siebel Systems to Oracle for $5.85 billion) saw opportunity in grid operators and utilities. The company focused on smart grid analytics, using big data and machine learning to analyze sensor data from power grids.
2016 - Renamed to C3 IoT, signaling expansion beyond just energy into broader Internet of Things markets across manufacturing, aerospace, financial services, and other industries.
2019-2020 - Became C3.ai to align with the hot AI investment trend (went public in December 2020).
So essentially: carbon/energy → energy utilities → general IoT → enterprise AI. The company clearly adapted as market opportunities shifted and new technology trends emerged. Some skeptics have pointed out that the frequent rebranding feels more like chasing whatever’s trendy in the market rather than genuine business evolution, especially given how each rename coincided with emerging tech hype cycles (IoT around 2016, AI around 2019).