Sierra vs Zendesk

Insurify Joins Sierra-Led Poppy Protocol for AI Agents

Insurify, a leading online insurance marketplace, announced it is joining Sierra and other technology leaders as an early design partner for the AI Personal Agent Protocol, known as Poppy. Insurify will help shape standards for shopper consent, coverage transparency, and carrier protections within the protocol. The company aims to ensure that AI agents used for insurance shopping preserve critical coverage information, such as limits, deductibles, and eligibility requirements, while maintaining privacy and security. Insurify already offers personalized car insurance quotes via a ChatGPT plugin, and this partnership advances its objective of trustworthy AI-powered insurance shopping. The protocol, initiated by Sierra, seeks to establish a framework where consumers approve agent access, agents identify themselves, and companies set boundaries. Insurify will advocate for insurance-specific protections to prevent unauthorized automated quoting and ensure carrier attribution.

• Insurify joins Sierra and other tech leaders as early design partner in the Poppy protocol.
• Poppy is a proposed AI Personal Agent Protocol for consumer-agent interactions.
• Insurify advocates for insurance-specific standards on consent, coverage transparency, and carrier protections.

Meta, Walmart, Sierra launch personal agent protocol

Meta and Sierra, led by chairman Bret Taylor, have announced the Personal Agent Protocol (PAP) for AI-agent interactions with businesses, with initial partners including Walmart, Shopify, Stripe, Genesys, Rocket, and Instinct. PAP defines three access levels (guest, read-only, and write access) built on OAuth and places businesses in charge of vouching for consumer AI agents, differentiating it from rival designs by Visa, Mastercard, and AI platforms. The protocol aims to control customer data and liability in agentic commerce, with future implications for agentic payments. However, PAP is still in early stages: no specification, license, or governing body exists, and payments are not yet supported. Version 0.1 is expected this month, with payments and fine-grained permissions planned later. Notably, Amazon, Google, and OpenAI are absent, reflecting Meta's competitive positioning, especially after Amazon blocked Meta's Muse agent. The protocol competes with OpenAI's Agentic Commerce Protocol and Google's Universal Commerce Protocol.

• Meta and Sierra announced the Personal Agent Protocol (PAP) on October 6, with initial partners including Walmart, Shopify, Stripe, Genesys, Rocket, and Instinct.
• PAP defines three access levels—guest, read-only, and write access—built on OAuth.
• PAP places businesses in charge of vouching for consumer AI agents, differentiating it from rival designs by Visa and Mastercard.

Zendesk Appoints Rachita Sundar as Chief Financial Officer

Zendesk today announced Rachita Sundar has joined the company as Chief Financial Officer, effective September 28,…

Good Tape Raises Funding, Launches Explore for Interview Insights

Copenhagen-based AI transcription startup Good Tape has raised €600k from Nordic Makers, an investment group founded by former unicorn founders. Zendesk co-founder Alexander Aghassipour led the investment and joined Good Tape's board. The funding is part of a management buyout that made Good Tape an independent company, with co-founders Lasse Finderup and Ýmir Gyðuson Gíslason buying out Zetland, the Danish newsroom from which it spun out. Good Tape also launched Explore, a feature that connects new recordings to a user's entire transcription history, surfacing contradictions, opinions, and supporting arguments. Explore is free initially. With over 15 million transcriptions in 100+ languages, Good Tape serves journalists, researchers, lawyers, and consultants, and is used by 3 million people in over 150 countries. The company emphasizes EU data residency, GDPR compliance, and does not train AI on customer data.

• Good Tape raised €600k from Nordic Makers, led by Zendesk co-founder Alexander Aghassipour, who joined the board.
• The funding is part of a management buyout, making Good Tape independent from Zetland.
• Good Tape launched Explore, connecting new recordings to past transcriptions to surface patterns.

Zendesk Names Rachita Sundar as CFO

Zendesk announced the appointment of Rachita Sundar as Chief Financial Officer, effective September 28, 2026. Sundar, who brings over 20 years of experience in finance and operations at technology companies including Microsoft Azure, HubSpot, and Qualtrics, succeeds Julie Swinney, who transitions to Chief Administrative Officer and executive sponsor of Zendesk's Employee Service business. At Qualtrics, Sundar helped finance and close the $6.75 billion acquisition of Press Ganey Forsta. CEO Tom Eggemeier highlighted her financial rigor and operational expertise as Zendesk scales toward a multi-billion-dollar AI business.

• Rachita Sundar appointed CFO of Zendesk, effective September 28, 2026.
• Sundar has over 20 years of experience at Microsoft Azure, HubSpot, and Qualtrics.
• At Qualtrics, Sundar helped finance and close the $6.75 billion acquisition of Press Ganey Forsta.