German unicorn DeepL is releasing an AI agent to carry out business tasks for enterprises, marking the company’s first step beyond translation services and into agentic AI.
Based in Cologne, DeepL has so far specialised in using AI for language translation, providing written translations, language assistants and a real-time voice translator. The company mostly targets enterprises, with customers including large organisations like KBC Bank and law firm Taylor Wessing.
Last year DeepL raised a $300m round at a $2bn valuation.
Dubbed “DeepL agent”, the new tool will “take on the time-consuming, repetitive tasks knowledge workers face every day,” said CEO Jarosław Kutyłowski said in a statement.
The agent will respond to natural language commands to autonomously carry out routine business tasks such as pulling insights for sales teams, automating invoice processing and handling document translation.
“The launch of DeepL Agent marks a natural extension of what we’ve already been focused on, which is building intelligent AI solutions to complex business problems,” Stefan Mesken, DeepL’s chief scientist, tells Sifted.
This means DeepL is now competing directly against tech giants like OpenAI, Microsoft and Google, as well as Paris-based Mistral AI, which all offer AI agents for businesses.
The new tool is currently pilot testing with partners and will be generally available in the coming months.
Competing in agentic AI
DeepL says its research and experience with language translation will be key to differentiating itself in agentic AI.
The company has developed its own generative AI model specifically trained for translation, which it says achieves more precise results than other products on the market.
“We’re well placed to apply our strong background in AI research and razor-sharp product focus beyond language, to the world of agentic AI,” says Mesken. “Our agent is unique in that it builds on our years of research and innovation in AI with the same focus on accuracy and performance that has defined the language solutions that we’ve become known for.”
With 200k enterprise customers, DeepL says it also has experience meeting businesses’ expectations in security, especially in highly regulated sectors.
This comes as the startup mulls an IPO as early as 2026, according to sources.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/deepl-agent-release/
