E-commerce and consumer brands already have a playbook for encouraging shoppers to place their first order. It’s getting them to come back to make a second purchase that’s the challenge. Nate Okonkwo, founder and CEO of Remarkable AI, set out to address this problem.
“Brands were struggling because most customers purchased once and never came back,” he said.
When this happens, companies turn to a standard solution: so-called “batch-and-blast” campaigns—sending the same email or SMS follow-up (or, more likely, a bunch of them) to all their customers.
“The most memorable brand experiences usually feel personal, like a local business that knows your preferences and understands what matters to you,” said Okonkwo. That’s tough to replicate at scale. And in a world of crowded inboxes, it’s easy for consumers to tune out automated follow-ups.
The way Okonkwo saw it, “traditional marketing automation was fundamentally broken for the level of personalization modern brands need.”
He founded Remarkable AI to give brands that much-needed personalization: a more bespoke way to connect with, and retain, customers.
Today, Remarkable AI helps enterprise consumer brands like New Era Cap and Curology grow their revenue across email, SMS, and social channels. Businesses using the company’s Retain AI platform have seen a jump from about $0.11 to more than $5.00 in revenue per customer.
“Most enterprise brands still are not truly doing one-to-one messaging at scale,” said Okonkwo. It’s more common to group customers into categories and send each segment the same targeted message, regardless of timing, behavior, or relevance.
Remarkable AI’s platform fits into a company’s existing systems and workflows. The difference is how decisions get made. Instead of relying on traditional marketing segmentation or preset send schedules, the platform uses AI to determine which customers are most likely to respond, when outreach will be the most effective, and what message will resonate with a particular consumer.
Brands using this platform have moved from high-volume email campaigns to truly personalized engagement with customers. When Remarkable AI conducted a pilot with a large beauty brand, Okonkwo got his first clear signal that his model was working. The beauty brand targeted 10,000 lapsed customers and generated $80,000 in win-back revenue.
Working with the Microsoft for Startups accelerator program gave Okonkwo access to credits, expertise, and critical tools like Azure AI Search. Remarkable AI uses this to power a natural language index that can search and analyze customer feedback across multiple channels, like social media, chat, reviews, and surveys.
“When ChatGPT first became available, our relationship with Microsoft for Startups helped us get access to the first developer-available models, which was a major advantage for us,” said Okonkwo.
Remarkable AI also uses its technology responsibly, incorporating human oversight and using a privacy-first design so no personal information enters its system.
“I’ve really enjoyed working with the Remarkable AI team and supporting them on their journey on Azure,” said Maria Brenes Calderon, customer success management analyst at Microsoft. “Their approach to customer experience combining AI with more personal, one-to-one engagement really stands out, and their focus on creating meaningful customer experiences through AI makes them an exciting team to support.”
Join a LinkedIn Live event on April 24, 2026, 10:00 AM Pacific Time/1:00 PM Eastern Time, featuring Remarkable AI founder Nate Okonkwo and Senior Global Business Development Manager Kelvin Keane from the Microsoft Startups team. Join the conversation by registering on LinkedIn.
Follow Microsoft for Startups on LinkedIn for more Founder Friday highlights, and visit Microsoft for Startups to learn more about how to get started building with Azure.
