AppDirect Acquires Soul Machines to Expand Enterprise AI Experiences for Advisors and Businesses

SAN FRANCISCO - September 28, 2026 - AppDirect, the world's leading B2B subscription commerce platform, today announced it has acquired Soul Machines, a pioneer in AI avatars and human-centered digital experiences. This acquisition strengthens AppDirect's AI capabilities and expands the company's ability to help advisors, partners, and businesses deploy more interactive AI experiences across sales, service, support, and commerce. AppDirect will share more about its AI strategy and product direction at its annual Thrive conference, happening Sept. 29 - Oct. 1 in Los Angeles, CA.

As organizations move beyond early AI experimentation, many are looking for practical ways to deliver AI experiences that people will actually use. With Soul Machines' technology, AppDirect plans to bring more natural, engaging interfaces to AI-powered interactions, helping businesses create digital experiences that are easier for customers and employees to use.

"Soul Machines helps us take the next step in making AI more useful and more accessible for businesses," said Nicolas Desmarais, Chairman and CEO of AppDirect. "Companies are no longer asking whether they should adopt AI; they're asking how to put it to work in ways that improve customer engagement, support employees, and drive real business outcomes. By bringing Soul Machines' avatar technology into the AppDirect platform, we can help our advisors and their customers move faster from experimentation to real-world deployment."

The strategic transaction supports AppDirect's broader strategy to build and scale practical AI solutions for businesses. Through Devs.ai, AppDirect's AI platform for building and managing business AI tools, the company is creating new ways for advisors and customers to launch branded AI applications without the complexity of building core infrastructure from scratch. Soul Machines' avatar technology will soon be embedded within Devs.ai where any user can deploy a fully functioning interactive avatar to any project they use internally or launch externally.

Potential Soul Machines applications include:

• Customer support and self-service

• Learning and development

• Onboarding and training

• Employee help desks

• Digital commerce assistance

By combining Soul Machines' technology with AppDirect's advisor ecosystem and go-to-market reach, AppDirect expects to accelerate adoption of AI solutions that are simpler for businesses to deploy and more intuitive for end users to trust and use.

The strategic transaction will help AppDirect's partners and customers move beyond text-based AI interfaces toward richer, more engaging experiences that better reflect how people prefer to communicate and get work done.

"The next wave of enterprise AI will be defined not only by what the technology can do, but by how people experience it," said Chris Herd, General Manager, Soul Machines. "Adding Soul Machines to Devs.ai helps us give customers a more interactive way to deploy AI across customer and employee journeys."

The strategic transaction also gives AppDirect advisors and partners new ways to deliver tailored AI solutions to their customers. At the same time, Soul Machines' customers will gain access to AppDirect's broader platform, including new integrations, go-to-market opportunities, and enterprise AI capabilities through Devs.ai.

Learn more about Devs.ai here. Additional details about AppDirect's AI strategy will be showcased at their annual event, Thrive 2026.

Additional Resources:

• AppDirect Launches AppDirect AI, an AI Marketplace and Creation Studio

• AppDirect Acquires PartnerStack, Creating the Unified Subscription Commerce Platform for Partner-Led Growth

• AppDirect and Tackle.io to Unite to Extend Leadership in B2B Subscription Commerce with Native Hyperscaler Marketplace Integration

About AppDirect

AppDirect is a B2B subscription commerce platform company that brings together technology providers, advisors and businesses to simplify how they buy, sell and manage technology. More than 1,000 providers, 14,000 advisors and 16 million subscribers rely on the AppDirect ecosystem of subscription marketplaces to power their innovation, growth and success. For more information, visit appdirect.com, devs.ai and follow us on LinkedIn.

About Soul Machines

Soul Machines is the world leader in the humanization of AI. Its patented Digital Brain and Autonomous Animation technologies power lifelike digital teammates that see, hear and respond in real time, bringing presence and personality to human-AI interactions across text, voice and video. Soul Machines operates as a standalone business within AppDirect's portfolio. For more information, visit soulmachines.ai.

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