# C3 AI C3 AI is an American enterprise artificial intelligence software company founded in 2009 by Thomas Siebel, headquartered in Redwood City, California. It provides AI applications for industries like manufacturing, energy, and defense, and went public on the NYSE in 2020. C3 AI is an American information technology company specializing in enterprise [artificial-intelligence](https://www.wikiprompt.org/wiki/artificial-intelligence) software. Founded in 2009 by Thomas Siebel and based in Redwood City, California, the company develops and deploys AI applications for large organizations across industries such as manufacturing, energy, financial services, and government. C3 AI became a publicly traded company in December 2020 on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AI. The company's platform enables customers to build and run AI models on their own data, often integrating with existing enterprise systems like [amazon-web-services](https://www.wikiprompt.org/wiki/amazon-web-services), [azure](https://www.wikiprompt.org/wiki/azure), or [oracle-cloud](https://www.wikiprompt.org/wiki/oracle-cloud). Its applications cover use cases including predictive maintenance, supply chain optimization, fraud detection, and energy management. C3 AI has positioned itself as a provider of turnkey AI solutions for non-tech enterprises, distinguishing itself from general-purpose AI research labs or cloud providers. ## History C3 AI was founded in 2009 by Thomas Siebel, a technology entrepreneur previously known for leading Siebel Systems, a customer relationship management software company acquired by Oracle in 2006. The company was initially named "C3", where the "C" stood for "carbon" and the "3" for "measure, mitigate, and monetize", reflecting an original focus on helping corporations manage their carbon footprints. Over time, the company shifted its focus to broader enterprise AI applications. The company briefly operated as C3 Energy in its early years, then as C3IoT in 2016, before settling on C3.ai. The name change reflected a pivot from energy-specific and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to a more general enterprise AI platform. Under Siebel's leadership, C3 AI grew by partnering with major cloud providers and system integrators to deploy AI at scale. In September 2025, C3 AI announced that Stephen Ehikian, former acting administrator of the General Services Administration, had been appointed chief executive officer effective September 1, 2025. Siebel continued as executive chairman, maintaining a significant role in the company's strategic direction. ## Products and Platform C3 AI offers a suite of enterprise AI applications built on its C3 AI Platform. The platform provides tools for data integration, model development, and application deployment, allowing customers to create custom AI solutions without extensive in-house AI expertise. Key products include C3 AI Reliability for predictive maintenance, C3 AI Supply Chain for demand forecasting and inventory optimization, and C3 AI Fraud Detection for financial services. The platform supports [machine-learning](https://www.wikiprompt.org/wiki/machine-learning) and [deep-learning](https://www.wikiprompt.org/wiki/deep-learning) models, and integrates with major cloud infrastructure. C3 AI has also developed industry-specific solutions for sectors like oil and gas, utilities, manufacturing, and defense. The company frequently collaborates with consulting firms and cloud providers to implement its software in large enterprises. ## Initial Public Offering C3 AI held its initial public offering on December 9, 2020, listing its Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AI. The company priced 15.5 million shares at US$42.00 per share, expecting to raise approximately US$651 million in gross proceeds. Concurrently, Spring Creek Capital, affiliated with Koch Industries, purchased US$100 million in a private placement, and Microsoft purchased US$50 million, both at the IPO price. The offering was led by Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, and BofA Securities as lead underwriters, with Deutsche Bank Securities, Canaccord Genuity, JMP Securities, KeyBanc Capital Markets, Needham & Company, and Piper Sandler as co-managers. Prior to the IPO, on November 25, 2020, the company executed a 6-for-1 reverse stock split of its common and preferred stock. C3 AI implemented a dual-class share structure, with Class A common stock carrying one vote per share and Class B common stock carrying 50 votes per share. Following the IPO, CEO Tom Siebel and related entities controlled all Class B voting power, representing approximately 33.29% of outstanding capital stock and 71.96% of voting power. As of April 30, 2025, Siebel and related entities owned approximately 87.8% of Class B stock and 19.4% of Class A stock, controlling about 52.4% of voting power. ## Market Performance and Criticism C3 AI's shares more than doubled on their first trading day, closing at US$92.49 on December 9, 2020, with a market capitalization of US$8.9 billion. The stock reached an all-time high close of US$177.47 on December 22, 2020, and touched an intraday high of US$183.9 the following day. However, share prices subsequently declined significantly; as of June 2024, they were nearly 74% below their first-day closing price, and by February 2026, shares traded at US$10.40. The company faced market skepticism and criticism following the IPO, including scrutiny over Siebel liquidating shares worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the months after the offering. Analysts and investors debated the company's growth prospects, competition from larger tech firms, and the sustainability of its enterprise AI business model. Despite these challenges, C3 AI continued to pursue government and commercial contracts, including work with the U.S. Department of Defense and various energy companies. ## Leadership and Governance Thomas Siebel founded C3 AI and served as CEO from 2009 until September 2025, when Stephen Ehikian took over the role. Ehikian previously served as acting administrator of the General Services Administration under the Trump administration. Siebel remained executive chairman, retaining significant influence over corporate strategy and voting control. The company's board includes executives from technology and finance sectors, and its governance structure has been a point of discussion due to the dual-class share arrangement. --- Source: https://www.wikiprompt.org/wiki/c3-ai License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Last updated: 2026-09-09T01:55:12.880531+00:00