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C3 AI is one of the older companies in today's enterprise AI business. It sells software that large companies, utilities and government agencies use to build and run AI applications, from predicting equipment failures to spotting fraud. Its headquarters is at 1400 Seaport Boulevard in Redwood City, on the bay side of Highway 101 near the Port of Redwood City. The company is publicly traded under the ticker AI.
This profile covers its history, products and local ties using the company's own pages and a summary of its annual report and public record on Wikipedia. It does not discuss the stock or the company's finances beyond basic facts.
What C3 AI does
C3 AI sells to organizations, not consumers. Its software pulls together data from many systems inside a large organization and runs AI models on it. The company groups its products into three lines in 2026.
- C3 Agentic AI Platform. Tools for building and running AI applications and AI agents on a company's own data.
- C3 AI Applications. Ready-made applications for specific jobs, such as predictive maintenance, supply chain planning, energy management and fraud detection.
- C3 Generative AI. Products that let staff ask questions of company documents and data in plain language.
Its customers include industrial companies, energy firms and government agencies. The company lists an office in the Washington, D.C. area alongside New York and other cities.
Founding and name changes
Tom Siebel founded the company in 2009. He was already well known in Silicon Valley as the founder of Siebel Systems, a San Mateo company that led the market for customer relationship management software in the late 1990s. Oracle bought Siebel Systems in 2006.
The new company's first focus was climate and energy. It was called C3. According to the company's history as summarized on Wikipedia, the C stood for carbon and the 3 for measure, mitigate and monetize, since the goal was to help companies manage their carbon footprints. The name then changed several times as the business shifted.
- C3, the original carbon management company.
- C3 Energy, a brief period focused on utilities and energy data.
- C3 IoT, used around 2016 as the company leaned into the internet of things and sensor data.
- C3.ai, later styled C3 AI, as the company recast itself around artificial intelligence.
Each name tracks a technology wave of its decade. The underlying business, software that gathers huge amounts of operational data and runs models on it, stayed fairly consistent.
The 2020 public listing
C3 AI went public on the New York Stock Exchange on December 9, 2020, under the ticker symbol AI. It priced 15.5 million shares at $42 each and expected about $651 million in gross proceeds. Two investors bought additional shares in a private placement at the same time: Microsoft and Spring Creek Capital, which is affiliated with Koch Industries.
The company uses two classes of stock. Class B shares carry 50 votes each, which gives Siebel and related entities a large share of voting power. Its annual report for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2025 listed 1,181 employees. The company's fiscal year ends April 30. Its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission give official figures.
Leadership changes
Siebel ran the company as chief executive from its founding until 2025. On September 3, 2025, C3 AI announced that Stephen Ehikian, a former acting administrator of the federal General Services Administration, had become chief executive effective September 1. Siebel stayed on as executive chairman.
The arrangement did not last long. Wikipedia reports that on May 8, 2026, Siebel returned as chief executive and Ehikian became president. C3 AI's leadership page in late 2026 lists Siebel as chairman and CEO.
Siebel's company biography notes that he serves on engineering school boards at the University of Illinois and UC Berkeley. It also says he is a director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He holds a bachelor's degree in history, an MBA and a master's degree in computer science from the University of Illinois.
C3 AI at a glance
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2009 | Tom Siebel founds C3 to help companies manage carbon emissions |
| Early 2010s | Briefly known as C3 Energy, focused on utilities |
| 2016 | Operating as C3 IoT |
| Late 2010s | Renamed C3.ai |
| December 9, 2020 | Lists on the New York Stock Exchange as AI |
| September 1, 2025 | Stephen Ehikian becomes chief executive |
| May 8, 2026 | Siebel returns as chief executive, per Wikipedia |
The company is a reminder that "AI company" covers very different businesses. Some local AI firms train huge models and sell access to them. C3 AI sells software for running models inside big organizations, on data those organizations already own. Its pitch has always been about putting AI to work on operational problems such as keeping industrial equipment running, rather than about building the largest model.
Ties to Stanford and the Peninsula
C3 AI's most direct Stanford link runs through its founder. Siebel's role as a director of the Hoover Institution connects him to the policy center whose tower rises over the campus. Our page on the Hoover Institution Library and Archives covers the exhibits visitors can see there.
The company is also part of the Peninsula's long line of enterprise software firms. Oracle's longtime headquarters was in Redwood Shores, a few minutes from C3 AI's offices. Siebel Systems was in San Mateo. VMware and SAP built large offices in Palo Alto; our profiles of VMware and SAP Labs cover them. Many engineers move among these companies over a career.
Redwood City's bayside office parks have become home to several software and AI companies. Our Redwood City guide covers the city and its downtown. The Seaport Boulevard offices are about two miles from the Redwood City Caltrain station, across Highway 101.
Where C3 AI fits in today's AI market
C3 AI was selling "enterprise AI" years before ChatGPT made AI a household term in late 2022. That gives it a long customer list in industries such as energy, manufacturing and defense. It also means it competes with newer companies built around large language models, with cloud providers that sell their own AI services and with consulting firms that build custom systems.
Our guide to AI investors on the Peninsula explains how the money flowing into AI since 2022 has reshaped the field. C3 AI is one of the few local AI software companies that has been public for several years, so its filings offer a rare public view of how an enterprise AI business runs.
Visiting and practical notes
Good to know
- C3 AI's Seaport Boulevard headquarters is a private office with no visitor center or tours.
- The company lists a main phone number and contact forms on its website for business inquiries.
- Investors should use the company's investor relations site and its SEC filings for official information.
- Job seekers can apply through the careers page linked from the company's site.
Frequently asked questions
Where is C3 AI headquartered?
C3 AI lists its headquarters at 1400 Seaport Boulevard, Redwood City, CA 94063, on its contact page and in its privacy policy. It also lists offices in the Washington, D.C. area, New York and other cities.
Who founded C3 AI?
Thomas M. Siebel founded the company in 2009. He had earlier founded Siebel Systems, a customer relationship software company. C3 AI's leadership page in 2026 lists him as founder, chairman and chief executive.
What does the name C3 mean?
The company began as C3, with the C standing for carbon and the 3 for measure, mitigate and monetize, because its first goal was helping companies manage their carbon footprints. It was later called C3 Energy and C3 IoT before becoming C3 AI.
When did C3 AI go public?
C3 AI listed on the New York Stock Exchange on December 9, 2020, under the ticker symbol AI. It priced 15.5 million shares at $42 each, expecting about $651 million in gross proceeds, according to Wikipedia's summary of the offering.
Who is C3 AI's chief executive?
Stephen Ehikian became chief executive on September 1, 2025, with Siebel staying on as executive chairman. Siebel returned as chief executive on May 8, 2026, with Ehikian becoming president, as Wikipedia reports. The company's leadership page lists Siebel as chairman and CEO.