Outset AI, a company that develops artificial-intelligence agents to conduct qualitative research interviews, has raised $17 million in Series A funding led by venture firm 8VC. The capital will be used to scale the startup’s AI-moderated video interview platform, which aims to replace human interviewers and shorten the time needed for enterprises to gather customer insights. The company says its revenue has doubled over the past four months and that it now counts about 50 enterprise customers, including Nestlé, WeightWatchers and Microsoft. Existing backers such as Y Combinator and Weekend Fund previously supported the firm’s seed round. Outset AI claims its technology delivers the depth of one-on-one interviews with the reach of large-scale surveys, helping brands understand consumer preferences more quickly and at lower cost.