YouMail protects consumers, enterprises, and carriers from harmful phone calls. Best known for its mobile apps that protect users from unwanted calls, texts, and voicemails, YouMail also powers robocall-mitigation intelligence used by carriers and enterprises to detect and stop illegal calling campaigns at the source. Pulse 2.0 spoke with YouMail CEO Alex Quilici to discuss how the company is using AI and large-scale call data to combat robocalls and the growing threat of phone-based fraud.
Alex Quilici’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? Quilici said:
“My background is in artificial intelligence, with a PhD focused on natural language processing. From early on, I was drawn to solving real-world problems using AI. That led to building a voice service that let users access email and voicemail over the phone, essentially an early version of voice assistants before smartphones were common. We sold that technology to AOL, where it scaled to over a million paying users. After that, I shifted focus to founding and building YouMail, where we’ve continued to apply AI in innovative ways, this time to protect phone users from unwanted and malicious communications.”
Formation Of The Company
How did the idea for the company come together? Quilici shared:
“It was originally a company built around the idea that voicemail had real utility but could be modernized, offering visual voicemail before the iPhone introduced it, along with features like personalized greetings based on the caller and more. Over time, we discovered that what users valued most was the ability to automatically play out-of-service messages to robocallers. That feature evolved into a much broader mission—protecting consumer phone numbers from scams, fraud, and abuse. The company has grown from a voicemail utility into a platform focused on communication security at scale.”
Favorite Moment
What has been your favorite standout moment working for YouMail so far? Quilici reflected:
“One that stands out was our role in helping to shut down a major robocall operation in the United States. Using data from our user base, combined with our AI tools and analysis, we supported an enforcement action that dismantled a scam responsible for billions of calls and hundreds of millions of dollars in consumer losses. Those folks now face enormous fines and potential jail time. Knowing our work directly contributed to that outcome was incredibly rewarding.”
Core Product
Can you describe YouMail’s core product and how they address customer needs or industry challenges? Quilici explained:
“YouMail protects America’s phone numbers from fraud, spam, and unwanted communication. We do this in two key ways. First, we offer a consumer app that blocks malicious or suspicious calls and texts. Second, we use the data from that app to help carriers and enterprises detect fraud at scale and stop threats at the source. In today’s environment, where overall robocall volume remains persistently high and scam calls continue to grow, our platform helps reduce losses and improve trust in communications.”
Recent Challenges
What recent challenges has YouMail faced in the communications sector, and how has the company innovated or adapted to overcome them? Quilici acknowledged:
“One of the biggest challenges on the consumer side is significant competition in protecting users, including from handset makers. It is often easier for consumers to choose simpler, more passive call-filtering solutions that prioritize convenience, including those built into smartphones. However, these solutions have not addressed the core consumer problems, such as protecting users from having to decide whether a call is wanted or letting the system make that decision for them. They also do not address the fact that by the time a call reaches a consumer, damage may already be underway, which is why the solution needs to stop illegal calls at the source. Therefore, we are focusing on areas where we have a true competitive advantage and a specific audience that values our approach.”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has YouMail’s technology evolved since launching to stay ahead of industry trends and customer demands? Quilici noted:
“It constantly evolves. A good example is call blocking. At first, it was possible to block most problematic calls using a small list of 800 numbers, which could be identified by analyzing call volume and user spam reports. Over time, it became clear that producing a reliable list required AI to understand the behavior of different numbers and identify those acting maliciously. As the bad actors adapted, it became evident that simply blocking numbers was no longer enough—they had to be stopped at the source. It has been one pivot after another.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Quilici cited:
“Key milestones include reaching the first million users of the consumer app, followed by surpassing 10 million registrations. On the revenue side, the company celebrated its first million dollars in revenue and then achieved $10 million in annual revenue, marking significant growth and market validation.”
Customer Success Stories
Can you share any specific customer success stories? Quilici highlighted:
“We worked with a major enterprise that was facing significant brand impersonation problems—lots of robocalls pretending to be them and defrauding consumers. Within six months of working with us, we eliminated 90% of the fraud, and over the course of about a year, we got it down to zero. Literally zero. The fraudsters gave up and moved on. We have a similar story with a major wholesale carrier, where 90% of the bad traffic disappeared within six months after partnering with us.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Quilici assessed:
“We’re operating in the security market. Considering the sheer number of phones to protect, there are hundreds of millions of phone numbers in the US alone, and billions worldwide. The security market is enormous, and even this segment of it is likely worth tens of billions of dollars.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What key factors differentiate YouMail from its competitors in the communications technology space? Quilici affirmed:
“There are three key factors. The first is that we have a massive sensor network with our user base that produces an enormous amount of data about what the bad guys are up to. The second is the AI-based tools we’ve built to analyze that data and automatically provide protection or guide carriers to where the problem customers are so they can be shut off. And the third is our lengthy experience in the telecom fraud space, which allows us to quickly analyze problems enterprises and brands are having and dramatically reduce the harm they or their customers suffer.”
Future Company Goals
What are YouMail’s strategic goals for the future? Quilici emphasized:
“The biggest goal for us is to dramatically expand our data set, our audience, and our technology to push the bad guys away from attacking phone numbers and onto other attack vectors. We believe enterprises are highly vulnerable to attacks on their employees’ personal cell phones, and that represents the biggest value and market opportunity for us. So, you can expect us to have some interesting offerings in that space in the relatively near term.”
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics you would like to discuss? Quilici concluded:
“The bad guys aren’t giving up, they’re getting smarter and smarter. These problems will be with us for some time, and our mission is to make as big a dent as we can.”
