We Open Sourced an AI That Makes Phone Calls. We Named It After the Dog.

Sat, 05 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

We just open sourced an AI that places real phone calls on your behalf. We named it after the dog.

Quick roadmap:

Meet the actual Banjo, and why the name isn’t just a cute mascot choice
What the software does, in one real example
Five ways the dog’s actual personality shows up in the architecture
Two bugs that made it to a live phone call before we caught them
What’s still held together with tape, said plainly
How to run it yourself

Meet Banjo

Banjo is a rescue terrier mix. Nobody in the family agreed on his exact breed mix and everyone agreed on the verdict: the little terrier with the big personality. He has ears that stand up like he’s perpetually mid-question and a face that looks skeptical of your plans by default. There’s a photo of him in a pirate costume on the beach in Asbury Park, standing his ground against wind that’s actively trying to remove his hat. He did not ask for the costume. He tolerated it, the way he tolerates most indignities, with visible reservations and zero actual protest.

Twilio on Steve Hatch's Blog

We Open Sourced an AI That Makes Phone Calls. We Named It After the Dog.

Meet Banjo