News

Contact: Karen Andriacchi

Salt  Software Phone: 608-841-1393

Address: 414 D'Onofrio Drive, Suite 310, Madison, WI 53719 Website: www.saltsoftware.com

PRESS RELEASE

SALT SOFTWARE JOINS COBALT SPEECH AND LANGUAGE TO PIONEER THE NEXT GENERATION OF CLINICAL ASSESSMENT

 The partnership combines 40+ years of gold-standard clinical evaluation and data with cutting-edge AI to automate assessment and empower speech-language pathologists.

MADISON, WI, March 9, 2026

SALT Software, the trusted leader in language sample analysis, today announces its acquisition by Cobalt Speech and Language, a premier provider of speech technology solutions. This strategic union is designed to bridge the gap between rigorous clinical standards and the efficiency demanded by modern speech pathology.

For over four decades, SALT has set the benchmark for assessing language development. By integrating Cobalt’s advanced AI resources, SALT aims to address the hurdle of manual transcription and coding, allowing clinicians to focus more on intervention as well as streamlined progress monitoring.

 A Shared Vision for the Industry This partnership arose from a recognition that while SALT’s methodology is timeless, the delivery mechanism requires evolution. "SALT would not be able to leverage the ongoing advancements in AI without a partner like Cobalt Speech and Language," said Karen Andriacchi, SALT’s CEO. "This collaboration ensures that our databases remain the cornerstone of clinical decision-making while modern technology makes them more accessible than ever."

Benefits for Clinicians and Researchers The integration of Cobalt’s engineering with SALT’s clinical expertise focuses on three key advancements:

• More Frequent, Consistent Assessments: By automating the tedious aspects of transcription, SLPs will be able to assess spoken language more frequently, moving from "snapshots" of progress to continuous monitoring.
• Enhanced Precision: SALT will continue to grow and expand its criterion-referenced databases. With AI-driven ingestion of data, SLPs will gain access to even more precise comparisons to help diagnose language disorders with confidence.
• Research Standardization: The new tools will provide researchers with consistent, automated metrics, significantly improving the ability to meaningfully compare results within and across different studies.

Leadership Commentary "I look forward to continuing to grow our databases and collaborate with researchers," said Karen. "This partnership protects the integrity of our work while giving us the resources to scale our impact."

Scott, CEO of Cobalt Speech and Language, added: "We are excited about working with such a committed group of professionals. We share Karen's vision of what AI can do for SLPs and are committed to developing tools that link to the reference databases that SALT has built up over more than 4 decades of professional work."

ABOUT COBALT

Cobalt Speech and Language builds advanced speech technology to make AI more accessible, especially for children and speakers of under-resourced languages. Founded by Jeff Adams, a pioneer in automatic speech recognition and widely known as the Father of Alexa, Cobalt develops AI tools that reduce assessment and documentation burdens for speech-language pathologists while supporting more informed diagnostic decisions for more speakers. These innovations are backed by an exclusive license under Canary Speech's voice biomarker patent portfolio.