Great article - the six areas that will be impacted/transformed by AI are very exciting improvements to the workforce and roles we have in a SaaS company, and I'm looking forward to seeing how these areas transform this year and beyond as startups/teams learn to incorporate AI not just internally but also applying it to the product. From a customer success POV, I 100% agree that customer trust is more important than ever, and I think a large part of this comes from how quickly/successfully onboarding and deploying the purchased product is and how often/effectively new features are communicated to the customers in a consumable, educational, and applicable way.
I am 71 and have been in the software game since 1982. I'd love your thoughts on two of my pet peeves over the years.
The first is bloatware. I've seen so many products literally become ridiculously difficult to learn and use simply because, over time, the software company added way too many functions and features. This issue may become more prevalent with this new era of AI speed. Just because it can be built and added to the software stack doesn't mean that it should. Just maybe, deciding what features to include should play second fiddle to what should not be included.
My second peeve is related to your discussion on pricing. As software companies add more and more functionality to their software, they periodically would increase the cost of the software. The problem was that many customers never deployed and used many of those new features. Maybe the solution here is to break down pricing into bite-sized software components so that users can turn features on and off and the pricing would be adjusted accordingly. I personally would prefer a pricing model that corresponds to what is being used, not what is being sold.
I am interested in your thoughts on this. Keep up the great work!
Great and very thoughtful write up. In fact, this line of thinking inspired me to start Perspective AI, as a customer research platform. As you beautifully wrote, true customer understanding and the ability to incorporate customer feedback into design and build iterations becomes the competitive edge for companies and teams.
For documentation and enablement, we’re using the same methods of vibe coding to continuously update the supporting enablement, and in application assistant that is also aware of what’s new and of new capabilities.
Brett, thanks for this. Insightful and actionable for small and large co's alike.
Well, now I know what questions are coming at the next board meeting. This is really helpful thank you.
Great article - the six areas that will be impacted/transformed by AI are very exciting improvements to the workforce and roles we have in a SaaS company, and I'm looking forward to seeing how these areas transform this year and beyond as startups/teams learn to incorporate AI not just internally but also applying it to the product. From a customer success POV, I 100% agree that customer trust is more important than ever, and I think a large part of this comes from how quickly/successfully onboarding and deploying the purchased product is and how often/effectively new features are communicated to the customers in a consumable, educational, and applicable way.
Brett, this was such an insightful post.
I am 71 and have been in the software game since 1982. I'd love your thoughts on two of my pet peeves over the years.
The first is bloatware. I've seen so many products literally become ridiculously difficult to learn and use simply because, over time, the software company added way too many functions and features. This issue may become more prevalent with this new era of AI speed. Just because it can be built and added to the software stack doesn't mean that it should. Just maybe, deciding what features to include should play second fiddle to what should not be included.
My second peeve is related to your discussion on pricing. As software companies add more and more functionality to their software, they periodically would increase the cost of the software. The problem was that many customers never deployed and used many of those new features. Maybe the solution here is to break down pricing into bite-sized software components so that users can turn features on and off and the pricing would be adjusted accordingly. I personally would prefer a pricing model that corresponds to what is being used, not what is being sold.
I am interested in your thoughts on this. Keep up the great work!
Great and very thoughtful write up. In fact, this line of thinking inspired me to start Perspective AI, as a customer research platform. As you beautifully wrote, true customer understanding and the ability to incorporate customer feedback into design and build iterations becomes the competitive edge for companies and teams.
For documentation and enablement, we’re using the same methods of vibe coding to continuously update the supporting enablement, and in application assistant that is also aware of what’s new and of new capabilities.
I’d love to show you more.
Thank Guy. Would love to catch up @ brett@bonfirevc.com