Brett this is a super exciting example of what all software platforms need to be thinking about. I would love some guidance on how you build this stack as an application for a community / influencer model. I have meet you a few times over the years . Would you be willing to give me some guidance
AI agents -- specially vertical focused can now act as smart assistants/research assistants/brainstorming buddies v. the previous generation of "system of records" or "workflow automation" apps. This is a fantastic write-up and great learnings from the past. Thanks for sharing Brett!
Brett, we met many years ago at an SFDC event, I have followed you ever since. I appreciated the historical evolution in the CRM and related applications space and i agree with almost all your points. In my practice I had this one motto: start simple, build smart. This idea of simple to smart was utilized very successfully; often customers had confusing notions on what they wanted to see their SFDC instance look & behave like. I still believe this is true, and AI may actually offer the best opportunity to take one's vision into pragmatic implementation.
I saw first hand how software development got so complex that the user's experience was the last thing anyone was talking about; functionality, look at what you can do with XYZ became the mantra. Users hated it, even strong SFDC supporters often didn't like the end result because it was too difficult to use; think CPQ as an example.
I have often thought the real breakthrough for sales reps for example, would be an interface where the UI didn;t matter. Rather an agent like Jarvis, from Rocket Man, all you do is ask to see my top performing accounts in CA. Or, which accounts did I lose competitor XYZ in the past 6 months, or any query that one could ask the agent to show or report on.
Anyhow, I dreamed this well before AI, and reading about the examples you provided in this review, can see the smart money is not building ever more complex UI and data models but teaching AI LLM's what really matters to users that have a job to do and lets them get on with it minus the administrative tedium. That is something genuinely awesome to contemplate.
Jeff - I remember you well. These are exciting times when people can just use their natural language to ask their software a question or for the software to just do a task for them.
The only additional comment is: beware of the ever constant qtr to qtr sales goals. What killed Siebel was the constant drive to make quarterly numbers by selling software/services customers could not continually afford or saw limited value for the sums they were spending. This in part is what made SFDC such a game changer.
Now, even SFDC reps are highly driven to sell additional licenses even if the ROI for the customer isn't there; and the reps know it. It's the constant drumbeat of making your number that wears out the reps and customers alike. Just my opinion of course, but there needs to be a better sales model not just transformative AI modules to sell over and over.
Once AI is seamless and ubiquitous the what's new wow factor won't be enough to sustain all the projected growth and hype; and business will be right back to the dog-eat-dog world we see now. Changing this paradigm for a more sustainable model is where I think the transformation needs to really happen. What that model is I can't say but the ones in place now are embedded with the non-AI processes. I wonder what sales and marketing teams will look like in the next 12 to 18 months.
This is the best description of the evolution of application software and where it is going that I have read. Nice job Brett.
Brett this is a super exciting example of what all software platforms need to be thinking about. I would love some guidance on how you build this stack as an application for a community / influencer model. I have meet you a few times over the years . Would you be willing to give me some guidance
sure thing Debbie - reach out at brett@bonfirevc.com and we can brainstorm on applicability to HR.com
AI agents -- specially vertical focused can now act as smart assistants/research assistants/brainstorming buddies v. the previous generation of "system of records" or "workflow automation" apps. This is a fantastic write-up and great learnings from the past. Thanks for sharing Brett!
Brett, we met many years ago at an SFDC event, I have followed you ever since. I appreciated the historical evolution in the CRM and related applications space and i agree with almost all your points. In my practice I had this one motto: start simple, build smart. This idea of simple to smart was utilized very successfully; often customers had confusing notions on what they wanted to see their SFDC instance look & behave like. I still believe this is true, and AI may actually offer the best opportunity to take one's vision into pragmatic implementation.
I saw first hand how software development got so complex that the user's experience was the last thing anyone was talking about; functionality, look at what you can do with XYZ became the mantra. Users hated it, even strong SFDC supporters often didn't like the end result because it was too difficult to use; think CPQ as an example.
I have often thought the real breakthrough for sales reps for example, would be an interface where the UI didn;t matter. Rather an agent like Jarvis, from Rocket Man, all you do is ask to see my top performing accounts in CA. Or, which accounts did I lose competitor XYZ in the past 6 months, or any query that one could ask the agent to show or report on.
Anyhow, I dreamed this well before AI, and reading about the examples you provided in this review, can see the smart money is not building ever more complex UI and data models but teaching AI LLM's what really matters to users that have a job to do and lets them get on with it minus the administrative tedium. That is something genuinely awesome to contemplate.
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Jeff - I remember you well. These are exciting times when people can just use their natural language to ask their software a question or for the software to just do a task for them.
Hiya Again Brett,
The only additional comment is: beware of the ever constant qtr to qtr sales goals. What killed Siebel was the constant drive to make quarterly numbers by selling software/services customers could not continually afford or saw limited value for the sums they were spending. This in part is what made SFDC such a game changer.
Now, even SFDC reps are highly driven to sell additional licenses even if the ROI for the customer isn't there; and the reps know it. It's the constant drumbeat of making your number that wears out the reps and customers alike. Just my opinion of course, but there needs to be a better sales model not just transformative AI modules to sell over and over.
Once AI is seamless and ubiquitous the what's new wow factor won't be enough to sustain all the projected growth and hype; and business will be right back to the dog-eat-dog world we see now. Changing this paradigm for a more sustainable model is where I think the transformation needs to really happen. What that model is I can't say but the ones in place now are embedded with the non-AI processes. I wonder what sales and marketing teams will look like in the next 12 to 18 months.