Ramp CEO Eric Glyman: Using AI to Build “Self-Driving Money”
Dec 3, 2024
auto_awesome
Eric Glyman, Co-founder and CEO of Ramp, shares his vision on transforming finance management with AI. He challenges the chatbot trend and advocates for 'zero-touch' automation—what he calls 'self-driving money'—to reduce tedious tasks. Glyman discusses how AI can operate invisibly for companies, unlocking time for meaningful work. He also emphasizes the need for a strong product culture and the evolving role of finance leaders in this tech-driven landscape. His insights reflect a groundbreaking approach to simplifying financial processes.
Empathy in product development is vital, requiring builders to deeply understand customer workflows for enhanced automation and efficiency.
Ramp's vision of 'self-driving money' emphasizes zero-touch automation, shifting finance teams from manual tasks to strategic decision-making roles.
Deep dives
The Importance of Empathy in Product Development
Empathy is crucial for developing great products, especially in understanding the customer's needs and pain points. Builders need to immerse themselves in the experiences of their users, often grasping the details of the workflow better than the users themselves. This deep understanding allows for the creation of highly designed products that can automate tasks and enhance efficiency. For companies like Ramp, this means engineers are regularly in touch with customers to remain accountable for product metrics and performance.
The Shift Toward Zero-Touch Automation
The trend of incorporating chatbots in business processes may not always be the best solution, with some arguing for the effectiveness of zero-touch automation that operates behind the scenes. Instead of engaging in a conversation with a chatbot about expense reports, a system that seamlessly manages tasks without requiring direct interaction can hold more value. Ramp exemplifies this concept through its vision of self-driving money, aiming to automate financial processes so that users can focus on strategic tasks rather than manual data entry. As companies rethink automation, they are identifying processes where intuitive design and AI can significantly reduce workload.
Elevating Finance Through AI Integration
The financial landscape is undergoing a transformation, driven by the need to eliminate tedious tasks within finance teams. Ramp's approach involves automating mundane activities such as auditing expense reports and tagging transactions through advanced design and integrated tools. This not only simplifies the process for users but also ensures accurate and efficient transaction management, effectively allowing finance departments to operate with greater productivity. Through AI, Ramp aims to reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks, thus enabling finance teams to engage in more value-added activities.
The Evolution of AI and its Market Impact
The recent advancements in AI, particularly foundational models, represent a significant leap forward in productivity and application across various industries. This change is creating new opportunities for financial leaders, encouraging them to automate routine tasks and devote more time to strategic decision-making. The CEO of Ramp emphasizes that the future will not only shift the responsibilities of finance teams but also elevate their roles toward higher-level strategic planning. As AI continues to integrate into everyday business operations, both efficiency and effectiveness are expected to increase dramatically, leading to a more productive workplace.
When ChatGPT ushered in a new paradigm of AI in everyday use, many companies attempted to adapt to the new paradigm by rushing to add chat interfaces to their products. Eric has a different take—he doesn’t think chatbots are the right form factor for everything. He thinks “zero-touch” automation that works invisibly in the background can be more valuable in many cases. He cites self-driving cars as an analogy—or in this case, “self-driving money.” Ramp is a new kind of finance management company for businesses, offering AI-powered financial tools to help companies handle spending and expense processes. We’ll hear why Eric thinks AI that you never see is one of the most powerful instruments for reducing time spent on drudgery and unlocking more time for meaningful work.
Hosted by: Ravi Gupta and Sonya Huang, Sequoia Capital
Mentioned in this episode:
Paribus: Glyman’s previous company, acquired by Capital One in 2016
Karim Atiyeh: Cofounder and CTO at Ramp and Glyman’s cofounder at Paribus
Devin: AI agent product from Cognition Labs and Glyman’s favorite AI app