Courtney Baker, an AI product expert, David DeWolf, a business speaker on AI's impacts, and Mohan Rao, a voice in AI differentiation, dive deep into the distinctions between AI-native and AI-infused products. They discuss how these differences shape business innovation and strategies, helping companies navigate the tech landscape. Later, Pete Buer engages with Peter Armaly, who highlights AI's transformative role in customer success management, predicting behavior, aiding decision-making, and boosting retention. This conversation is vital for businesses looking to leverage AI effectively.
AI-native products are fundamentally designed to leverage AI, fostering innovation, while AI-infused products only add AI features to existing solutions.
The integration of AI into customer success management enhances predictive capabilities, leading to improved customer engagement and increased retention rates.
Deep dives
Understanding AI Native vs AI Infused Products
AI native products are designed from the ground up to leverage artificial intelligence as a core component of their value proposition. This foundational approach allows for greater innovation, as these products are built without the constraints that traditional products face when AI is added later. In contrast, AI infused products are essentially existing solutions that incorporate AI features, often relying on external algorithms or APIs, leading to more limited functionality. The discussion highlights that products developed prior to 2022 typically fall into the AI infused category unless they have been fundamentally re-engineered to incorporate AI at their core.
Evaluating Product Expectations
When considering AI native versus AI infused products, it's important to align expectations with the specific business needs they aim to address. AI native solutions tend to promise more innovative outcomes and support future-proofing because they are built around the capabilities of AI, whereas AI infused products offer proven solutions that automate existing processes. For instance, choosing between an AI native tool that could transform marketing efforts and an AI infused accounting tool requires evaluating whether the industry necessitates cutting-edge innovation or a reliable, established solution. The decision drives the approach businesses take, balancing potential risk against the desire for growth and differentiation.
Impact of AI on Customer Success
AI is set to revolutionize customer success by providing tools that enhance predicting customer behavior and improving engagement strategies. Traditional automation had limitations, but AI capabilities promise to empower customer success managers by offering insights and guidance in real-time, thus enhancing interactions. This transformation is expected to lead to better service delivery for all customers, not just high-value accounts, and will ideally enable customer success roles to focus more on solving business challenges rather than just addressing product issues. The integration of AI into customer success practices ultimately aims to increase client retention and satisfaction while advancing the level of value delivered.
With AI seemingly everywhere, how can you distinguish between true AI-native products and AI-infused ones? And why does the distinction even matter in the first place?
In this episode, Courtney Baker, David DeWolf, and Mohan Rao clarify the differences between AI-native products built from the ground up and AI-infused products that simply incorporate AI features. They explore how this distinction impacts business decisions and what to look for when considering tech solutions for future-proofing and innovation.
Later, Pete Buer sits down with special guest Peter Armaly, a partner at Valuize and author of the new book Mastering Customer Success. They discuss how AI is revolutionizing customer success management and its role in predicting customer behavior, aiding decision-making, and increasing customer retention.