Startup Project: Build the future How to be an AI first company, Enterprise AI adoption, Future of Developers, Cost of AI, Unlocking value from Enterprise Data with AI & more with Ben Kus | CTO of Box
In this episode of Startup Project, Nataraj interviews Ben Kus, CTO of Box, about the critical role of unstructured data in the AI revolution. They discuss the cost structures of adopting and building with AI, and how AI is transforming enterprise businesses. Ben shares Box's unique perspective, managing over an exabyte of data for 120,000 enterprise customers. Learn how AI can understand, automate, and enhance the value of your unstructured data, turning untapped potential into practical benefits.
What you’ll learn:
- Understand what unstructured data is and why it's so critical for AI applications in business.
- Discover Box's strategic approach to integrating with other platforms and providing AI solutions on top of your data.
- Learn about the pivotal moment when Box realized the potential of generative AI and how they retrofitted their platform to be AI-first.
- Explore early AI use cases launched at Box, including chatting with documents and data extraction, and how enterprises are adopting these features.
- Understand the cost implications of leveraging AI and how Box balances offering AI for free with managing expenses.
- Dive into Box's perspective on pricing based on usage versus outcomes, and their current subscription model.
- Learn about Box's approach to AI agents, their definition, and how they are being implemented to solve complex problems.
- Discover the concept of "context engineering" and its importance in building AI agents that understand user needs.
- Understand how AI is impacting productivity within Box and the broader enterprise landscape.
- Find out about the AI models Box is working with and how they ensure security and trustworthiness for enterprise customers.
About the Guest and Host:
Ben Kus: Chief Technology Officer at Box, previously VP of Product at Box and co-founder of Subspace.
Connect with Guest:
→ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benkus .
→ Website: https://box.com/
Nataraj: Host of the Startup Project podcast, Senior PM at Azure & Investor.
→ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natarajsindam/
→ Twitter: https://x.com/natarajsindam
→ Substack: https://startupproject.substack.com/
In this episode, we cover:
- (00:01) Introduction
- (00:35) What is unstructured data and why is Box in the center of AI?
- (04:05) Box's strategy on building new AI tools and features.
- (06:55) The moment Box realized AI was a big shift.
- (11:08) Earliest AI use cases launched at Box.
- (15:17) The cost of leveraging AI and its impact on profitability.
- (19:24) Pricing based on usage vs. outcomes.
- (22:47) Abuse prevention and handling unlimited storage.
- (24:16) AI products targeted for specific knowledge worker persona.
- (28:18) Being an AI-first company.
- (30:55) Defining and implementing AI agents within Box.
- (36:38) Form factors for agents in an enterprise product sense.
- (39:59) Productivity improvements with AI.
- (44:07) Progression in junior developers.
- (46:17) Document parsing and extraction.
- (49:16) AI models Box is working with.
- (52:10) Startup ideas in the AI era.
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