Des Traynor, co-founder of Intercom, talks about the impact of AI on customer support, comparing providers in the software industry, cost comparison of AI-led support vs human-led support, automating customer support using AI agents, challenges of integrating AI into organizations, changing landscape of startups, controversial opinions on startups and investments, and a life-changing gift that sparked a career in programming.

Des Traynor, Co-Founder of Intercom, discusses the founding of Intercom and the evolution of AI in the software industry. Topics include the commoditization of LLMs, the defensibility of digital asset management, expanding Adobe's user base, effective B2B marketing, and lessons from previous ventures.

Experts discuss the commoditization of AI models, the open vs closed debate in AI, the value accrual in the industry, the future of AI pricing models, and Apple's potential in the AI industry.

Losing momentum is the ultimate startup killer. So, what do you do when people start telling you you’re slowing down? Intercom co-founder and CSO Des Traynor and Intercom SVP of Product, Paul Adams explain how to speed back up when momentum drops.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Des Traynor is a Co-founder and the Chief Strategy Officer of Intercom, the modern customer communications platform that unifies every aspect of the customer journey. To date, Intercom has raised over $238M from some of the best including Index, ICONIQ, Kleiner, GV, and Bessemer. As for Des, before co-founding Intercom, he was a UX consultant, a university lecturer in computer science, and also a Ph.D. researcher. Des is also a prolific angel investor with a portfolio including the likes of Stripe, Algolia, Notion, Miro, and many more. In Today's Episode We Discuss: 1.) Origins of Intercom: How did Des make his way into the world of startups and come to co-found Intercom? When did they realize they really had something with Intercom and had to focus on it? What does Des know now that he wishes he had known at the start of Intercom? 2. Two of the Biggest Myths in Startups: Being First and Defensibility Why does Des believe that being the first does not matter? Why is it not an advantage? Why does Des believe that no company has defensibility on day 1? How does Des believe defensibility is built? What does Des mean when he says, when investing in companies he looks for a "long road to the starting line"? 3.) Product 101: A Masterclass on Product: How does Des answer the question of when to release a second product? How should the second product be resourced? MVP and lean or full budget and committed? What are the biggest mistakes people make when releasing a second product? What mistakes have Des and Intercom made when releasing new products? How does Des advise founders on when to stop working on a product? How do you know when it is not working? How does Des determine between a feature and a product both when building and when investing? 4.) Moving to Enterprise: What does Des believe are the three core things all companies need to scale into the enterprise effectively? Which should they do first? Which is most challenging? How does Des advise founders on when is the right time to move into the enterprise? How does the product need to change to meet enterprise needs and requirements? 5.) The Makings of Great Product Marketing: What does Des believe makes truly great product marketing? Who does it well today? How does your product marketing need to change as you scale from SMB to enterprise? If product marketing to both an end user and a separate buyer, which persona should one prioritise their messaging towards? How does Des advise founders on product marketing when they have a horizontal product with a very broad customer base? 6.) Angel Investing 101: From Stripe to Miro to Notion: Why does Des believe it is beneficial for operators to also be investing? What are the biggest lessons Des has learned from angel investing? How does Des approach both market sizing and outcome scenario planning today? How price sensitive is Des today? How has that changed over time? Item's Mentioned in Today's Episode with Des Traynor: Des' Favourite Book: How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton Christensen

Intercom Co-Founder, Des Traynor, discusses the evolution from AI-assisted tools to autonomous AI agents, organizational changes, and future of AI-powered customer support. Topics include AI integration in chat-based support, challenges in AI-driven software development, continuous deployment and pre-deployment testing in AI applications, team structures and skillsets in AI product development, chat-based AI interfaces, AI in customer engagement, and the future role of support personnel in an AI-driven customer service landscape.

In this episode of Intercom on Product, our Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Des Traynor and Paul Adams, our Chief Product Officer, sit down to talk about our new product manifesto for the future of customer service and what it means for us.Read the transcript: https://www.intercom.com/blog/videos/our-manifesto-for-next-generation-customer-service/Watch the video: https://youtu.be/XgV4A-iStO4See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Des Traynor, Intercom Co-Founder, discusses the AI revolution and its impact on startups and society. Topics include generative AI transformation, leveraging AI for job performance, evolution of AI in customer support, and the impact of generative AI on software interaction.

Des Traynor, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Intercom, discusses how AI is incorporated into Intercom products, structuring AI teams, using RAG vs. fine-tuning techniques, solving the 'actions' problem, lessons learned from transitioning into AI, over-hyped/under-hyped AI, and companies that have implemented AI well/poorly.

Leaders in sales and marketing discuss the importance of understanding ideal customers and selling to them. They emphasize the need for defining ideal and non-ideal customers and prioritizing features based on target audience. They explore the elements of a compelling story, team alignment in selling a product, and importance of pipeline and collaboration between marketing and sales.