Embracing AI: Lessons from Intercom's Journey

Explicit content warning

02/29/24 • 61 min

In this episode, we sat down with Des Traynor, co-founder of Intercom, to explore the seismic shift towards Artificial Intelligence in customer service software. Intercom has gone all-in to embrace AI as people's expectations of what chatbots can do started growing with the release of ChatGPT. Des shares the pivotal moments and strategic decisions that led to this transition, highlighting the urgency and vision that propelled Intercom to integrate AI into their core offerings. Des also delves into the challenges of building a bicontinental startup and the strategic pivot towards becoming an AI-first company. Tune in for an enlightening discussion on the strategy and journey of adapting AI. INTERCOM Website - https://www.intercom.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/intercom Des Traynor LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/destraynor/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/destraynor FIRSTMARK Website - https://firstmark.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/FirstMarkCap Matt Turck (Managing Director) LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/turck/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/mattturck (00:00) Intro

(01:16) How did Intercom make a transition to a generative AI product (Fin)?

(05:34) Did the Intercom manifesto play a role in the transition?

(07:16) What was the Intercom before Fin?

(09:01) How much development effort did you spend on AI?

(12:31) UX

(15:20) People used to hate chatbots

(17:51) GPT and building layers around it

(20:50) The future of customer service

(23:57) GPT-4/Llama/Mistral/Claude

(25:58) Are multimodal AI-bots the future?

(27:08) AI-hallucination

(30:11) Customization

(34:34) Will Fin get a voice?

(36:26) Customer support cost and impact on profitability

(39:58) How much should you charge?

(45:26) AI-bot resolution rate

(46:43) Can bots take action?

(48:40) AI-adoption

(51:14) How the Intercom team evolve

(53:38) How did 4 Irish guys create a bi-continental startup?

(56:17) Work distribution

(58:38) Tech in Europe vs tech in the US

(01:16) How did Intercom make a transition to a generative AI product (Fin)?

(05:34) Did the Intercom manifesto play a role in the transition?

(07:16) What was the Intercom before Fin?

(09:01) How much development effort did you spend on AI?

(12:31) UX

(15:20) People used to hate chatbots

(17:51) GPT and building layers around it

(20:50) The future of customer service

(23:57) GPT-4/Llama/Mistral/Claude

(25:58) Are multimodal AI-bots the future?

(27:08) AI-hallucination

(30:11) Customization

(34:34) Will Fin get a voice?

(36:26) Customer support cost and impact on profitability

(39:58) How much should you charge?

(45:26) AI-bot resolution rate

(46:43) Can bots take action?

(48:40) AI-adoption

(51:14) How the Intercom team evolve

(53:38) How did 4 Irish guys create a bi-continental startup?

(56:17) Work distribution

(58:38) Tech in Europe vs tech in the US

Previous Episode

Is the Modern Data Stack Dead? with dbt Labs CEO Tristan Handy

In this episode, we explore the dynamic world of modern analytics with Tristan Handy, CEO of dbt Labs (https://twitter.com/jthandy). DBT, which helps more than 30,000 enterprises ship trusted data products faster, has raised more than $400 million dollars, most recently at a $4B valuation.

We discuss how dbt has revolutionized analytics engineering, enabling seamless data transformation and orchestration in the cloud. This innovation fosters greater collaboration among data teams and integrates software engineering principles into data analytics workflows.

We also talk about dbt's Semantic Layer, a game-changer that streamlines data operations by standardizing key business metrics for consistent use across various analytical tools.

In this conversation, we tackle pressing questions about the current state and future of data management and analytics. Is the "modern data stack" becoming obsolete? What's next for data engineering? And how is AI reshaping the analytics landscape?

Tune in to discover our insights.

📰 Is the "Modern Data Stack" Still a Useful Idea?

https://roundup.getdbt.com/p/is-the-modern-data-stack-still-a

DBT

Website - https://www.getdbt.com/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/getdbt

Tristan Handy (CEO & Co-Founder):

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tristanhandy/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/jthandy

Is the "Modern Data Stack" Still a Useful Idea? - https://roundup.getdbt.com/p/is-the-modern-data-stack-still-a?r=oc02&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

FIRSTMARK

Website: https://firstmark.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FirstMarkCap

Matt Turck (Managing Director)

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/turck/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/mattturck

LISTEN ON:

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7yLATDSaFvgJG80ACcRJtq

Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mad-podcast-with-matt-turck/id1686238724

00:00 - Intro

02:43 - What is the Modern Data Stack?

05:57 - Is the Modern Data Stack dead?

12:23 - What's the alternative?

16:24 - Where is analytics engineering heading?

20:02 - The Reverse ETL market

23:21 - The role of AI in analytics engineering

27:47 - Will analytics engineers become the prompt engineers?

29:78 - Is the MDS part of the emerging generative AI stack?

33:51 - The Semantic Layer

37:49 - dbt's plans for the near future

41:17 - Hiring at different stages of the business

44:21 - Going from open-source to commercial

46:40 - Market situation vs. sales strategy

Next Episode

Saving lives with AI | Emi Gal from Ezra

In this episode, we sat down with Emi Gal, founder and CEO of Ezra, a startup that leverages AI to detect cancer early and inexpensively. Emi provides insights into the landscape of the healthcare sector and talks about the differences between building an AI startup in healthcare versus SaaS. Turns out that "(In AI skills)... are not that transferable." EZRA Website - https://ezra.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/ezrainc Emi Gal LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/emigal Twitter - https://twitter.com/emigal FIRSTMARK Website - https://firstmark.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/FirstMarkCap Matt Turck (Managing Director) LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/turck/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/mattturck (00:00) Intro (01:50) Ezra raised $21 million in series B round (02:55) The origin of Ezra (06:06) Sourcing AI talent (06:52) Building a proof of concept (09:05) The tipping point for the product market fit (10:57) Y Combinator wants more MRI startups. Why? (11:37) Ezra's vision for MRI (13:25) Is it covered by insurance? (16:15) Full stack vs Software only (20:00) Training AI (22:55) Building an MRI database (25:45) Will radiologists get replaced by AI? (27:52) Creating reports with Generative AI (30:50) Can we trust AI in healthcare? (33:44) What are the specific challenges of building an AI startup? (39:01) Healthcare entrepreneurship (43:59) Staying fit as a CEO: Emi's mental and physical health routine (48:28) Plans for 2024