The most recent major shift in business operations was the rise of B2B SaaS products, which augmented human work in a serious way. However, with the more recent rise and proliferation of AI, technology is able to do the whole job.
We’re seeing the labor and technology markets being mashed together in a new way. SaaS could make people more efficient or productive, but, at some point, you still needed a human to operate the technology. The AI colleague can create, manage, and execute tasks.
In this way, the world is a far different place than when we launched our venture studio in 2021 with the focus of B2B SaaS. Today, you cannot make B2B technology without thinking about and leveraging AI. While many existing SaaS companies are looking for ways to bake AI into their existing products and models to create incremental improvements, the most exciting new companies are using AI to challenge the way work is done.
The AI Colleague
Since many of the ripest early applications for AI within businesses are in reimagining or replacing some aspect of a company’s workflow done by a human, people assume that the spread of AI means a reduced need for humans. However, the most effective use of AI in the near term won’t mean wholesale replacements of teams or even individuals.
In fact, we see the most effective AI colleagues carving off a specific part of a job or role. Tasks that are repetitive, time consuming, or need high degrees of personalization are often good opportunities for AI applications. These tasks tend to be the ones that employees dislike the most and report as the most draining. By taking on even these fractional roles, AI agents are able to create massive productivity and effectiveness gains, while also freeing up people to spend more time on the parts of their jobs that they enjoy and where they feel they add real value.
We’ve found that employees are eager to offer ideas for AI colleagues — seeing them not as competition, but assistants. These employees typically have the most in-depth knowledge of the problems an AI colleague could solve and where they’re uniquely qualified to focus.
Colleagues in Development
While creating AI colleagues has not become our sole focus (we have several SaaS ventures where we use AI to improve the user experience) we are currently working on several across vastly different industries and fields:
- Insurance
- Human resources
- Conversational AI
The best AI colleague opportunities create value for the business (efficiency/productivity), employee (enjoyment/value), and customer (experience/outcome).
We are at an exciting time for B2B technology, where what is possible and practical today was not possible three months ago, and unimaginable two years ago. This makes most industries (at minimum) welcoming innovation and more likely hungry for it.
