SaaStr

APRIL 3, 2024

As the kickoff to our first fully digital SaaStr AI Day, Jennifer Tejada , the CEO of PagerDuty, chatted with Jason Lemkin, SaaStr CEO and Founder, about navigating the shift to Generative AI and what Artificial Intelligence in SaaS might look like in the next 6 months, as well as years to come. How to Buck Up and Go Long in SaaS?

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Generative AI AI Technical Review Software Review 299

SaaStr

MAY 7, 2024

At SaaStr AI Day, Siqi Chen, founder, and CEO of Runway , discussed his belief of why every role will become a prompt engineering role, along with some no-code AI tips showing how to build products without knowing how to code. AI is a force multiplier for human capital. “I 3 Ways Runway Uses AI Prompts 1.

Engineering 274

Engineering AI Sales Hiring ChatGPT 274

Tom Tunguz

AUGUST 4, 2024

Call it AI agents or agentic systems. There’s a brewing idea that AI will complete human labor especially in white-collar work. Whatever the reason, the challenge is the same facing a hiring manager : difficult recruitment to maintain or grow headcount. Call it Service-as-a-Software. Last, margin pressure.

AI 203

AI Software Review Marketing Systems Review 203

SaaStr

MAY 7, 2025

And its bets on AI seem to be paying off. It’s a leaner, meaner Twilio, focused again on its core, with more AI but less headcount than before. Headcount Efficiency Has Improved Over the past 12 months, Twilio has reduced headcount by 10%, following a 25% reduction the year before.

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Headcount AI Scale compliance 166

SaaStr

MAY 29, 2024

So UiPath was early to what we now think of as “AI”, but blazed the path in automation. Which is what a lot of SaaS and B2B AI is really about. Growing Headcount and Expenses, Just More Slowly Than Revenue The story for most SaaS and Cloud leaders. Grow headcount and expenses, but more slowly than bookings. #5.

Scale 298

Scale Headcount Sales Hiring AI 298

SaaStr

JULY 31, 2020

The technology is based on leveraging AI (Artificial Intelligence) models and algorithms. Last year, the company doubled its headcount, tripled revenue and landed on G2’s Top 100 Global Software list. . Last year, the company doubled its headcount, tripled revenue and landed on G2’s Top 100 Global Software list. .

Scale 359

Scale Artificial Intelligence Payments Payment Services 359

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

So is AI taking over everything? Across the SaaStr Fund portfolio, I’ve seen multiple portfolio companies lost $1m customers to new, in-house AI initiatives. But I’ve also seen others grow even faster as AI rebooted and enhanced their products. AI is part of it, platforms are part of it. I mean … maybe.

AI Search 300

AI Search SaaS Headcount AI 300

Tom Tunguz

AUGUST 2, 2023

If a startup raised a top quartile Seed round, Series A, B, & C, they typically would have grown headcount by about 6% in the last twelve months. The headcount growth rate for all other companies? No statistically significant difference in headcount. Why look at headcount growth? About double at 12%.

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Headcount Startup AI Scaling 244

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

We all become new customer-oriented, so we say we’re focused on the existing base, but once the sales team becomes 30-40% of headcount, it tends to dominate every conversation. Long-term marketing spend Holding customer success spend flat The study found that 62% of CS teams are maintaining or decreasing their non-headcount budget.

Customer Success 299

Customer Success Sales Hiring Scale Headcount 299

Clouded Judgement

AUGUST 16, 2024

They contend that AI agents, capable of handling infinite workloads, will ultimately reduce the need for software spend. Today, IT budgets are roughly broken down into: ~50% headcount / personnel, ~25% software, ~15% hardware, and ~10% outsourcing / consultants. I believe this view is (dramatically) missing the bigger picture.

Outsourcing Services 274

Outsourcing Services Cloud Software Outsourced Development 274

Sales Hacker

APRIL 4, 2025

Whats emerging isnt just another AI point solution (well, actually, yes – there are many of those!). The shift to a new operating model: the GTM AI Operating System. Were calling this the rise of the GTM AI OS a coordinated, AI-driven backbone that connects marketing, sales, CS, and product into a single motion.

AI Search 101

AI Search AI Outsourcing Services Scale 101

SaaStr

AUGUST 9, 2024

In this AI moment we’re in, there are still many moments in scaling a company where intuition still matters. Headcount isn’t the right story for them, though. Eventually, this team moved out of growth, so their success wasn’t dependent on budget or headcount. Computers disrupted all of that and changed the way people worked.

Scale 290

Scale Sales Hiring Scaling Startup 290

Tom Tunguz

OCTOBER 31, 2023

We should expect the advances in AI to improve sales efficiency, even if modestly. AI Efficiency Gains +2% Headcount Reduction ? Third, AI efficiency is subjective. Headcount reductions in the last year, which impacted every company, should increase the pipeline coverage ratios for the remaining team members.

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Headcount Sales Hiring AI Cloud 216

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

So if Salesforce invests a few billion in AI startups, and those values at least don’t go down — there’s essentially no cost to Salesforce. The headcount and other ongoing operating costs do add to expenses and hit earnings, however. cuts into those margins. but … investments don’t. Cash goes down, yes.

Acquisition 299

Acquisition Investment Headcount Banking 299

Tom Tunguz

DECEMBER 31, 2023

In the last two years, M&A has totaled about $49b & it surges to above $60b driven by AI acquisitions. AI & data continue to dominate the funding landscape as founders & investors seek novel applications of the technology. SaaS did see a second wave fueled by AI, but the productivity gains remain to be seen.

AI Search 240

AI Search Headcount Scale AI 240

Chart Mogul

MAY 29, 2025

Were excited to bring AI-based enrichment to every ChartMogul customer, across both CRM and Subscription Analytics. Late last year, we quietly rolled out an AI-powered enrichment feature to a small group of customers. Late last year, we quietly rolled out an AI-powered enrichment feature to a small group of customers.

AI 52

AI Data Headcount Payment Features 52

SaaStr

MARCH 20, 2024

For instance, Founders Fund doesn’t really invest in AI, health tech, or edtech, even if you’re growing 5x. Do you have to double your headcount to make it from $10M to $20M or even $2M to $5M? When those outcomes are achieved, the hire gets their headcount. Each VC has a different “flavor.”

Sales Hiring 300

Sales Hiring Sales Recruiting Scale Headcount 300

Clouded Judgement

MARCH 22, 2024

This brings me to AI (everything leads to AI these days…). When it comes to AI there is now another BIG culprit in misused ARR which I’m calling ERR (we use this term internally). A huge portion of AI revenue today is truly experimental! If retention deteriorates, the terminal value may very well be 0.

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AI Cloud Revenue Technical Advisors 190

Tom Tunguz

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

AI companies] have a real use case for the cloud which is somewhat different than what we see from some other companies. Today, our largest R2 customer is another AI company using us for exactly the purpose of being a neutral place to store their training data.

Cloud 243

Cloud Azure Headcount Software Review 243

Kellblog

NOVEMBER 6, 2024

A discussion of Andy Wilson ‘s successful exit at Logickull where Jason was an investor and I was an advisor What will be the impact of AI on SaaS budgets? To what extent will companies raid headcount budget to generate AI budget? How to market and sell the ROI of the productivity impact of AI tools?

Headcount 72

Headcount AI Generative AI Acquisition 72

SaaStr

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

So if Salesforce invests a few billion in AI startups, and those values at least don’t go down — there’s essentially no cost to Salesforce. The headcount and other ongoing operating costs do add to expenses and hit earnings, however. cuts into those margins. but … investments don’t. Cash goes down, yes.

Acquisition 260

Acquisition Investment Headcount Banking 260

SaaStr

JANUARY 12, 2024

SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin also wrote how Customer Success has now morphed into part of the sales team and that the 2024 trends in CS include everyone wanting to eliminate humans from support to replace that headcount with AI and bots. One way AI goes mainstream in customer success is by automating support. The world has changed.

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Sales Hiring Customer Success Scale AI 319

SaaStr

MAY 9, 2024

Until recently, founders would describe their growth rate by how fast they were growing their company headcount. What’s the #1 bit of advice you’d give to SaaS founders today? My advice is to keep the bar high. In addition, recent advancements in automation are making it possible to keep the bar higher for longer when scaling teams. #4.

Scale 271

Scale Headcount Travel B2B 271

SaaStr

MARCH 15, 2024

How Will AI Fundamentally Change the Workplace and Products? Do you see massive disruption in workforces and marketing headcounts shrinking because of AI? “I’m Adam believes AI will heighten asynchronous communication and your ability to consume and collaborate. I’m not connecting those dots yet,” Adam shares. “I

AI Search 273

AI Search SaaS Advertising Sales Hiring 273

Andreessen Horowitz

MARCH 21, 2024

Generative AI took the consumer landscape by storm in 2023, reaching over a billion dollars of consumer spend 1 in record time. Over the past couple months, we’ve spoken with dozens of Fortune 500 and top enterprise leaders , 2 and surveyed 70 more, to understand how they’re using, buying, and budgeting for generative AI.

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Generative AI Enterprise AI Artificial Intelligence 145

SaaStr

MARCH 6, 2023

Technological AI and automation advancements. Redeploy funds from headcount to sales technology. The state of B2B sales in 2023 Before creating a dynamic strategy, it is essential to understand the current state of B2B sales. Three macro trends summarize the recent shifts in B2B sales: Millennial generational shift.

Innovation 246

Innovation Sales Hiring B2B Strategy 246

Intercom, Inc.

DECEMBER 10, 2021

What to do: Increase your efficiency without increasing headcount using bots and automation. Our retail customers tell us they’re building trust with customers even during this disrupted shopping season by using our messaging tools to deliver fast support, personal, and proactive support, and our powerful AI to deliver instant resolutions.

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Headcount Customer Support Scale AI 195

Intercom, Inc.

APRIL 3, 2025

Traditionally, scaling support meant simply adding headcount, creating a linear relationship between business growth and support costs. With AI agents like Fin, you can break free from these constraints. In contrast, AI costs typically decrease over time as the technology matures and adoption grows.

Payment Services 104

Payment Services AI Underperforming Technical Team Technical Review 104

Intercom, Inc.

AUGUST 13, 2019

Voice recognition technology has improved, AI solutions can interpret customer feedback, and chatbots have started to answer the questions they receive, not just pass them off to a human. Our bots use AI to provide customers with links to existing resources, like knowledge base articles and FAQs.

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Underperforming Technical Team Customer Support Headcount AI 279

Sales Hacker

MAY 30, 2025

You can also leverage AI to strengthen feedback loops. AI doesnt replace alignment, but it speeds up clarity. Recommendations Theres a lot of debate around AI SDRs, but the conversation often gets oversimplified. The debate gets more nuanced when it comes to outbound AI SDRs. Meet Piper, the #1 ranked AI SDR agent on G2.

Scale 104

Scale AI Search Technical Review Systems Review 104

SaaStr

NOVEMBER 1, 2022

AI is likely the next platform, dev tools are strategic given the scarcity of developers, cybersecurity is front and center for enterprises, and the data stack is still going strong. Often, founders are unsure about the headcount split between India and the US. Putting yourself out there, even a little bit, helps.

Scale 292

Scale Sales Hiring Underperforming Technical Team Cybersecurity 292

SaaStr

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

There is so much to do with AI to drive campaign optimization. What kind of headcount do you have? Utilize tools like AI for optimization and maintain constant communication and creative testing within teams. Utilize this as much as possible. Daily hand-off meetings. What is the unifying framework?

Scale 273

Scale Scaling Sales Hiring Marketing 273

Sales Hacker

SEPTEMBER 2, 2023

Share Alright, AI continues to be the biggest talking point of 2023 ( are we sick of talking about it yet? ) – with every SaaS company on the face of the earth looking to experiment with some kind of AI integration into their software; It’s become quite apparent that less is more in today’s world.

AI 95

AI Revenue Scale ChatGPT 95

Sales Hacker

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

Avoid These 3 Things 3 pitfalls to avoid when growing and scaling a sales team 1) Thinking that more sales headcount = more revenue This is a pitfall and simply not true. Save Your Seat More for your eyeballs: Interesting article that discusses Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), emphasizing its significance in enterprise AI.

Sales Hiring 126

Sales Hiring Scale Headcount Sales 126

Neil Patel

DECEMBER 13, 2022

And 9% said they are decreasing their content creation budget due to AI tools helping them create content more affordably. Speaking of AI tools… they are the talk of the town these days. A staggering 98% said they would invest in AI tools in 2023. UX/Conversion Rate Optimization.

Marketing 145

Marketing AI Search Software Review Social Media 145

SaaStr

JULY 11, 2023

A Straightforward Problem, Solved One of the coolest companies I’ve ever worked with was an AI-powered strategic planning company. To be clear, his demo wasn’t sexy. It was, however, extremely easy to understand both the problem and the solution.

Social Media 201

Social Media SaaS Underperforming Technical Team Headcount 201

Sales Hacker

JUNE 3, 2025

Today, he advises founders on global GTM execution, sales hiring, and how AI is reshaping the future of commercial organizations. Or how do I in a limited resource and limited headcount way, how do I go about choosing the allocation of different headcount? Should I hire five people for the UK or five people for France?

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Sales Hiring Scale Sales Recruiting Sales 85