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AI Has Arrived: 3 Ways to Cut Through the Noise

Andrew Davies, Paddle CMO, discusses the OpenView 2023 SaaS Benchmarks Report with strategies for businesses to effectively implement and monetize artificial intelligence, highlighting the significant growth of AI-native companies and the importance of customer engagement and value-based pricing.

There is a cacophony of noise around AI from ChatGPT to MidJourney. But these aren’t just quirky tools you can mess around with anymore, it’s core competency for most knowledge workers. With the help of OpenView, and over 700 companies surveyed, we’ve cut through the noise and identified 3 ways you can extrapolate the best value, empowering you to utilize A I beyond creative copy on your website. We’re talking hard data from hundreds of SaaS companies, insights that might just change your perspective; boosting the signal on what really matters. So what should you listen for within this cacophony of noise?

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A.I. Benchmarks

OpenView’s 2023 Benchmarks Report shows that to be an outlier with your growth, you need to be serious about implementing AI. Despite its amazing potential, it isn’t a cure-all for your business. Looking at the data, it's immediately apparent that AI native companies are growing fast.

  • An AI native company could be defined as a company with AI at its core like OpenAI, or a company that enables other products to build AI, or AI is central to how they monetize.

Growing at the same rate or faster Benchmark data from the OpenView 2023 SaaS Benchmark Report

We found that 97% of native AI companies are growing at the same rate or faster than other companies. We can also see that companies who have launched and monetized AI are doing well with 89% growing at the same rate or faster. Meanwhile, companies who have launched but not monetized their AI aren’t as impressive. Only 59% of those companies are growing at the same rate or faster than their counterparts.

 At its core, the big takeaway is simple - AI can positively impact your growth. However, jumping on the bandwagon doesn’t equal instant results. You can’t overlook the growth gap between native AI products and soft AI products. Positioning as AI is not enough.

Core Focus of Respondents Benchmark Data

Also, 31% of respondents have AI on their product roadmap but are yet to launch. They’ll need to be strategic to reap the lucrative benefits of AI when they launch further down the line. But what about right now - what can you do to leverage AI in your business?

A.I. Strategies

First, leverage AI into your operations. While businesses scramble to do more with less and drive efficient growth, the automation benefits of AI can’t be understated. In theory AI should set a new standard for ARR per FTE as companies gain the ability to drive massive gains in productivity. We have another video all about ARR per FTE and efficiency, so make sure to check it out after this one.

Next, you need to do more than just “add AI” to your product offering. Speak to your customers. Find out what they actually need. And deliver that increased value. Although some buyers might see AI as a competitive differentiator, it is very short lived, whereas delivering more value, faster, is likely to build a real moat between you and competitors.

15% launched and monetized AI

Next, if you are going to monetize your AI, focus on finding the right value metric. We found that only 15% of respondents have launched AND monetized AI features in the last year, so there’s plenty of opportunity to get it right. Value-based pricing utilizes a value-metric to determine how you measure the per-unit value of your product for sale. This could be “per seat”, “per hosted video”, “per event”. There’s a whole lot more that goes into this process and we have plenty of documentation for you to sort through and learn more. Great value metrics in monetizing AI products include directly measurable outcomes like the number of “automated resolutions” in a contact center, or “automatically generated images” or “revenue generated”. Figure out what your customers are willing to pay more for as they receive value, and you are on a path to driving up average revenue per customer.

Just because you can spell AI, doesn’t mean you should splash it all over your marketing. Be thoughtful in understanding and improving your value proposition, and monetize it accordingly. Check out OpenViews full 2023 Benchmark Report for more ways to become an outlier in not only AI but burn management, PLG, Retention and much more. Because to become an outlier in this market, you need to capitalize on every opportunity.

If you like this kind of content and want to learn more, subscribe to get in the know when we release new episodes.

Unique SaaS Stories Sent to Your Inbox - Subscribe to Paddle Studios

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:01:04

Journalist

Artificial. Intelligence.

00:00:01:04 - 00:00:02:02

Journalist

Artificial intelligence.

00:00:02:03 - 00:00:04:06

John Oliver

Artificial intelligence or A.I.?

00:00:04:08 - 00:00:07:12

Andrew Davies

How long until the robots have risen to power?

00:00:07:14 - 00:00:27:03

Andrew Davies

There is a cacophony of noise around A.I. from Chalkbeat to 11 Labs to MIT Journey. But these aren't just quirky tunes you can mess around with anymore. It's a core competency for most knowledge workers. With the help of OpenView and over 700 companies surveyed, we've cut through the noise and identified three ways you can extrapolate the best value.

00:00:27:08 - 00:00:45:03

Andrew Davies

Empowering you to utilize AI. Beyond simply creative copy on your website. We're talking hard data from hundreds of SaaS companies, insights that might just change your perspective, boosting the signal on what really matters. So what should you listen for within this cacophony of noise.

00:00:45:05 - 00:00:49:02

Andrew Davies

That is getting attention?

00:00:49:04 - 00:01:16:18

Andrew Davies

Open Views 2023 Benchmarks report shows that in order to be an outlier with your growth, you need to be serious about implementing A.I.. Despite its amazing potential, it isn't a cure all for your business. Looking at the data, it's immediately apparent that A.I. native companies are growing fast. So an eight native company could be defined as a company with A.I. at its core, like open A.I. or a company that enables other companies to build products using A.I. or central to how they monetize.

00:01:16:20 - 00:01:41:09

Andrew Davies

And we found that 97% of native A.I. companies are growing at the same rate or faster than other companies. We can also see that companies who have launched and monetized A.I. are doing well, with 89% of them growing at the same rate or faster. Meanwhile, companies who have launched but not monetized A.I. aren't as impressive. Only 59% of those companies are growing at the same rate or faster than their counterparts.

00:01:41:11 - 00:02:06:23

Andrew Davies

At its core, the big takeaway is simple A.I. can positively impact your growth, But jumping on the bandwagon doesn't equal instant results. You can't overlook this growth gap between native A.I. products and soft A.I. products. Positioning as A.I. isn't enough. Also, 31% of respondents of A.I. on their product roadmap, but aren't yet ready to launch. And they'll need to be strategic to reap the lucrative benefits of A.I. when they launch further down the line.

00:02:07:01 - 00:02:32:06

Andrew Davies

But what about right now? What can we do to leverage A.I. business today? First, leverage A.I. in your operations. While businesses scramble to do more with less and drive efficient growth, the automation benefits of A.I. can't be understated. In theory, A.I. should set a new standard for RPA, FTE as companies drive massive gains through productivity. And we've got another video all about air FTB efficiency.

00:02:32:06 - 00:02:55:10

Andrew Davies

So make sure you check that out of this one. Next, you need to do more than just add A.I. into your product offering. Speak to your customers. Find out what they actually need, and deliver that increased value. Although some buyers might see air as a competitive differentiator, that's really short lived, whereas delivering more value faster is likely to build a real moat between you and your competitors.

00:02:55:12 - 00:03:15:08

Andrew Davies

Next, if you're going to monetize your life, focus on finding the right value metric. We found that only 15% of respondents have launched and monetized A.I. features in the last year, so there's plenty of opportunity here. Value based pricing utilizes a value metric to determine how we measure the per unit value of your product. So this could be per seat talk.

00:03:15:12 - 00:03:40:16

Andrew Davies

A hosted video per event. And there's a whole lot more that goes into this process. We've got loads of documentation about this for you to sort through and learn, but great value metrics in monetizing our products include directly measurable outcomes like the number of automated resolutions and a contact center role automatically generated images or revenue generated So figure out what your customers are willing to pay more for as they receive value.

00:03:40:16 - 00:04:10:13

Andrew Davies

And you're on a path to driving up average revenue per customer just because you can specify it doesn't mean you should splash it all across your marketing. Be thoughtful in understanding and improving your value proposition and monetize it accordingly. Check out OpenView Full 2023 Benchmark Report for more ways to become an outlier in not just AI but in bird management and PLG from LED growth and retention and much more because to become an outlier in this market, you need to capitalize on every opportunity.

00:04:10:15 - 00:04:15:09

Andrew Davies

Check out this video on the screen to learn more from the report or get the report itself right here.