I had a powerful vision for an entirely new approach to enterprise software recently.
I’ve worked with some of the biggest names in CRM and enterprise applications throughout my career, and I’ve started software companies in the past.
So the fact that I was working in a coffee shop and thinking about how to blow up and rebuild the entire concept of enterprise software wasn’t really anything new…but it was the crystal clear (and momentarily paralyzing) vision that came to me at that particular moment at that particular coffee shop on that particular perfect morning that I have not been able to stop thinking about for a minute.
We find ourselves in a moment in time that may seem chaotic and uncertain, but there are certain things that will always be certain…the nature of things. The foundational principles of things.
But there are other things that we maybe don’t have to accept as certainties. There are paths that maybe aren’t as predetermined as we thought they were.
Watching legacy enterprise software vendors fall all over themselves putting the proverbial lipstick on their pig applications to pretend to now be AI software vendors, as disgusting as it has been, is not shocking in any way…it is behavior that has been normalized to the point where it is now expected.
Just like bad UX in the enterprise has been normalized. And brittle, disjointed data architectures. And SaaS application sprawl. And Agile mythology. We just keep going through the same motions.
On and on. Over and over. The same cynical loop of saying yes to everything and delivering little value.
Yeah, no. I’m done with all that thinking. It’s delusional to think that the enterprise software model works today, let alone in the radically different future we’re facing.
That vision at that coffee shop in New Orleans changed everything for me. I see it all now, and I want to build it.
A new approach to UX focused on positive and rewarding experiences. A new approach to integrations focused on extending and optimizing data and information flows through the value lifecycle. A new approach to fluid data architectures and modeling. A new approach to knowledge management and learning - both human and machine.
And the kicker - thoughtful and *actually useful* strategic applications of AI in the enterprise that enable the full potential of humans who just want to do their best work without the endless friction and frustrations of rigid, controlling, and broken enterprise experiences.
All built on a foundational core of growing knowledge, capabilities, and relationships within and beyond the enterprise…not empty promises or hype.
Status quo is unsustainable. Software vendor risk has never been higher with distracted tech CEOs. And the enterprise has never been more chaotic and unstable than it is right now.
Technology is broken. Process is broken. People are broken.
There is a much better way. And every fiber of my being is telling me now is the time to build it.
Anyone want in?
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