introduction:
1. Michelle, could you please introduce yourself and tell us about your past experience in the industry?
I am currently the Chief Marketing Officer and Partner at Tercera, an investment firm focused on high-growth IT services businesses. I started my career in technology PR and communications, working for agencies and medium to large software companies, but my most formative years were spent working at one of his early cloud consultancy companies. He spent time leading marketing and customer experience at Appirio. After Appirio and before Tercera, he founded his own brand and communications consulting firm that helps B2B technology companies discover and tell their stories.
2. Please tell us more about Tercera and your role as a partner at Tercera.
Tercera is a growth equity firm that provides founders of IT services companies with the capital, legal counsel, and connections they need to grow and scale their businesses to the next level. Most investors tend to ignore human-centered businesses. We are trying to correct this imbalance. As former carriers, we recognize the value of talent in a technology-driven world and believe that services companies will play a key role in the third wave of cloud computing and enterprise adoption of AI.
Like many leaders in small organizations, I wear several different hats within the company. With my background in marketing, I lead marketing and thought leadership issues and coach portfolio companies on brand and go-to-market strategies. I also co-lead the advisor community, sit on the boards of two of our portfolio companies, and help lead the company’s investment decisions.
Mission:
3. Can you explain how your position relates to Tercera’s technical and artificial intelligence objectives and vision?
I have been fortunate to lead our market research initiatives, including Tercera 30. We use this research to understand which segments and software ecosystems offer the greatest opportunities for services companies, which ultimately guides our investment decisions. The insights gained from this research and conversations with hundreds of entrepreneurs in the space also help us identify patterns and develop strategies, benchmarks, and methodologies that ultimately benefit our portfolio companies. A big part of this question is how service companies can leverage AI for both internal efficiency and efficiency for their partners and customers.
Tercera’s 30 list:
4. How important was AI to Tercera’s 2023 30 list? Did it have an impact on the companies named to the list?
While AI was not a specific qualitative metric that we used for weighting, it certainly factored into our evaluation and influenced our decisions about who made the list. We see AI as both an accelerator and a disruptor. This will create tailwinds for some sectors (data engineering, security, hyperscalers, etc.) and headwinds for others. Our job as investors is to assess where the winds are blowing and which software vendors and service companies are ready to take advantage of what’s coming.
Looking across the software vendors on our Tercera 30 and Ones to Watch lists, there are many companies leading the AI conversation. Expect names like Microsoft, Google, AWS, Snowflake, Databricks, OpenAI, Nvidia, and Cohere. But while it might not be the first name that comes to mind when you think of AI, there are other AIs out there that are making some interesting plays. Companies like commercetools, HubSpot, Dataiku, Collibra, and UIPath are all passionate about how AI will shape their markets.
5. According to you, what are the key points you kept in mind when creating Tercera’s list of 30?
Tercera 30 aims to identify the best enterprise software ecosystem for building a services business. To identify them, we focused on 21 different factors that we believe foster a high-quality potential partner ecosystem. These factors fall into four main areas:
1. Market size and potential: What is the current and future market size? Is this segment large enough to support a $10 million technology services operation or a $50 million business?
2. Brand and growth potential: Is the software company recognized as a leader in a fast-growing segment? Is it considered an outdated technology or is it taking market share? Is the company investing in its products and future growth? Do you have?
3. Possibility of external services: Is this product aimed at small and medium-sized businesses and is easy to implement, or is it a highly customizable, enterprise-grade technology that paves the way for medium to large projects with high service intensity? External Is there a shortage of talent around the platform to the extent that support is needed?
4. Partner support and collaboration: How open and supportive is the partner program? How easy or difficult is it to enter as a new partner? Are global system integrators interested? In-house professional services where partners compete for work? Do you have a team?
The importance of data and marketing in AI:
6. Data and marketing play a critical role in the AI environment. Can you elaborate on why these areas are becoming so important to the AI industry?
In the field of AI, there is great synergy between data and marketing. ChatGPT says: “Think of AI as a highly skilled chef and data as its key ingredient. The better the quality of the ingredients (data), the better the food (insightful results). ” Marketing is both a consumer and a producer of that data. Marketers rely on data to drive strategy and execution, but feeding data back into the system can also help derive deeper insights that can be used to grow the business and predict future trends.
Established companies and startups:
7. “Incumbent” and “startup” are two words that have been buzzing in the AI industry lately. Are there any particular trends that these companies are following that our readers should know about?
AI incumbents have spent years developing and refining their efforts here. They have invested heavily in research and development, have a team of data scientists and AI experts on staff, and have increased access to GPUs to train these models. That obviously gives them a huge advantage. However, the field is changing very quickly and there are many opportunities for startups. Niche solution providers that can build customized solutions that are often overlooked by established companies. These startups have the ability to build open source models, allowing them to make pricing more agile and flexible. This could give them an advantage.
As with any major change in technology, incumbents will either integrate their more advanced technology into their existing platforms or acquire startups to eliminate potential competition.
CMO and AI:
8. In your opinion, chief marketing officers could be the next big users of AI. How useful does he think AI is for CMOs in decision making and strategy building?
Many great CMOs have already found ways to incorporate AI into the work they and their teams do. They use AI tools to develop content, refine campaigns, research targets, evaluate tools, and more to improve spending efficiency and increase personal productivity. However, a good CMO understands how to apply AI. Develop strategies and create completely new customer experiences. Very few people are using it that way now, but there will be many more in the future.
9. According to you, are there any challenges that CMOs should consider when entering the AI field? Can you give us some tips to overcome them?
As CMOs delve further into AI, they must do so with caution. AI protects a company’s brand, and using AI incorrectly can damage a company’s reputation. It is important to understand the limitations of AI and not rely too much on it without human intervention. Inaccurate or biased data can lead to bad decisions, which makes it even more important to audit and clean the data you’re using. AI involves analyzing vast amounts of customer data and can have privacy implications. Marketing leaders need to choose their tools carefully and ensure that their team members fully consider the privacy implications of using personal customer data. A CMO’s job is difficult, and it never gets easier. My biggest recommendation is to start small, invest in continuous learning, hire an AI consultant to educate yourself and your team, and use AI to complement, not replace, human judgment. is.
Conclusion:
10. As a Tercera partner, do you have any unique insights or examples of how Tercera itself is embracing AI and helping clients leverage this technology in their businesses?
To be honest, Tercera isn’t leveraging AI in a particularly unique way at this point. Like most companies, we’re experimenting with it internally and using it to enhance what we’re already doing to increase efficiency and understand its capabilities and limitations. When it comes to our portfolio companies, we strive to provide highly relevant data and insights to the IT services space. In addition to conducting research like the Tercera 30, we also share case studies across our portfolio. One of our portfolio companies is creating a virtual analyst to support research, and another is helping regulated industries leverage his GenAI in a more reliable way with their own datasets. doing. It’s so inspiring to see how they learn from each other.
11. In conclusion, what are the most exciting and game-changing developments we foresee for Tercera in the near future?
AI will probably be the biggest game changer in the coming years. There’s a reason investors and companies alike pour billions of dollars into this space.
Final thoughts:
12. Michelle, I just wanted to ask, can you leave us some professional advice for aspiring martech professionals?
Get out of your silo. Spend time learning how other teams and departments (not just marketing and sales) operate. Spend as much time with your customers as possible. It’s easy to just put your head down and work, but having a broader perspective will make you a more valuable team member and help you discover opportunities that may exist.
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