Transforming Customer Support with AI | DevRev’s Co-founder & CEO Dheeraj Pandey
Plus, going nuclear, the Wayback Machine, and middle management burnout.
This week, co-host
chats with Dheeraj Pandey, CEO and co-founder of DevRev. Dheeraj shares his journey from leading Nutanix to a valuation of $16 billion, to now striving to build another unicorn with DevRev.Dheeraj opens up about the lessons learned from his entrepreneurship, emphasizing the significance of having a holistic approach to building products and companies. He explores how his experiences at Nutanix have shaped his vision at DevRev, especially in terms of integrating AI as a core component rather than a mere add-on.
The discussion also covers various topics, including the power of AI in business operations, customer-centric design, and the importance of balancing innovative technology with intuitive user experience.
“If there’s no friction, there’s no market.”
Episode Highlights:
02:49 Founding DevRev
08:38 A “no bolt-on” approach to AI
11:30 What can other entrepreneurs learn from Dheeraj about leveling up their abilities?
16:42 Scaling DevRev
28:11 AI-driven design
44:52 Effortless conference
The Download
The Download is engineering leadership content we’re reading, watching, and attending that we think you might find valuable.
1. Going nuclear
When ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022, few would have predicted it would help usher in a nuclear power renaissance.
Once the futuristic technology of yesteryear, nuclear power saw a precipitous decline in popular opinion due to several factors, including safety concerns after high-profile accidents.
But energy hungry AI models, like ChatGPT, have caused companies to reconsider nuclear power as a viable source of energy. Microsoft signaled its intention to step into nuclear power with a deal to resurrect the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.
Not be be outdone, Google has announced it too will go nuclear with what it’s calling:
”The world’s first corporate agreement to purchase nuclear energy from multiple small modular reactors.”
2. Welcome back Wayback
After suffering a DDoS attack last week, the Internet Archive and its 916 billion saved web pages, went dark.
Founder Brewster Kahle said it was "safe to resume" the Wayback Machine's operations, but that it "might need further maintenance, in which case it will be suspended again."
The Wayback Machine is currently in read-only mode but it is up and running.
Full story: The Internet Archive and its 916 billion saved web pages are back online
3. Feeling the crunch
A new survey from LinkedIn says nearly half of US middle managers are burning out on the job. Ouch.
The survey notes high middle manager burnout is due to “pressures from above and below [middle managers] in the org chart”. It seems more is falling on the plate of middle managers as they manage the workload between their more junior and more senior colleagues.
Also in focus are industries with the most stressed out managers. Did yours make the list?
Engineering Leader's Guide to Accelerating Developer Productivity (Sponsor)
Developer productivity can make or break whether you deliver value to your customers. But are you tracking the right metrics that truly make a difference?
To highlight how you can adjust your approach to both measure what matters and identify the right corrective strategies, LinearB just released the engineering leader's guide to accelerating developer productivity. Download your copy here:
4. Mentor to manager
If you’re on the fence about becoming a people manager one day, this interview with Amanda Sopkin, an engineering manager at Asana, might just be for you.
Hear Amanda's journey from software engineer to manager, inspired in part by her rewarding experience mentoring an intern.
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