#087: Industry/Job Specific AI CoPilots, Something Too Many of Us Forget, How To Overcome Big & Legacy ERP’s
One vSaaS breakdown. One biz story. One 'how to'. In your inbox once a week.
Today’s episode is sponsored by the Vertical SaaS Bible.
1,000+ industries ranked.
~100 operating playbooks and vertical SaaS company case studies.
A vertical SaaS founder, operator, or investors dream :-)
Alright, let’s get to it…
One vSaaS Breakdown:
How To Overcome Big, Legacy, ERP’s
One of the challenges with vertical SaaS is the power the dominant ERP within the industry has. There are many crap ERP's that monopolized a niche yrs ago but lock everyone out by not allowing API's. Customers hate them but they can't move.
Here are 5 ways to get around them:
#1. The ERP is missing something that build & monopolize quickly
This is the most common path. You realize that the ERP is missing something hypercritical that the industry badly needs.
You build it quickly, you get it into a TON of customers quickly.
2 things then typically happen --
The legacy ERP opens up a back door for you
You use that wedge product to build out another set of modules that can compete with the gorilla.
This initial product creates the inertia that finally get people to start moving off of them.
#2. M&A Strategy
You leverage M&A to buy a smaller ERP (Typically after you've been successful with a few point solutions).
You supercharge it. You make it 100x better. You make it open. You flood the market with the open vs closed pitch.
People begin to move.
#3. Vertical AI Co-Pilots
This is new.
I'm seeing more and more products that live within the browser and leverage on-screen data without having to integrate with the ERP. Now you can:
Supercharge other ERP's
Not battle them head on until you have meaningful traction
#4. Growth/Venture Buy Out Strategy
Some industries you just can't tip with SaaS or playbooks. They are just so reluctant or a gorilla ERP has so much staying power their impossible to dislodge. So what do you do?
Buy the actual businesses within the industry.
Implement your own software.
Show the results.
Sell it to other businesses.
This will be enough inertia to finally get folks to move.
To go deeper here, see Yoni's thread on Growth Buy Outs: https://x.com/yrechtman/status/1811542942009512400
#5. Co-Founder is a crazy good Engineer
Sometimes it just takes a crazy good technical mind. My co-founder @fadeenk build a backdoor into the big ERP. He did it with no API documentation, with nothing. He just brute forced it.
Sometimes thats what it takes.
That’s it. Simple right :-) All this is difficult in practice, but I’ve used some of these and I’ve seen them work. In summary, here are the five ways to get around the gorilla legacy ERP in your industry:
One ‘How To’:
A Good Reminder Too Many Of Us Forget…
Whether you grow 100% or 10% this year,
The beauty of SaaS is that you just continue to compound value.
It may not be as much as you want BUT keep at it for 10, 15, 20+ years and you'll be amazing at what it can add up to.
Keep going!
One Biz Story
A Deep Dive ON Industry/Job Specific AI CoPilots
AI Copilot's are a relatively new phenomenon...
BUT vertical-specific AND job-specific AI Copilots are really just starting to be introduced.
I went deep on 10+ Vertical/Job Specific AI Copilots for you all:
It's important to understand where a vertical / job-specific co-pilot makes sense given today's AI technology...
Before we get into the list, here are the four key areas:
High volume of data analysis
High volume of computer-based admin work
High volume of repetitive tasks and processes
#Large datasets that have to frequently be searched/queried
SO which industries/roles meet these criteria?
#1. High volume of data analysis and/or coding
Software engineering
B.I. / Data Science Professionals
Investment professionals
#2. High volume of lower level computer-based admin work
Healthcare billing and coding
Desk-based insurance claims
Back office admin support roles
Call centers
#3. High volume of repetitive tasks and processes
Nurses
Medical Assistants
Field-based insurance claims
Insurance brokerages
Inventory management
Sales reps
Graphic Designers
#4. Large datasets that have to frequently be searched/queried to make decisions
Doctors
Lawyers
Architecture
CPA's / financial professionals
Now let's go into specific examples:
#1. Arkifi
AI CoPilots for the Finance Industry
Arkifi is revolutionizing the finance industry by putting the power of a digital financial analyst at your fingertips.
#2. Harvey
AI Copilot for Lawyers.
Supporting them with due diligence, contract review, etc.
#3. Delphina
AI Copilot for Data Scientists.
helps accelerate the building and deployment of predictive software tools.
#4. Asato
AI Copilot for CIO's (Chief Information Officers).
The tool helps them discover, connect, and contextualize IT and IT talent assets.
#5. Nuance AI
AI Copilot for Nurses and Medical Assistants.
Helps automate the scribe tracking process. Built in partnership with Microsoft.
#6. OKHealth AI
AI Copilot for Therapists.
Allows therapy clinics to offer patients a customized mobile app tailored to the clinic’s brand and therapists' personas.
#7. FinPilot
AI Copilot for Private Equity Firms
An AI that can completely understand an entire data room, enabling analysts to find and extract the exact the information they need almost instantly.
#8. Eightfold AI
AI Copilot for HR Professionals
An AI assistant that supports talent acquisition, management, and resources.
#9. Augmenta
AI Copilot for Home Builders
Automates the sustainable design of buildings, dramatically reducing the time, cost, waste and uncertainty of construction projects
#10. Corti AI
AI CoPilot for Healthcare
Corti is a clinically proven AI guide that augments, automates, and analyzes virtual care and face-to-face patient engagements
That's all for now! If you want to go even deeper, Obvious Ventures recently dropped the AI Copilot Market Map. See it here:
Have a product or service that would be great for our audience of vertical SaaS founders/operators/investors? Reply to this email or shoot us a note at ls@lukesophinos.com