A new wave of AI-powered features and products is bringing back the word “magical” to software. This has happened with every new wave of tech since the beginning of PCs and Macs.
Remember how many times Steve Jobs said “magical” in his iPhone demos? It was magically surprising at the time. Now it’s table stakes.
There were “magical” responses to the first software on PCs, Web 1.0 software and online stores, client-server databases and PC server farms, Web 2.0 web apps, mobile devices, cloud computing, and SaaS apps.
Arthur C. Clarke was the first to say, “Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
Magic is in the eye of the beholder, of course. And it’s always relative.
We went from doing it on paper, then on PCs, then on the web, on our phones, in the cloud. The new waves were very amazing and valuable, and not hype.
Your business went away if you didn’t get on the big new waves when they took off.
New AI tech creates new possibilities for the old “10X better” bar for a new thing to be adopted and spread. When the hype dies down and reality sets in.
We won’t change and tell our friends for a “little better.” It has to be amazing enough. “10X-ish” better. The previous big waves in tech did that.
Smaller, faster, nimbler software companies have an edge, as they always do.
They get out early, start trying stuff, and eventually find things that work when it’s not obvious what to do yet. Move fast and break things.
Most big companies hate to experiment and fail. It’s still a Dilemma for them.
This time may be different, but I doubt it.
We’re back to the Wild West in business software after 10+ years of incremental change with SaaS. It was better every year, but not 10x better.
This is good news for bootstrapped and lightly-funded software companies that are now in the market with B2B SaaS solutions.
But only if they start playing with the new tech, finding 10x value opportunities, proving real results, and iterating quickly.
Your customers can’t tell you exactly what they want or what to build with AI yet.
The AI tech wave is coming quickly now. No one knows exactly how this will play out—even AI-first VC investors.
How are you working with your customers to understand where your magical 10X value opportunities are?
