Sunday Edition #23: Hard pivot
We’ve accomplished a lot, we’re not done yet
When the world is changing around you, it can be tempting to freeze. Letting go of what you know is uncomfortable. But AI is a transformational force, it will eventually make its way into every vertical and workflow. You’d rather be leading the charge than chasing the pack. As Paul says, transitioning into an AI company is “brutally hard, but anyone can do it if they are prepared to take big risks.” Let’s look at where those risks have taken us and where we’re still trying to go.
Admiring the view
This week, our own AI transformation came up in two conversations.
The first was on Odd Lots, a podcast from Bloomberg, where we were cited as an example of a legacy player that successfully pivoted towards AI. According to guest Jared Sleeper: “They got very aggressive about building out an AI product called Fin… It really accelerated their business and that’s the mega bull case.”
The whole episode is a great way to check in with the current SaaSpocalypse, you can watch it here.
We were also delighted to see our very talented Creative Studio (ICS) receive recognition in AColorBright’s Aesthetics of AI wrap-up.
According to AColorBright, as AI models race to one up each other, the product landscape has gotten rather boring. The real fun is happening in the branding and design space, where Utopian Dreamers and Bold Builders fight over the look of the future.
We were examples of six of the 14 aesthetics, including: contemporary realism, technical illustrations, morphing objects, outer space, and shades of off-white.
If you’re in need of brand inspiration, don’t miss the full report.
Our dedicated readers already know all about the cool work our ICS team is doing thanks to M.C. Madrigal’s “Tools that shape thought.” But if you missed it, catch up here.
Complex work just got easier
To make Fin even more capable, on Wednesday we announced 12 big updates to its Procedures and Simulations capabilities.
Procedures make it possible for Fin to tackle complex work, while Simulations ensure you can thoroughly test these Procedures before they reach customers.
Teams can now:
Build and manage Procedures using natural language.
Apply the controls and data needed for accuracy.
Test every scenario before it reaches a customer.
All without needing engineering support.
To get all the details, watch the full updates video or read a complete breakdown.
Calling the future
We’ve all had abysmal experiences with automated phone support.
But with AI, those days may soon be behind us.
At our latest Fin Meetup, great minds from Intercom and Cartesia shared what they’ve learned from scaling voice AI.
The highlights:
Voice AI may have crossed the uncanny valley: A growing number of customers will actually engage with it.
Answer quality is still king: Impressive latency and natural voice mean nothing if the agent can’t solve the actual customer problem. In voice AI, you’re judged by your worst answer, not your best.
Production is 10X harder than demos: Most projects cut 90% of their original scope when they hit real-world challenges—background noise, edge cases, and integration with actual business operations. Voice isn’t just chat with audio added.
You can read the full run down of events here.
AI IRL
If you’re having a case of AI FOMO, don’t worry, we have some upcoming events.
First, if you’re experiencing the unrelenting rain in London, this machine learning meetup will be sure to brighten your day.
Join us in our London offices on March 4th at 6pm GMT where you’ll hear from members of our AI Group and Machine Learning Scientist team.
Cathal will be giving a talk entitled: “All of Training is a Stage: Understanding LLM Training through the Lens of Role Play.” Exploring how each stage of LLM training relates to this idea of “role play,” why it makes models both powerful and fragile, and what it means for the future of AI alignment.
While Sagar will follow this up with “Specialists, Not Geniuses: A Journey from Weights to Agents,” where he asks that question: “what if the secret to reliable AI isn’t more intelligence, but better constraints?”
And of course there will be snacks, drinks, and mingling.
RSVP by March 3rd.
We’ll also be saying bonjour to Paris for our three-day Fin Labs event.
We’ll be offering a unique learning space in the heart of the city to explore transforming customer experience with AI. Including interactive daytime sessions on scaling AI performance and redesigning teams for impact, followed by evening discussions on how organizations are adapting to AI.
Join us from March 24-26th and you’ll hear from leaders at Intercom, Anthropic, and more.
See the full schedule and book your spot here.
Our parting thought
AI is not a feature tacked on for the sake of relevancy. It is a way of working. As it becomes more capable, teams embracing the chaos will reap the rewards. Try new things, ask big questions, and be open to what’s next. We’ve learned it’s the way of the future.