Good

We’ve been running an AI workflow challenge at Stamped, where our team is exploring generative AI tools and how they fit into their roles.

A couple of times a week now, I see team members post about the cool stuff they’ve built and the problems those things are solving for them in their day-to-day work.

Here’s the thing, though: If I tried to build half the stuff they’re building, it wouldn’t be nearly as good.

Generative AI, I’m finding, doesn’t just require clear communication (which we talked about before); it requires an understanding of what good looks like. And that is best done by people who are already good at the thing they’re asking AI to do for them.

This is an opportunity for vendors that serve DTC brands, because—until now—understanding what “good” looks like has been mostly focused on technology, not the result.

As an industry, DTC SaaS has been excellent at pushing the boundaries of what’s possible from a technical perspective. There’s been a lot of good to come from this, but, when the focus is more on the technical side, the end result isn’t always good. It can cause value mismatch where a cool technical solution leads to a better customer experience, but isn’t always worth the amount that needs to be charged to support the technical solution.

But what happens when the focus is on the end result and not just exploring the technical?

DTC SaaS, I think, will have the opportunity to reinvent itself in this light, getting itself focused more on delivering value than pushing the boundaries of the technical problems that exist. That, though, will require vendors to get closer to brands, because they’ll need to get better at understanding what good looks like. That alone will lift the industry and create more “good.”

Our product focus right now is on building toward this, and I suspect others will follow suit. But I want Stamped to be at the front of this movement.

And if the energy from our team on this internal challenge is any indication, we will be.