Rebuilding Front for the AI Era | CEO Dan O’Connell
The hardest part of transformation is knowing what to let go of.
Dan O’Connell, now leading Front as CEO and formerly on the board at Dialpad, joins Joubin Mirzadegan to explore the delicate balance between legacy and innovation as he leads a decade old company through the AI revolution.
He also reflects on why courage and control can coexist in leadership, and what it means to “make decisions that give you energy.”
Guest: Dan O’Connell, CEO of Front
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Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
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AI-Powered Business Communications with Dan O'Connell, Chief AI & Strategy Officer at Dialpad
In this episode, Nathan sits down with Dan O’Connell, Chief Strategy Officer at Dialpad. They discuss building their own language models using 5 billion minutes of business calls, custom speech recognition models for every customer, and the challenges of bringing AI into business. If you need an ecommerce platform, check out our sponsor Shopify: https://shopify.com/cognitive for a $1/month trial period.
We're sharing a few of Nathan's favorite AI scouting episodes from other shows. Today, Shane Legg, Cofounder at Deepmind and its current Chief AGI Scientist, shares his insights with Dwarkesh Patel on AGI's timeline, the new architectures needed for AGI, and why multimodality will be the next big landmark. If you need an ecommerce platform, check out our sponsor Shopify: https://shopify.com/cognitive for a $1/month trial period.
We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com.
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SPONSORS:
Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. Shopify powers 10% of ALL eCommerce in the US. And Shopify's the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen, and 1,000,000s of other entrepreneurs across 175 countries.From their all-in-one e-commerce platform, to their in-person POS system – wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered. With free Shopify Magic, sell more with less effort by whipping up captivating content that converts – from blog posts to product descriptions using AI. Sign up for $1/month trial period: https://shopify.com/cognitive
Omneky is an omnichannel creative generation platform that lets you launch hundreds of thousands of ad iterations that actually work customized across all platforms, with a click of a button. Omneky combines generative AI and real-time advertising data. Mention "Cog Rev" for 10% off www.omneky.com
NetSuite has 25 years of providing financial software for all your business needs. More than 36,000 businesses have already upgraded to NetSuite by Oracle, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you're looking for an ERP platform ✅ head to NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/cognitive and download your own customized KPI checklist.
X/SOCIAL:
@labenz (Nathan)
@dialdoc (Dan)
@dialpad
@CogRev_Podcast (Cognitive Revolution)
TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) - Introduction and Welcome
(06:50) - Interview with Dan O'Connell, Chief AI and Strategy Officer at Dialpad
(07:13) - The Functionality and Utility of Dialpad
(17:20) - The Development of Dialpad's Large Language Model Trained on 5Billion Minutes of Calls
19:56 The Future of AI in Business
(22:21) - Sponsor Break: Shopify
(23:56) - The Challenges and Opportunities of AI Development
(31:17 ) - Prioritizing latency, capacity, and cost when evaluating AI
(39:41) - Most Loved AI Features in Dialpad
(42:01) - The Role of AI in Quality Assurance
(43:10) - The Future of Transcription Accuracy
(44:06) - The Importance of Speech Recognition in Business
(46:59) - Personalizing AI for Better Business Interactions
(47:01) - The Role of AI in Content Generation
(52:47) - The Challenges and Opportunities of AI in Sales and Support
This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at erik@turpentine.co.
#138 Dan O'Connell: How AI is Disrupting Business Communications
This episode is sponsored by MindStudio by YouAi. MindStudio is the best way to build an AI business. Start driving some serious revenue before everyone else. Mind Studio allows you to use conversational language to program incredibly powerful AI tools. No coding knowledge is needed to start your AI business.
Sign up now- https://youai.ai/mindstudio
On episode #138 of Eye on AI. Craig Smith sits down with Dan O'Connell, the Chief AI and Strategy Officer at Dialpad and a seasoned expert in the world of AI-driven business communications.
Check out Dialpad- https://www.dialpad.com/
Currently serving as a member of Dialpad's Board of Directors, Dan's impressive career includes leadership roles at TalkIQ, AdRoll, and an 8-year stint at Google in key sales positions.
During our conversation, Dan takes us through Dialpad's AI-driven transformation of business communication. We explore the power of natural language processing, speech recognition, and large language models, enabling real-time transcription, call summaries, sentiment analysis, and virtual agents.
We also delve into the significance of sentiment analysis and the role of context, alongside debates on third-party APIs versus proprietary models, AI's unpredictability, and domain-specific model economics.
Our exploration continues with AI's impact on CRM, generative AI's insights, chatbot evolution, and cost-effective AI management.
Tune in to explore AIs impact on modern day business communication.
Dan O'Connell's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/droconnell/
Craig Smith Twitter: https://twitter.com/craigss
Eye on A.I. Twitter: https://twitter.com/EyeOn_AI
(00:00) Preview and Introduction
(01:33) Mind Studio by YouAI
(03:46) Artificial Intelligence in Business Communications
(10:54) Building Sentiment Analysis and Custom Models
(19:35) Managing Costs and using AI in Business
(23:47) AI Disrupts CRM Market?
(30:56) Mind Studio by YouAI
CRO/CSO Dialpad, Dan O’Connell: Taking Risks and Running a Company
Dan O’Connell’s career is an impressive display of how hard work can catapult a person from the bottom of the sales hierarchy to the very top of business leadership.
Having started as an account coordinator at Google AdWords in 2003, Dan has climbed the corporate ladder — eventually becoming the CEO and President of TalkIQ in 2017. Now, Dan serves as the Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Revenue Officer and as a board member at Dialpad, a company creating an AI-powered cloud communication suite.
On this episode of Go to Market Grit, Joubin and Dan discuss Dan’s experience selling online advertisements for Google in the early to mid 2000s, Dan’s experience of becoming a CEO, and the importance for senior leaders to make an effort to connect with employees.
In this episode, we cover:
'Shooting fish in a barrel': Dan's experience working for Google and selling online advertisements in the early 2000s. (5:00)
'I wanted to do more': Taking risks and avoiding career complacency. (7:36)
Identifying skilled salespeople when demand is insanely high — and the moment when Dan realized Google was a big deal. (12:45)
The key character traits of people hired on Google's go-to-market team — and how to identify ‘coachability’ in a job candidate. (22:31)
Why Dan decided to become CEO and president of TalkIQ in 2017 after working in sales — and how his father’s example motivated him.
Humility, ambition and optimism: The qualities Dan would want his children to have — and the role of parents in encouraging new opportunities and growth. (34:10)
'An awesome experience': The complexities and fun of being a tech CEO. (37:02)
Dan's current company, Dialpad, and its AI-powered cloud communication suite — and how he deals with the transition from CEO to a lower senior position. (43:47)
The skills and qualities of a successful business manager. (47:48)
What the word grit means to Dan. (51:35)
Links:
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