Salesforce CEO on the Future of SaaS and AI, and "Oh Shift!" -- A New Podcast

So... Salesforce had an earnings call this week, and I launched a new podcast. Ironically, one had nothing to do with the other, but then in a way it kind of does.

And if you are a SaaS leader driving AI change inside your organization (or if you have chosen not to!), I want to hear from you. Drop me a DM.

Find our newest Youtube Exclusive(!!!) podcast below, with John Shao, co-founder of Pipe17.

so you. might say... Rick, you already have two weekly podcasts, why do you need another? Simple answer: I didn't see the content in the world I wanted to listen to. I see a lot of:

* Boomer: AI is 10x. saas est mort 🚀 🌙

* Doomer: AI is meh. Already over it.🙄

I don't see much nuanced conversation. And how friggin' hard it is to vibe code, and to get your own friggin' employees to adopt anything. And then when they do, how do you even know they are using the right models? This and more we will discuss on a regular basis.

Twice a month, released on Youtube. So hit the like and subscribe like kids say on the RMW Commerce channel.

So back to Marc Benioff earnings call. So what did the SF CEO say?

"Asked about the defensibility of SaaS against disruption from AI-native apps. Benioff responded, “It’s not about the fundamental, I would say, elimination of SaaS. What I would say, it’s the fundamental extension of SaaS.” Washington added that the company is “really confident in our strategy to monetize AI.”"

My take: Whether or not you agree with the statement, these are essentially fighting words to some in the VC investor community. Either way, Salesforce is not a CRM company anymore. It's a data company. And I think alot of SaaS providers need to be thinking this way too.

(I'll post a separate note on SF Commerce updates - spoiler: it wasn't all roses, but not all bad either!)