It is critical that customer-facing teams be honest about what AI can and cannot do. AI can certainly, and no doubt, will accelerate development and help close feature gaps faster than ever before, but it will not happen overnight.
By Barry S. Honig
Over the last several weeks, much has been written about the potential impact of AI on established enterprise software companies. Markets have been rattled and iconic legacy technology firms, such as Oracle and Salesforce, have experienced considerable volatility in their stock prices. The private credit markets have also been shaken, as investors in private credit funds grow increasingly concerned about the long-term viability of privately held software firms to which they have extended credit.
Investor anxiety is largely centered on AI’s ability to rapidly create new products that could potentially replace legacy platforms or dramatically compress profit margins. I serve as the CEO and President of TruckPay, a provider of modern, mobile and cloud-based enterprise software for fleet management, dispatch, scale operations, and point-of-sale systems serving the bulk materials industries. I have also spent more than 40 years in financial services and invest in private credit funds. Given this background, I would like to share my perspective on these developments.
Does the Investment Justify the Risk?
Enterprise software is fundamentally different from consumer software. In the consumer world, switching to a new shopping, ride-hailing, or food delivery app because it is better or offers incentives is relatively simple. The transition creates little disruption, costs almost nothing to implement, and may even generate short-term economic benefits. At most, the user simply needs to learn how to navigate a new, relatively straightforward application interface. Replacing enterprise software, however, is an entirely different matter.
Completely changing a company’s ERP system such as NetSuite or Sage, or swapping out a CRM platform like Salesforce, can require years of effort. Depending on the size of the organization, it may involve significant technical resources, retraining of staff, operational disruption, and millions of dollars in investment. Most importantly, management must be convinced that the new AI-driven product will deliver meaningful and measurable benefits: cost savings; improved operational efficiency; enhanced safety; and expanded margins, so that the return on investment justifies the risk.
It is naïve to assume that simply introducing a “shiny new” AI-powered solution guarantees adoption. I can attest that it takes time to convince customers using legacy platforms to upgrade, even when those customers know their current systems are aging, unsupported, or technologically outdated. This remains true even when the system includes innovative AI-based features designed to improve productivity and safety.
The Need for Customer Communication
The reason adoption takes time is straightforward: change is often difficult. Retraining staff requires effort. Operational workflows must be adjusted. There is always a natural concern about disruption and the unknown, particularly in mission-critical environments where downtime carries significant financial consequences.
This reality highlights the central point of this article: In the age of AI, the need for customer communication cannot be overstated. Migrating customers to AI driven platforms requires more communication, not less. Even though companies may provide the most sophisticated AI driven software, the trusted relationships built between sales professionals, customer success teams, and their customers is essential. Customer-facing teams are vital in communicating the provider’s modernization strategy and long-term roadmap. Likewise, when organizations undertake major technological transitions, they rely on trusted advisors who understand their operations, constraints, and business goals.
Perhaps, in five to 10 years, this will not be true. When individuals running organizations are more comfortable conversing with and trust AI to make decisions, then the use of AI agents and chatbots could become a substitute for human customer communications to guide managers in the decision making process around replacing legacy systems, but for now, human interaction is essential. AI agents or chatbots are not a replacement for building customer relationships.
Evolving Honestly
It is critical that customer-facing teams be honest about what AI can and cannot do. Claiming dramatic productivity improvements, such as an overall increase in programmer productivity of 300 percent, or implying that legacy platforms can be instantly modernized when that is not realistic, undermines credibility. Likewise, it is important to acknowledge that new platforms, while innovative, may not yet replicate every feature that has evolved over 20 or 25 years of industry experience.
In the bulk materials industries, much of what exists in legacy systems reflects decades of accumulated operational knowledge. AI can certainly and no doubt will accelerate development and help close feature gaps faster than ever before, but it will not happen overnight. Portraying AI as an overnight cure all is simply not true. Communicating this truth builds confidence.
Alongside great products, great service remains essential. Some software firms that emphasize their use of AI believe customer support can be handled primarily by chatbots or offshore personnel who do not possess deep industry expertise. In mission-critical industries, that approach carries risk.
Facilities in the bulk materials industries represent millions of dollars in revenue to their owners and are essential to infrastructure, construction, food production, waste management, and recycling. The software that operates these facilities must be purposefully built, carefully tested, and thoughtfully deployed. When problems arise, customers need knowledgeable professionals who understand both the technology and the business. Automated responses alone do not fix the problem.
Guiding Through Modernization
There is no question that the pace of change will accelerate in the age of AI. Software providers must innovate more rapidly. And, if their customers want to remain competitive and more profitable, they should adopt these innovations at a faster pace than they have previously done. How those changes are implemented and how clearly the risks, benefits, and timelines are communicated, remains the responsibility of the provider’s customer-facing organization. The need for good communication is essential.
Sales professionals, product managers, customer success teams, and implementation engineers will play a crucial role in guiding customers through modernization in a way that protects operations while delivering measurable value.
Let’s face it. AI is here to stay, and its transformative potential should not be underestimated. Legacy systems that were designed with fairly modern architectures will evolve, and development cycles will shorten. However, the importance of trusted human relationships should not be underestimated. In enterprise software, particularly in mission-critical industries, adoption does not occur at the speed of innovation alone. It occurs at the speed of trust. | WA
Barry S. Honig is President and CEO of TruckPay. For more information, visit www.truckpay.com.