Tech is tech is tech! You are probably tired of me saying, “In 10 years, we will be as dismissive of today’s tech as we are now regarding floppy drives, modems, and dot matrix printers.” However, tech has never been, nor will it ever be, the primary driver of your organization’s success. The main driver of your success starts with the people behind the technology and extends to include your team. Yes, as a practitioner you do have an integral role in your own success.
Over the past several weeks, many practitioners and solution providers have contacted me regarding my Top 10 Analyst Map. For those new to this blog, here is the link to my post: Why we need a DraftKings for the procurement world. I share this with you because that post culminated in my most recent aha moment.
Analyze The People Behind the Tech?
The first question is usually, what is the difference between your Top 10 Map and other solution provider maps, and what do you mean by analyzing the people behind the technology.
Rather than outline the what and why, I will share the following high-level overview or summary that goes beyond solution categories and map placement. When I say high-level, that is exactly what it is—my summary assessment of the information I have gathered in the way of intel through direct meetings and in-depth research.
One thing I don’t do at this early stage is ask to see a demo. That is because if I don’t feel confident in the industry experience and expertise of the people behind the tech, I won’t feel comfortable with their tech, regardless of the many bells and whistles it may have.
Beyond Michael Farrand, who is on contract as a Food and agriculture advisor, there is Rohit Aggarwal, the COO, who has held five different positions over the past, let’s say, five years with DecisionNext.
Beyond that, the emphasis shifts to expertise, as demonstrated by the following:
The next thing I found was in a post from 9 months ago that Gartner featured “DecisionNext in the 2023 Hype Cycle Report.” As an Important sidenote, The only other post by Rohit after that was 1 week ago about an opening at the company for an Economist. Besides the FMI webinar or panel discussion, I still have to watch the rest of it; there is not much out there about the people/experts behind the company.
The above would leave mid-market clients, let alone enterprise clients, with little to go on and potentially little confidence in the company’s capability to deliver needed value over a sustained period. I don’t even see any clients listed.
Once again, I am not trying to be harsh, but it is a Jungle out there. Mintec (now Expana) has been around for 30 years and has a revenue stream of $20 to $50 million. In the meantime, Helios.ai, although relatively new (2023) with minimal revenue of $500K to $1M, is promoting itself as the AI next-generation agri commodity solution featuring Cersi, “The World’s First AI Analyst.” It doesn’t hurt that they received $1.85 million in pre-seed funding.
The takeaway is that the new kid on the block has the admittedly cool tech and is well-funded. In contrast, the seasoned veteran company has a proven revenue stream and a powerful tagline: “For more than 200 years, we have built trust and credibility in the market through our deep specialist knowledge and constant innovation. We are industry experts. And we are part of the bigger picture. We feed the world with the data it needs.”
You must also remember that many other players like Beroe are in the same space. Where does DecisionNext fit on the spectrum of long-standing and trusted providers whose data feeds the world and the next seemingly well-funded slick AI tech challenger? By the way, check out Helios’ advisors. It discretely says a lot.
What I am looking at is the hidden potential value in DecisionNext. Is their company in the position to step out from behind obscure achievements, e.g., the Gartner Hype Cycle Report, and do they – beyond their technology have the chops to “outwork,” “out service,” and “out produce,” e.g., deliver greater output and outcomes?
Now, I did leave them with the following words of encouragement:
I can’t quite put my finger on it at this point. Still, something tells me that their success as a company is based on DecisionNext’s ability to combine the best of the veteran company expertise with the sizzle of the new AI kid on the block. Put another way, DecisionNext “keeps “the humanity” in the emerging AI era.”
The above is my high-level take on where this company, which started in 2014, is today.
Procurement Insights 
A New Map: Analyzing the people behind the technology
Posted on June 27, 2024
0
Tech is tech is tech! You are probably tired of me saying, “In 10 years, we will be as dismissive of today’s tech as we are now regarding floppy drives, modems, and dot matrix printers.” However, tech has never been, nor will it ever be, the primary driver of your organization’s success. The main driver of your success starts with the people behind the technology and extends to include your team. Yes, as a practitioner you do have an integral role in your own success.
Over the past several weeks, many practitioners and solution providers have contacted me regarding my Top 10 Analyst Map. For those new to this blog, here is the link to my post: Why we need a DraftKings for the procurement world. I share this with you because that post culminated in my most recent aha moment.
Analyze The People Behind the Tech?
The first question is usually, what is the difference between your Top 10 Map and other solution provider maps, and what do you mean by analyzing the people behind the technology.
Rather than outline the what and why, I will share the following high-level overview or summary that goes beyond solution categories and map placement. When I say high-level, that is exactly what it is—my summary assessment of the information I have gathered in the way of intel through direct meetings and in-depth research.
One thing I don’t do at this early stage is ask to see a demo. That is because if I don’t feel confident in the industry experience and expertise of the people behind the tech, I won’t feel comfortable with their tech, regardless of the many bells and whistles it may have.
Who is DecisionNext
Beyond Michael Farrand, who is on contract as a Food and agriculture advisor, there is Rohit Aggarwal, the COO, who has held five different positions over the past, let’s say, five years with DecisionNext.
Beyond that, the emphasis shifts to expertise, as demonstrated by the following:
The next thing I found was in a post from 9 months ago that Gartner featured “DecisionNext in the 2023 Hype Cycle Report.” As an Important sidenote, The only other post by Rohit after that was 1 week ago about an opening at the company for an Economist. Besides the FMI webinar or panel discussion, I still have to watch the rest of it; there is not much out there about the people/experts behind the company.
The above would leave mid-market clients, let alone enterprise clients, with little to go on and potentially little confidence in the company’s capability to deliver needed value over a sustained period. I don’t even see any clients listed.
Once again, I am not trying to be harsh, but it is a Jungle out there. Mintec (now Expana) has been around for 30 years and has a revenue stream of $20 to $50 million. In the meantime, Helios.ai, although relatively new (2023) with minimal revenue of $500K to $1M, is promoting itself as the AI next-generation agri commodity solution featuring Cersi, “The World’s First AI Analyst.” It doesn’t hurt that they received $1.85 million in pre-seed funding.
The takeaway is that the new kid on the block has the admittedly cool tech and is well-funded. In contrast, the seasoned veteran company has a proven revenue stream and a powerful tagline: “For more than 200 years, we have built trust and credibility in the market through our deep specialist knowledge and constant innovation. We are industry experts. And we are part of the bigger picture. We feed the world with the data it needs.”
You must also remember that many other players like Beroe are in the same space. Where does DecisionNext fit on the spectrum of long-standing and trusted providers whose data feeds the world and the next seemingly well-funded slick AI tech challenger? By the way, check out Helios’ advisors. It discretely says a lot.
What I am looking at is the hidden potential value in DecisionNext. Is their company in the position to step out from behind obscure achievements, e.g., the Gartner Hype Cycle Report, and do they – beyond their technology have the chops to “outwork,” “out service,” and “out produce,” e.g., deliver greater output and outcomes?
Now, I did leave them with the following words of encouragement:
I can’t quite put my finger on it at this point. Still, something tells me that their success as a company is based on DecisionNext’s ability to combine the best of the veteran company expertise with the sizzle of the new AI kid on the block. Put another way, DecisionNext “keeps “the humanity” in the emerging AI era.”
The above is my high-level take on where this company, which started in 2014, is today.
In the meantime, Mintec (now Expana) remains on my Top 10 List, while Helios.ai and DecisionNext are on my “Watch List.”
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