Dheeraj Pandey, CEO and co-founder of DevRev, can also be the previous CEO and founding father of Nutanix and a present board member of Adobe. Together with co-founder Manoj Agarwal, Pandey launched DevRev to rework how builders (Dev) join with revenue-generating prospects (Rev).
DevRev’s mission is to embed customer-centricity into the core of product growth, turning it right into a cultural basis moderately than a departmental focus. By leveraging information, AI, and design, the platform empowers builders to straight impression enterprise outcomes, streamline workflows, and speed up innovation. Backed by one of many largest seed fundings in Silicon Valley historical past, DevRev is redefining customer-focused product growth with its Product-Led Development (PLG) mannequin.
What impressed you to discovered DevRev after your profitable tenure with Nutanix, and the way did your expertise there form the imaginative and prescient for DevRev?
Whereas constructing Nutanix through the period of Enterprise SaaS 1.0, I discovered that enterprise software program usually turns right into a maze of fragmented instruments, every tackling only a piece of a broader downside. Many merchandise available in the market are actually simply options packaged as full options. This expertise fueled my need to construct a platform that would actually unify and simplify complicated workflows, serving to companies concentrate on what actually issues: their prospects. DevRev was born from this concept of doing fewer issues however doing them higher—integrating capabilities seamlessly to construct extra customer-centric corporations.”
DevRev is described as being constructed “from a clean web page within the AI period.” Are you able to elaborate on what this implies, and why it was essential to begin recent moderately than construct on current SaaS techniques?
Beginning DevRev from scratch in right this moment’s AI-driven world allowed us to create a basically completely different product with out legacy constraints. AI is present process what I prefer to name a ‘Goldilocks second’—a stability the place know-how, demand, and instruments like neural networks are excellent for transformation. Constructing from a clean web page meant we may leverage these advances to rethink what SaaS might be and place prospects and merchandise on the heart moderately than adapting outdated techniques to new calls for.
You’ve emphasised making a customer-centric platform at DevRev. How do you make sure that AI-driven processes nonetheless preserve human wants on the forefront of operations?
Our strategy is to make AI an enabler, not a alternative. We prioritize interactions that align with actual buyer wants by integrating human insights into the guts of DevRev’s AI and data graph—a strong, unified system that ties collectively product, buyer, and operational information to offer wealthy context for AI interactions. This implies the AI can assist groups by managing updates and simplifying processes, permitting corporations to concentrate on actual buyer wants. The result’s a platform that enhances human interactions by being collaborative and contextual, serving to corporations stay empathetic and responsive.
What have been the largest challenges you confronted through the early days of DevRev, particularly by way of integrating AI and creating the data graph that powers the platform?
One main problem was avoiding the pitfalls of conventional project-centric techniques. We wished DevRev to be customer- and product-centric, which required a complete data graph from the beginning. Constructing this was complicated, nevertheless it was important to breaking down silos and integrating every little thing from buyer suggestions to engineering workflows into one seamless interface.
DevRev is positioned as an AI-native platform. How do you see AI evolving throughout the enterprise SaaS area, and what position does DevRev play in that transformation?
AI is the driving drive behind what we see as SaaS 2.0—shifting from static software program to an adaptive, agent-driven expertise. On this new mannequin, AI is not only a software however a foundational layer that learns and evolves alongside the enterprise. DevRev leverages agentic AI to create a seamless, steady studying atmosphere, permitting corporations to shift their focus from operational mechanics to deep buyer engagement. Simply because the cloud redefined infrastructure, AI is reshaping SaaS, enabling platforms like DevRev to drive richer, extra responsive interactions throughout your complete enterprise.
How does DevRev’s data graph differentiate it from conventional SaaS options? What worth does it convey to companies utilizing your platform?
DevRev’s data graph is constructed to unify product and buyer information, making a dynamic, built-in view throughout departments. Not like conventional CRMs, which frequently emphasize gross sales transactions, our data graph captures the complete journey of a product and the shopper’s interplay with it. This implies companies can higher predict wants, resolve points quicker, and finally create a product that’s constantly aligned with buyer calls for.
The brand new options in AgentOS, reminiscent of no-code customized AI brokers and conversational search, purpose to simplify work. May you share particular examples of how these options have reworked operations in your shoppers?
With AgentOS, corporations are discovering they’ll streamline processes that when required a number of instruments. As an illustration, no-code brokers enable assist groups to rapidly construct workflows that reply to distinctive buyer wants with out heavy IT involvement. One consumer used conversational search to cut back their response time by 30%, empowering assist groups to focus extra on buyer satisfaction than backend coordination.
With main backers like Mayfield and Khosla Ventures, what was your strategy to securing funding for DevRev, and the way did you pitch the worth of your AI-native platform to buyers?
The pitch centered on a recent strategy to SaaS that might be purpose-built for the AI period. Traders acknowledged that the timing was proper—AI, cloud, and buyer expectations have all developed. They noticed DevRev as a platform that would combine these components right into a unified resolution, making enterprise software program each extra clever and extra customer-centric.
DevRev is already seeing substantial time-saving impacts (e.g., lowering incident response occasions by 30%). What different areas of enterprise SaaS do you consider can profit most from AI-driven effectivity?
AI could make an impression throughout capabilities, particularly in areas that contain high-volume buyer interactions, complicated engineering processes, and frequent updates. DevRev is actively growing options that transcend simply time financial savings—serving to corporations reduce down on operational prices whereas attaining a extra agile, customer-driven strategy.
As DevRev continues to develop, how do you preserve the stability between speedy scaling and staying true to your mission of constructing customer-centric corporations?
Staying customer-centric means constantly evolving with our shoppers and their wants. We’re centered on scalable, high-impact options moderately than overwhelming customers with choices. Our workforce is dedicated to balancing progress with the precept of ‘much less is best,’ making certain that each function we roll out enhances the shopper journey and aligns with DevRev’s core mission.
Thanks for the nice interview, readers who want to study extra ought to go to DevRev.
