Martech Chronicles: From Long Tail to Hyper Tail in Martech

Hmmm, a weekend scribble from my moral agnosticism. Mr Altman suggests 'entering the fast fashion era of software'. has arrived. Hmmm... suggest the 'Logistic tech' has been there for a while now. SaaS Start-up's, potentially short on expertise and industry experience, predictably fuelled by opportunistic private equity, spin up apps quickly, chasing adoption without proven profitability or long-term models. AI only accelerates this low-cost entry point, flooding the market with short-lived, niche tools that habituate: → App fatigue across operational teams and leaders → Integration headaches and data silos → Platform builds disappearing before systems can be embedded or pivoting designs repeatedly That isn’t innovation, call it what it is, 'churn'. And churn kills operational focus. What our Customer domain needs isn’t “more SaaS apps.” It’s fewer, proven platforms, investing deeply that integrate seamlessly, scale globally, and deliver ROI and lasting ROV. To be fair we could do with our principal industry stakeholders understanding that digitalisation, quality data and standardisation mindsets are key. Making this relevant to my day job. That’s the CargoWise difference: a durable digital foundation, backed by expert and experienced Service Partners who help our Customers activate, optimise and integrate faster. Cut churn, unlock efficiencies, and stay focused on what matters — moving the global container and trade channels forward. End of weekend scribble. Fool of a Took.😂 #cargowisepartners #3plservices #logistics #cargo

Firecrawl raises $14.5 million to redefine web data access for AI and developers #Firecrawl, the open-source web #scraping platform, has secured $14.5 million in a Series A round led by Nexus Venture Partners, with backing from Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke and Y Combinator. The company, already trusted by more than 350,000 developers and AI teams worldwide, powers data access for leading firms such as Shopify, Replit and Zapier. At the core of Firecrawl’s offering is its proprietary Fire-Engine technology, designed to deliver faster, more reliable web data extraction. This has made it a go-to tool for organizations navigating the rising demand for high-quality, structured web data in AI development. The new capital will support global expansion, product innovation, and key hires—including an AI chief of staff tasked with advancing Firecrawl’s agent-based automation. Looking ahead, Firecrawl plans to pioneer licensed partnerships with publishers, enabling content owners to earn revenue when their paywalled material is used in #AI training. This approach could establish a sustainable framework for balancing innovation and fair content monetization. The article on #DailyAIBrief in the first comment.

From doom-scrolling to doom-prompting, our relationship with technology is being rewired by dopamine. Lots of new tool, app, or workflow is designed not just for utility but for the hit of novelty. As Sam Altman rightly said, “We’re in a fast fashion era of SaaS.” The churn is real. Tools are launched, hyped, adopted briefly, and then disposed of when the next shiny solution appears. This can be easily seen in enterprises too. This shift is accelerated by the economics of development. The cost of building and deploying new products is dropping so fast that the traditional cycles of product adoption, maturity, and repeatability are breaking down. What once required large teams and long roadmaps can now be spun up in weeks by a small group. That makes the "shelf-life" of software shorter than ever but also raises the stakes for what truly endures. The real question is: in this age of rapid experimentation, what will stand the test of time? Will we keep chasing the dopamine of the “new,” or will we start valuing the systems that can evolve, integrate, and sustain impact beyond the initial buzz? The companies that figure this balance out won’t just win the next hype cycle. They’ll define the foundations of the next era of tech. Focus on the outcomes; just having fun while using a tool may not be the right metric for the business. #ExperienceFromTheField #WrittenByHuman

We’re excited to introduce Dev² (“Dev Squared”)—our breakthrough AI-powered engineering model that’s redefining the application development lifecycle for enterprise clients in retail, e-commerce, fintech, and manufacturing. Early results? ⚡ 44% faster delivery cycles ⚡ 25% fewer bugs ⚡ Higher quality, every sprint Dev² combines a secure, private AI stack with lean, senior engineering squads to deliver speed, consistency, and reliability at scale. From automating thousands of tests in minutes to seamless integration with your tech stack, Dev² is built for real business impact. As our Chief Growth Officer, Karan Chetal, puts it: “Everyone will tell you AI can make development faster. That’s table stakes. The difference with Dev² is who we pair it with. Lean, senior engineering squads—people who understand what the best outcome looks like—working with AI to accelerate every stage of the application development lifecycle. That combination doesn’t just increase velocity; it uplevels the quality. It means fewer bugs, better architecture, and experiences that are right the first time. For e-commerce, that’s the difference between simply shipping faster and delivering something customers love and trust.” Ready to see how Dev² can modernize your application development? Read the full announcement at the link in the comments. #AIDrivenDevelopment #EngineeringExcellence #DigitalTransformation #TechInnovation #MonksTechServices

🚀 RevOps Predictions 2025: What’s Coming Next We’re more than halfway through 2025, and the shifts in RevOps are already taking shape. Hyperscayle LLC’s team outlined 10 bold predictions for the year ahead—and many are proving true in real time. Here’s a snapshot: 📞 Cold outbound is making a comeback—smarter, not louder 🤖 AI adoption remains cautious and disciplined 📈 RevOps roles are showing up in 3x more job listings 💡 75% of high-growth B2B companies are leaning on RevOps to plug revenue leaks 🎯 Buyer journey orchestration is replacing outdated attribution models The message is clear: RevOps is evolving fast, and companies that embrace it now will be the ones leading growth tomorrow. 👉 Explore the full predictions: https://lnkd.in/eKS9mETc

🚨 Two 20-year-olds just raised $500K to solve a $1.8 trillion problem. Meet Kristian Lukauskis and Alexander Dillon from ChatBlu. While most their age are figuring out college, they're building the world's first autonomous AI inventory agent for e-commerce. Here's what caught my attention: 💡 The problem they're solving is MASSIVE. Inventory inefficiencies cost retailers $1.8 trillion annually. That's not a typo. Trillion with a T. 💡 Their solution is brilliantly simple. Plain-language commands to manage inventory across Shopify, Amazon, and Etsy. No complex dashboards. No manual updates. Just tell the AI what you want. 💡 The results speak for themselves. Early tests show up to 20% boost in conversion rates. Dramatic reduction in time and labor costs. Fewer manual errors across multiple sales channels. What impresses me most? They're not just building another AI tool. They're automating one of the most painful parts of running an e-commerce business. Every store owner knows the nightmare: Manually updating inventory across platforms. Stock-outs killing sales momentum. Overselling leading to angry customers. ChatBlu's AI agent handles all of this in real-time. While you focus on growing your business. Matador Ventures Capital led their pre-seed round. Product launches September 2025. This is exactly the kind of AI application that will transform entire industries. Not flashy. Not overhyped. Just solving real problems for real businesses. Age is just a number when you're solving trillion-dollar problems. What's your take—will autonomous AI agents become the new standard for e-commerce operations?

IN NEWS: Attio raises $52M series B led by GV (Google Ventures). Nicolas Sharp (Co-Founder & CEO, Attio) on AI in CRM: "LLMs work great when they have lots of context and you need to feed them that. One of the first things we worked on was this data model and being able to instantly ingest emails, calendars, product data, etc." "We have a thesis that code is becoming the new no-code. Software becomes so much more malleable because code is so much easier to generate." Full conversation with Nicolas is linked in the comments. Technology’s daily show. Follow on LinkedIn for more.

A few months ago, a small retail startup owner approached us through my LinkedIn profile. Their startup was growing, BUT - Their sales team was drowning. - Too many website inquiries.  - Too many carts are abandoned.  - Not enough people to keep up. We have a detailed discussion about their journey and ongoing situation, not to sell our tech services, but to understand the gap. The issue wasn’t traffic. It wasn’t product quality. It was missed conversations. People were asking simple questions and leaving before anyone could answer. 📌So, we built them a conversational AI, nothing fancy, no unnecessary bells and whistles.  📌It greeted visitors, answered questions, helped with product selection, and followed up when someone left mid-checkout. 📌Within six weeks, sales were up 23%. Not because we built something magical, but because we fixed the human part of the experience: timely, relevant, consistent conversations. That’s the thing I keep learning in this business. Technology alone doesn’t do big things. Technology that solves the right problem does. What are your thoughts about it? #ConversationalAI #RetailTech #StartupGrowth #CustomerExperience #Lessonslearnt #DigiMarkDevelopers #TeamDigiMark 

𝐖𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞: “𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭” all powered by #n8n (self-hosted) using free tools! 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬? The store was struggling with manual order handling, including missed inquiries, slow responses, and a lack of a centralized log of customers/orders. They sought a 24/7 automated system to manage customer engagement, order capture, and internal notifications without requiring additional staff or without the overhead of costly SaaS tools. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭: ✔️ AI Chatbot to answer FAQs, recommend products, and capture order details. ✔️ Slack Alerts to notify the support team instantly about new orders. ✔️ Automated Emails to confirm orders with customers (personalized & professional). ✔️ Google Sheets Logging for a complete CRM-ready database of all orders. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞: ✅ 24/7 customer engagement with zero manual effort ✅ Instant team notifications → no missed orders ✅ Warm, automated emails that improved trust & customer experience ✅ Centralized record in Google Sheets for tracking, analytics & retargeting ✅ Scalable, cost-efficient, and 100% customizable for any retail business 👉 The best part? It’s built on open-source tools (n8n + free APIs), making it cost-effective and future-proof. Would love to hear from others, where do you see AI + Automation making the biggest impact in retail or service businesses? #Automation #n8n #NoCode #industryautomation #AI #AIAgent #WorkflowAutomation #RetailTech #CustomerExperience