Here Comes (Forward Deployed) Everybody
2 days ago
- Salesforce's Headless 360 shifts implementation labor to customers, making them assemble software from APIs rather than receiving finished products.
- Major enterprise vendors are expected to follow Salesforce's lead, requiring companies to have in-house roles to configure generic AI and APIs for specific workflows.
- The 'Pit Crew' role is proposed for each department (marketing, finance, etc.) to translate AI capability into actionable tools, analogous to a racing pit crew tuning the car.
- Two visions emerge: 'Substitution' (fewer jobs, same work with AI) and 'Multiplication' (more jobs as productivity drives demand expansion).
- Historical parallels include Piggly Wiggly's self-service grocery model and Clay Shirky's thesis on cheap coordination enabling ad-hoc groups; now cheap building enables atomized specialized work.
- The Multiplication outcome requires systematic records and practices beyond just hiring more Pit Crew members.