Exclusive: DataStax thrives with AI-driven customer success

Warren Schilpzand, the Area Vice President for DataStax in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, recently shared insights into how DataStax is leveraging AI to drive customer success across various industries.

DataStax, a global organisation headquartered in Silicon Valley, is renowned for its innovative data management solutions that power hyper-personalised recommendations and digital banking platforms.

Schilpzand highlighted several key projects where DataStax has made significant impacts.

"For organisations like Priceline, we're helping with AI-powered, hyper-personalised recommendations, which are really key in the travel industry," he told TechDay.

"For Macquarie Bank, we're underpinning their digital bank platform to help them innovate quicker by focusing on the customer experience layer, rather than core banking." Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, DataStax assisted Home Depot in developing curbside pickup capabilities.

"Home Depot rolled out click and collect across the entire US in just 30 days," Schilpzand noted, emphasising the speed and efficiency made possible by DataStax's platform.

Globally, DataStax serves a wide range of customers, with Schilpzand managing operations in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.

He pointed out that while DataStax has a presence in various regions, Asia is a particularly fast-growing market. "Asia is one of the fastest-growing markets globally, with countries like India showing huge technology adoption," he explained. "APAC is a focus area for growth due to its advanced approach to building impactful business solutions with Gen AI."

Despite its global reach, DataStax maintains a relatively lean workforce. "We have around six to seven hundred employees globally," Schilpzand revealed. This modest size doesn't hinder their ability to innovate; in fact, it fosters agility.

In April, DataStax acquired Langflow, an open-source project aimed at making generative AI accessible for enterprises.

"Langflow is a low-code or no-code environment for building generative AI apps, connecting to foundational models from Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and others. It's a real game-changer in the AI space," Schilpzand elaborated.

AI's integration into workplace processes has evolved significantly. Schilpzand reflected on DataStax's long history with AI and machine learning. "We've been using AI for a long time, but Gen AI has only been a real enterprise concern for about two years," he said.

The transformative potential of AI is evident in various sectors, but its most significant impact is in customer-facing applications. "Generative AI is like a productivity assistant, allowing us to do things much quicker and automating boilerplate tasks," Schilpzand explained.

The shift from naive use cases to impactful business tools is where the real value of AI is being realised.

Schilpzand also addressed the broader impact of AI on business operations. "AI is enabling enterprises to build generative AI apps that provide next-generation customer experiences," he said.

He illustrated this with examples from the retail sector, where AI helps convert visitors into purchasers and reduces return rates by better understanding customer needs. "It's not just about having a chat with a document or writing emails; it's about understanding customer intentions and providing intuitive solutions."

Feedback from customers on using Gen AI for productivity has been promising, with many reporting significant productivity improvements. "We've had one customer report a 30% improvement in developer productivity using copilot technology, proving there is more to be gained through helpful apps," Schilpzand shared.

However, he acknowledged that the journey with AI is ongoing. "The next wave of AI apps needs to drive real business impact, not just productivity aids."

When asked about DataStax's standout products, Schilpzand mentioned three key offerings: the AstraDB platform, Langflow and their self-managed data platform. "AstraDB is our cloud-based service that's easy to get started with, while our hyper-converged data platform is for those who prefer to manage their own data," he explained.

"Another key offering is Langflow, a new way of building AI apps built on top of LangChain that integrates with the full breadth of the new AI programming stack."

Market trends, particularly the rise of Gen AI, are driving customer success at DataStax. "Generative AI applications need data, and organisations don't want to train models on the internet with their own data," Schilpzand said. "They need to bring that data into an operational data platform, which is where we come in."

DataStax's distributed work model, established long before the COVID-19 pandemic, allows flexibility and efficiency. "We've always been a distributed company, allowing us to hire the best talent wherever they are," Schilpzand noted. 

His approach has proven beneficial, fostering collaboration while maintaining the advantages of remote work.

Schilpzand emphasised that while AI is evolving the employment landscape, it also highlights the irreplaceable value of human insight.

"AI tools mimic human behaviour, but we design these systems based on our understanding," he said. "The human element in making AI successful cannot be minimised."