The Best Automation Begins Manually // Mike Murchison, Ada (FirstMark's Data Driven NYC)

AI product development requires treating technology as a tool rather than an inherently valuable solution. Founders should first experience customer pain manually—such as performing live customer service—to identify genuine utility before applying automation. This "scavenging" approach involves leveraging existing tools to iterate rapidly before building proprietary systems. As companies scale, maintaining this foundational understanding of the user experience remains critical for long-term success. Ada, an enterprise AI customer service platform, exemplifies this by empowering non-technical teams to create hybrid AI-human workflows. By focusing on empathy and seamless handoffs, businesses like AirAsia have successfully reduced wait times from over an hour to under a minute, transforming customer service from a cost center into a strategic differentiator that drives revenue and builds brand trust.