--- title: "This is getting real: Welcome to the AI revolution - The Intercom Blog" description: "The talk traces the tech industry’s journey from the late stages of SaaS in 2019, through pandemic virtual offices and NFTs, to the 2022 downturn and ChatGPT’s launch in November 2022. 2023 was a year of prototypes and ‘thin wrappers’ on ChatGPT, but also real learning about building with LLMs, including non-deterministic approaches. The author argues the AI transformation is now real, moving beyond superficial features to fundamentally rethinking products, exemplified by the shift from ‘Software as a Service’ to ‘Service as Software.’ The future of customer service includes proactive, personalized bots, video and voice bots, and the ability to analyze all conversations to deeply understand customers. The author cites Bloom’s 2 sigma effect as an example of AI’s potential in education and urges optimism, noting that learners will inherit the earth." --- # This is getting real: Welcome to the AI revolution - The Intercom Blog [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom) · Oct 5, 2026 **Type:** Explainer ## Summary The talk traces the tech industry’s journey from the late stages of SaaS in 2019, through pandemic virtual offices and NFTs, to the 2022 downturn and ChatGPT’s launch in November 2022. 2023 was a year of prototypes and ‘thin wrappers’ on ChatGPT, but also real learning about building with LLMs, including non-deterministic approaches. The author argues the AI transformation is now real, moving beyond superficial features to fundamentally rethinking products, exemplified by the shift from ‘Software as a Service’ to ‘Service as Software.’ The future of customer service includes proactive, personalized bots, video and voice bots, and the ability to analyze all conversations to deeply understand customers. The author cites Bloom’s 2 sigma effect as an example of AI’s potential in education and urges optimism, noting that learners will inherit the earth. ## Context The talk was delivered at Intercom’s first AI customer service summit, Pioneer, in February 2025. It reflects on the tech industry’s recent history from 2019 to 2025, highlighting the transition from superficial AI experiments to genuine integration of LLMs into products, particularly in customer service. The author argues that AI is now certain and that the industry is moving from ‘Software as a Service’ to ‘Service as Software’. ## Takeaways - The tech industry moved from late-stage SaaS in 2019 through pandemic virtual offices and NFTs to the 2022 downturn, then ChatGPT’s launch in November 2022 marked a turning point. - 2023 was a year of prototypes and “thin wrappers” on ChatGPT, but also a period of real learning about building with LLMs, including non-deterministic approaches. - The shift from “Software as a Service” to “Service as Software” means selling the product that does the work itself rather than seats for humans. ## FAQ ### What was the tech industry like before ChatGPT? The post describes the late stages of SaaS in 2019, followed by pandemic-era virtual offices and the NFT craze, then the 2022 downturn. ChatGPT's launch in November 2022 marked a turning point from this period of uncertainty. ### What characterized 2023 in AI development? 2023 was the year of prototypes and 'thin wrappers' on ChatGPT, but also real learning about building with LLMs, including non-deterministic approaches and identifying actual problems. The post notes that Fortune 500 companies rushed to adopt AI for press releases, producing 'AI slop'. ### What does 'Service as Software' mean? The post defines it as a shift from selling seats for humans to do a job to selling the product that does the work itself. This represents a fundamental rethinking of products and roles in the software industry. **Tags:** [AI](https://yomu.fyi/topic/ai), [Customer Support](https://yomu.fyi/topic/customer-support), [LLMs](https://yomu.fyi/topic/llm), [SaaS](https://yomu.fyi/topic/saas) - Source: [Intercom](https://www.intercom.com/blog/videos/pioneer-this-is-getting-real-ai-revolution) - Source URL: https://www.intercom.com/blog/videos/pioneer-this-is-getting-real-ai-revolution - Ingested by Yomu: 2026-10-05T18:00:19.346Z [Read original post](https://www.intercom.com/blog/videos/pioneer-this-is-getting-real-ai-revolution)