---
title: "Latest reads"
description: "The engineering internet, summarised so you can actually read it."
---

# Latest reads
> The engineering internet, summarised so you can actually read it.

## Articles

### [How AI is Transforming Customer Service Tech Stacks](https://yomu.fyi/post/how-ai-is-transforming-customer-service-tech-stacks.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

Customer service tech stacks have become fragmented and outdated, comprising many disconnected point solutions that slow teams and prevent fast, personal experiences. Recent advances in AI now enable a consolidated AI-first platform with AI at the core, empowering teams to analyze conversation data, spot trends, and deliver personalized support at scale using business and customer data. AI bots can first resolve repetitive queries 24/7, then build contextual experiences from historical data, and eventually take actions like setting up capabilities for customers. AI makes proactive engagement possible by detecting customer actions to preemptively unblock pain points, onboard users, and prevent friction. This shift improves metrics like customer satisfaction and operational efficiency and supports data-driven programs like Intercom’s Beyond CSAT to measure success.


### [The Ticket: Amplitude’s Jenna Elliott on navigating the future of customer success - The Intercom Blog](https://yomu.fyi/post/the-ticket-amplitude-s-jenna-elliott-on-navigating-the-future-of-custo.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

On The Ticket podcast, Intercom’s Declan Ivory interviews Amplitude’s Jenna Elliott about navigating AI-driven customer experience. Elliott argues a data-driven culture requires both qualitative and quantitative data to gauge team efficacy and identify areas for improvement, enabling targeted strategies that drive quicker value for customers. She highlights the balance between operational excellence and customer centricity, requiring a focus on KPIs and OKR frameworks as well as agile responsiveness to customer needs. AI should be implemented thoughtfully to complement rather than replace human interaction, boosting productivity and creating real value when integrated intentionally into the customer journey. New roles such as technical writers, customer journey designers, and strategists will emerge to ensure data is used in the right way to inform the customer journey.


### [Understanding the Economics of Customer Service in the Age of AI](https://yomu.fyi/post/understanding-the-economics-of-customer-service-in-the-age-of-ai.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

Customer service has long been perceived as a cost center rather than a value driver, but the transformative arrival of generative AI, including tools such as Fin, is rapidly changing that equation. Understanding the economics of customer service involves balancing the financial costs of providing support against the value it creates, aiming for sustainability and alignment with overall business goals. AI automates routine tasks, enabling support teams to focus on more complex and value-adding activities that require stronger troubleshooting skills, subject matter expertise, and customer empathy. Integrating AI requires investment beyond just purchasing the technology, including knowledge management, content creation, and building an ecosystem that supports continuous learning by support teams. This alters the traditional linear scaling model, enabling companies to absorb increased workload without proportional expansion, leading to cost savings and more rewarding roles.


### [The Ticket: Simon T. Bailey on the platinum service principles that create lifelong customers - The Intercom Blog](https://yomu.fyi/post/the-ticket-simon-t-bailey-on-the-platinum-service-principles-that-crea.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

The blog post recounts a podcast episode from The Ticket featuring Simon T. Bailey, author of Be the Spark, who discusses platinum service principles to create lifelong customers with Intercom VP of Customer Support Declan Ivory. Bailey’s pivotal realization came while sweeping streets at Disney, where he understood his true purpose was to create magical moments for families seeking a once-in-a-lifetime experience. He argues the platinum standard for customer service supersedes the gold standard by emphasizing personal connection, engagement, and making people feel valued rather than merely completing transactions. Key enablers include employee empowerment through recognition and sharing success stories, and leadership that avoids pitfalls like micromanagement while modeling the behaviors that enhance experience. Cultivating resilience and a genuine customer-love mindset drives loyalty, advocacy, and positive business outcomes, enabling teams to maintain high-quality service despite challenges.


### [Intercom on Product: How to design standout products in an AI world - The Intercom Blog](https://yomu.fyi/post/intercom-on-product-how-to-design-standout-products-in-an-ai-world-the.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

Intercom’s VP of Design Emmet Connolly and Staff Product Designer Molly Mahar discuss how product designers must adapt their methods for AI, drawing from their experiences building Intercom’s products. They explain that designing for AI means moving from deterministic to probabilistic systems, where unpredictability is the norm and designers must design flexibly around surprises. Data quality is foundational for reliable AI, so designers should prioritize it; realistic prototyping using actual data helps capture essential user feedback and evaluate output effectiveness. Extensive testing is necessary to anticipate possible system failures; if live versions catch designers off guard, testing must be more robust. Building user trust requires consistent positive experiences and transparency about how the system works and its data, enabling designers to create AI experiences that make users feel comfortable and confident.


### [Crossing the threshold: Exploring Intercom's Customer Service Trends Report for 2024 - The Intercom Blog](https://yomu.fyi/post/crossing-the-threshold-exploring-intercom-x27-s-customer-service-trend.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

Intercom’s 2024 Customer Service Trends Report surveyed over 2,000 professionals, and in a podcast episode of The Ticket, three Intercom support leaders discussed the findings. The report found that customer expectations have hit an all-time high, with 87% of support teams reporting increased demands, driven by the availability of high-quality AI chatbots. AI adoption is accelerating: almost half of support teams already use AI, and 70% of C-level executives plan to invest further in 2024. Support roles are evolving, with new positions such as conversation designers and analysts emerging, as humans complement AI for complex issues. The report also reveals that only 18% of professionals believe their existing tech stack covers all needs, leading to demand for integrated AI-centric platforms and a shift in metrics like average handle time.


### [Intercom on Product: Riding the AI wave in 2024 - The Intercom Blog](https://yomu.fyi/post/intercom-on-product-riding-the-ai-wave-in-2024-the-intercom-blog.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

Intercom leaders reflect on 2023’s generative AI dominance in a podcast, predicting deeper investments, AI-first companies, and hardware transformations like wearable tech and AI-native products in 2024. Standout moments include Paul’s AI holiday using phone camera translation for travel and Emmet’s praise for Nintendo’s Tears of the Kingdom physics innovation. Optimal AI deployment requires careful use-case selection, avoiding misapplication on structured tasks needing human oversight, while wearable tech success depends on seamless lifestyle integration over status. Customer support will evolve from ticket-resolution to a continuous relationship-building model, emphasizing ongoing engagement over finite tasks, with design playing a key role. A key concern is that over-reliance on AI tools as magic wands may erode critical thinking and judgment in product management and complex troubleshooting, where details matter.


### [CX leader Camille Acey on the evolving dynamics in customer service - The Intercom Blog](https://yomu.fyi/post/cx-leader-camille-acey-on-the-evolving-dynamics-in-customer-service-th.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Problem & solution

Camille E. Acey, a seasoned CX leader and consultant, describes the profound transformation underway in customer service, driven by AI, layoffs, and rising customer expectations. She advises startups to avoid over-hiring senior full-time roles and instead use fractional CX leaders who can establish strategy while junior or mid-level staff manage daily operations. Camille emphasizes that AI cannot replace human empathy and should be deployed first on repetitive, low-hanging tasks, preserving simpler issues for junior talent development. She notes that layoffs will degrade service quality unless leaders secure organizational buy-in, communicate resource impacts, and prioritize essential functions. Customer service teams must partner with product to prioritize requests that deliver the most value for the right target users, not fulfill every wish.


### [Synthesia CEO Victor Riparbelli on how generative AI is transforming video](https://yomu.fyi/post/synthesia-ceo-victor-riparbelli-on-how-generative-ai-is-transforming-v.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

Synthesia CEO Victor Riparbelli explains how generative AI is revolutionizing video production by allowing users to create videos from text without cameras, studios, or actors. The platform, founded in 2017, now serves enterprise customers for training and internal communications, converting text or PowerPoint into editable AI videos. Riparbelli predicts that within the next year, AI avatars will become virtually indistinguishable from real footage, and video may transform into interactive live streams. He notes that Synthesia’s target audience is not professional video producers but the vast number of people who lack resources to make video content. On regulation, he argues for focusing on outcomes rather than limiting the models themselves, given the potential for misuse.


### [All that glitters is not gold: Angel investor Christoph Janz on finding the right opportunities in AI - The Intercom Blog](https://yomu.fyi/post/all-that-glitters-is-not-gold-angel-investor-christoph-janz-on-finding.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

Angel investor Christoph Janz of Point Nine Capital, an early backer of Zendesk and Clio, shares his mental map for generative AI investment opportunities, describing ChatGPT’s launch as a wake-up call that surprised even AI experts. He argues that incumbents like Microsoft dominate horizontal categories such as spreadsheets through bundling and zero pricing, requiring startups to deliver a 10x better and cheaper product to win. Janz recommends targeting vertical markets like dentistry, where direct customer acquisition via industry channels reduces competition, and new categories for previously unsolvable problems, avoiding broad horizontal markets. He notes that relying on GPT-4 may force startups to accept lower gross margins or negative margins temporarily while betting on future cost reductions. For vertical SaaS, he believes persistent 30-50% year-over-year growth over 15 years can yield sizeable businesses due to direct customer access and less competition from large players.


### [Turning the tide: CS expert Jo Causon on reviving customer satisfaction rates - The Intercom Blog](https://yomu.fyi/post/turning-the-tide-cs-expert-jo-causon-on-reviving-customer-satisfaction.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Problem & solution

UK customer satisfaction scores have fallen to 2015 levels, the worst drop since the national index began in 2008. Jo Causon, CEO of the Institute of Customer Service, attributes the decline to a perfect storm of recruitment and retention difficulties alongside technology that has not yet delivered on its promises. She notes that organizations spend roughly 20% of their time rectifying problems they created, a massive inefficiency. To reverse the trend, Causon advises embedding a service culture across every department, understanding the full customer journey, and proactively eliminating pain points rather than just handling complaints. Data shows that a 1% rise in employee engagement yields nearly a 0.5% increase in customer satisfaction, reinforcing that customer service must be an organization-wide priority.


### [Training the next generation of support leaders with Peak Support’s Hannah Steiman - The Intercom Blog](https://yomu.fyi/post/training-the-next-generation-of-support-leaders-with-peak-support-s-ha.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

Hannah Steiman, President of Peak Support, argues that leadership enablement is critical for support teams in high-growth companies, since many leaders lack formal training and must be developed internally. Key challenges include retraining agents from rule-following to proactive problem-solving, coaching using performance data like DSATs, and engaging teams to maintain motivation. Steiman emphasizes that skills such as proactive thinking, vision setting, transparent communication, and ethical decision-making can be taught and are essential for guiding teams through change. For change management, the best approach is gaining buy-in from key influencers, encouraging transparent feedback, and explaining reasoning behind changes. When implementing AI, Peak Support advises optimizing the knowledge base and automating existing processes first before adding AI to avoid overpaying and poor bot performance.


### [HubSpot’s Noel O’Reilly on embracing AI in your customer support strategy - The Intercom Blog](https://yomu.fyi/post/hubspot-s-noel-o-reilly-on-embracing-ai-in-your-customer-support-strat.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

HubSpot’s Director of Customer Support for EMEA, Noel O’Reilly, discusses the impact of AI on customer service in an Intercom podcast. He argues that AI should automate repetitive tasks, allowing support reps to focus on complex issues and build deeper customer connections, while gaining skills like helping customers optimize automation. O’Reilly emphasizes involving frontline staff in AI implementation to create a robust knowledge base and intuitive automation flows. He notes that maintaining high-quality customer experience requires new evaluation methods, as bot-influenced CSAT may be less relevant for high-performing teams. For small support teams, O’Reilly recommends starting with small AI projects, feeding bots from documentation, and iterating, as AI creates space for high-value work.


### [Leonard Berry and the eternal pursuit of service excellence - The Intercom Blog](https://yomu.fyi/post/leonard-berry-and-the-eternal-pursuit-of-service-excellence-the-interc.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

In this podcast interview, Leonard Berry discusses his book “On Great Service” and its framework for improving service quality based on research across ten diverse organizations. He argues that great service starts with hiring for values, not just talent, and investing in employee confidence to excel. Berry’s service strategy comprises four components: reliability, surprise (a wow factor), readiness for service recovery, and perceived fairness to stakeholders. Implementation depends on the right organizational structure, technology, and people, supported by a listening system to identify gaps. In an AI-driven world, organizations must balance high-tech solutions with high-touch human interactions, as AI complements but does not replace people.


### [Intercom on Product: Product strategy in the age of AI - The Intercom Blog](https://yomu.fyi/post/intercom-on-product-product-strategy-in-the-age-of-ai-the-intercom-blo.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

In this episode of Intercom on Product, co-founder Des Traynor and CPO Paul Adams discuss how AI, particularly since the launch of ChatGPT, will transform the software industry and urge product leaders to reconsider their strategies for disruption. They argue that to truly disrupt established categories, startups must offer a unique attack angle that incumbents cannot easily replicate, rather than merely adding AI features without strategic differentiation. For product managers, they recommend evaluating AI opportunities by whether they expand the user base, enhance users’ abilities, or eliminate entire tasks, citing customer support as a domain rich with potential. They note that incumbents may survive disruption by integrating AI through APIs, making the ratio of new work required versus existing advantage critical. Traynor advises rereading ‘The Innovator’s Dilemma’ to understand true disruption and warns that many AI startups risk becoming unpaid R&D for larger companies that can copy their features.


### [Why design should start with words: Elizabeth McGuane, Shopify](https://yomu.fyi/post/why-design-should-start-with-words-elizabeth-mcguane-shopify.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

Elizabeth McGuane, UX Director at Shopify, argues that the design process should begin with words—defining concepts and building shared language—before any visual work. She draws on 15 years of experience in web and product design to explain that misalignment often stems from teams arguing over names because they haven’t agreed on what something actually is. Her book ‘Design by Definition’ provides methods to use linguistic elements like metaphor and narrative to frame design problems clearly and improve collaboration across disciplines. McGuane emphasizes treating text as a spatial design element, prioritizing simplification and consistency over literary flourish. The interview also covers how evolving technologies like LLMs challenge traditional interface conventions, requiring designers to rethink their approach.


### [The emergence of superintelligent AI - The Intercom Blog](https://yomu.fyi/post/the-emergence-of-superintelligent-ai-the-intercom-blog.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

In their podcast, Intercom’s Fergal Reid and Emmet Connolly examine superintelligent AI, where systems recursively improve beyond human intelligence, now considered a realistic possibility after evidence like Othello-GPT demonstrating reasoning. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute and the Machine Intelligence Research Institute warn that containing such systems may be extremely challenging or impossible, posing an existential risk to humanity. The discussion weighs the need to regulate frontier labs closely while avoiding overregulation that curtails benefits, and notes that computation’s ubiquity makes bans difficult. They address the alignment problem and the debate between doomers and skeptics, arguing that AI is net positive up to human-level intelligence. However, they caution that the threshold beyond human-level requires serious societal engagement, and that the timeline remains uncertain, ranging from years to decades.


### [Learn how AI can unlock productivity, according to AI founder Andrew Louder - The Intercom Blog](https://yomu.fyi/post/learn-how-ai-can-unlock-productivity-according-to-ai-founder-andrew-lo.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

AI founder Andrew Louder explains that the days of AI being unattainable are over, with accessible off-the-shelf tools available. He illustrates this with a law firm client that reduced e-discovery work from nearly 1,000 hours per case to about 40-50 hours using AI. Louder advises that the build-versus-buy decision depends on awareness of existing solutions and requirements. He emphasizes that change management, including awareness, communication, and training, is crucial for successful AI adoption. According to Louder, businesses should conduct AI readiness assessments, establish data management plans, and build robust knowledge bases to ensure AI effectiveness.


### [Discover the secret sauce of innovative companies, according to Stanford professor Behnam Tabrizi - The Intercom Blog](https://yomu.fyi/post/discover-the-secret-sauce-of-innovative-companies-according-to-stanfor.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

Stanford professor Behnam Tabrizi discusses his book ‘Going on Offense,’ which analyzes 26 companies to uncover the culture of perpetual innovation, based on a survey of over 6,000 executives, academics, and industry experts. He explains that Microsoft’s renaissance under Satya Nadella came from elevating engineers, prioritizing cloud computing, and making early bets on AI, creating a startup mindset. Tesla’s unique culture aligns with a holistic approach to cultivating change, inviting active participation across the company and a fierce dedication to overcoming challenges. Legacy companies often fail because they make cautious, incremental bets rather than bold moves like Nvidia’s 2018 bet on AI, which made it a trillion-dollar semiconductor leader. Tabrizi argues AI will not eliminate jobs but will displace those who fail to leverage it effectively, urging organizations to go on offense by deploying AI for growth and productivity.


### [The father of customer journey mapping, Chip Bell, talks driving innovation through customer partnership - The Intercom Blog](https://yomu.fyi/post/the-father-of-customer-journey-mapping-chip-bell-talks-driving-innovat.md)
- Company: [Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom.md)
- Published: Oct 5, 2026
- Type: Explainer

Chip Bell, author and co-developer of customer journey mapping, advocates for co-creation partnerships where customers become partners in innovation. By shifting from a transactional relationship to a partnership, companies can unlock customer creativity and unexpected breakthrough solutions. Bell recommends approaching inquiries with genuine curiosity, building trust through truth-telling and promise-keeping, and embracing daredevil learning that treats risk-taking as a learning venture. He contrasts AI’s limitations, stating it cannot replicate the human empathy and emotional depth that underpin genuine customer relationships. The key is to make customers feel welcomed to contribute, transforming them into co-creators of memorable experiences.


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