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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech’s most innovative B2B founders. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Alex Zekoff, CEO and co-founder of Thoughtful AI, an AI-powered healthcare automation platform that has raised $21 million in funding.
As an outsider to healthcare, Alex approached the notoriously complex and change-resistant industry with fresh eyes. By focusing relentlessly on customer needs and existing processes, Thoughtful AI built a solution that slots in seamlessly to drive immediate results. Founders should lean into their beginner's mind and challenge legacy assumptions when tackling entrenched sectors.
Thoughtful AI's white-glove, custom-built approach has been key to landing and expanding enterprise accounts. But Alex recognizes this high-touch model must be tempered with robust internal systems to reach scale. By using AI to augment everything from customer onboarding to ongoing support, Thoughtful AI aims to maintain its personal touch while accelerating growth. Founders should balance artisanal experiences with automated engines.
To build trust with enterprise buyers, Thoughtful AI directly links its fees to the ROI it generates for customers. By putting skin in the game and getting paid on results, the company creates aligned incentives and mitigates perceived risk. Founders should explore performance-based pricing models that demonstrate real value creation for clients and boost their confidence to buy.
While Thoughtful AI's automation platform has horizontal applicability, Alex is laser-focused on dominating the healthcare market before pursuing other sectors. By establishing a reference customer base and playbook in a trillion-dollar market, the company will have the traction and credibility to attack adjacent industries. Founders should sequence their expansion plans to balance focus and optionality.
Even as Thoughtful AI rides the first wave of AI-powered automation, Alex and his team are already preparing for the next phase of innovation. By collecting rich process metadata, they are primed to harness emerging large language models and other AI capabilities to extend their platform. Founders must peer beyond the horizon to anticipate how their solutions may be enhanced or disrupted and plan accordingly.