Intercom is a pioneer in customer communication platforms, with over $955 million in funding and serving thousands of customers worldwide. After 15 years of building horizontal messaging tools, the company made a dramatic strategic pivot in 2022 to focus entirely on AI-powered customer support. In a recent episode of Unicorn Builders, we sat down with Des Traynor, Co-Founder of Intercom, to learn about their remarkable transformation from a sprawling communication platform to an AI-first customer service leader—and how they shipped their first AI features just four weeks after ChatGPT’s launch. Topics Discussed: - Intercom’s ”five alarm fire” moment when ChatGPT launched and the immediate roadmap pivot - The painful but necessary decision to abandon multiple product lines and focus solely on customer service - How they developed outcome-based pricing for AI agents (charging per resolution vs. per seat) - The technical complexity behind building production-ready AI support tools beyond ”thin wrappers” - Strategic lessons from the early competition with Drift and category positioning challenges - Why most B2B companies are reacting too slowly and superficially to the AI transformation - Building a sustainable company culture that retains talent for 15+ years GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: - React with appropriate urgency to existential technology shifts: When ChatGPT launched, Des and the team immediately recognized it could eliminate their entire category. Within days, they ”ripped up the roadmap” and went ”hard on it.” Four weeks later, they shipped their first AI features, and eight weeks later launched Fin, their AI agent. Des emphasizes this wasn’t heroic—it was survival: ”I don’t know if I’m going to survive over here, but I’m not going to survive back there.” B2B founders facing similar disruption should move with maximum speed rather than hoping for gradual adoption timelines. - Choose painful focus over comfortable sprawl: Intercom’s decision to abandon their marketing and sales tools to focus solely on customer service was existentially difficult but critically necessary. Des explains they were ”trying to bring too much software to market” and facing the challenge that enterprise buyers couldn’t figure out who to talk to about their horizontal platform. The focus decision came from identifying where they had ”the clearest right to win”—customer service had their happiest, stickiest revenue and most differentiated product. B2B founders should ruthlessly evaluate where they have the strongest competitive position rather than trying to serve every adjacent market. - Align pricing models with value delivery in AI transitions: Intercom moved from seat-based pricing to outcome-based pricing, charging roughly $1 per resolution. This required confidence that their AI actually works—Des notes ”you should only charge for outcomes if you’re definitely delivering outcomes.” The pricing works because some customers find it ”10x to 20x cheaper” than their current approach, while others struggle with the cost depending on their customer value. B2B founders implementing AI should consider how pricing models need to evolve to reflect the actual value delivered rather than traditional input-based metrics. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co