CIO Influence Interview with Dheeraj Pandey, CEO and co-founder of DevRev

Dheeraj Pandey, CEO and co-founder of DevRev chats about future of AI evolving, particularly in SaaS environments, features and new developments within DevRev’s platform, significant impacts in SaaS and more in this catch-up:

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Hi Dheeraj, share a bit about your background and journey that led to the founding of DevRev.

My journey to DevRev stems from the lessons I learned while building Nutanix, where I saw firsthand the fragmentation of enterprise software. Scaling Nutanix in the era of Enterprise SaaS 1.0 highlighted how disconnected tools and processes bog teams down with inefficiency and redundancy, often leaving the customer’s real needs unmet. Much of what the industry offered were just features posing as full products.

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So, with DevRev, we started from scratch to build something different—an integrated platform that removes silos, aligns products, supports teams, and keeps the customer at the core. It’s about rethinking enterprise software to do fewer things but doing them incredibly well. We believe this is Enterprise 2.0.

With AgentOS, DevRev focuses on converging various business applications and teams onto a single platform. Can you elaborate on the significance of this convergence in enhancing product velocity and reducing customer churn?

Fragmented systems slow down product development and make it harder to keep teams aligned around customer needs, especially in SaaS. AgentOS was designed to solve this by creating a real-time knowledge graph that bridges product, customer, and operational data across teams. This convergence allows product and support teams to act on issues as they arise, making it easier to address customer needs and prevent churn. By streamlining collaboration, AgentOS helps teams develop products faster and be more proactive with customers, ultimately providing a smoother, more cohesive customer journey.

From your perspective, how do you see the future of AI evolving, particularly in SaaS environments? What role do customizable LLMs (Large Language Models) play in this transformation?

AI is the driving force behind what we see as SaaS 2.0—moving from static software to an adaptive, agent-driven experience. The next step is embedding AI deeper into operations, which enables seamless collaboration and helps solve more complex challenges across departments. Customizable LLMs will be central to this transformation, acting as the adaptable backbone of this AI-driven experience and empowering businesses to mold AI agents to fit their workflows, improving efficiency without adding complexity.

These agents will automate routine tasks and enhance decision-making, allowing teams to focus on strategic priorities. As AI becomes an essential part of business operations, companies will move faster and build stronger customer relationships. Over time, AI agents won’t just support teams—they’ll act as integral team members, helping businesses stay agile and deliver value more effectively.

Could you share any upcoming features or developments within DevRev’s platform that you believe will make a significant impact on the SaaS industry?

One of the most exciting developments we’re working on is the no-code Conversational AI Builder, which makes it easy for teams to create custom agents that fit their exact needs—no dev team required.

We’re also introducing an Insights Agent that translates raw customer data into actionable trends, helping teams stay on top of customer feedback. Our Conversational Search reduces response time and allows support teams to focus more on customer satisfaction than backend coordination. Our Incident Management solution automates how issues are handled, ensuring problems get to the right people quickly and keeping things running smoothly. Together with our On-Call Agent, which automates the workflows needed to put out fires, incident resolution time is reduced by 30%. Conversational Customer 360 gives teams a real-time view of customer health, enabling them to catch churn risks early and stay ahead of problems before they escalate.

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Together, these tools simplify workflows and enable teams to focus on meaningful work, ensuring they work smarter, not harder.

Data privacy and security are critical issues in today’s digital age. What’s your take on how companies should balance innovation with maintaining trust and security?

It’s not about choosing between innovation and privacy, they have to go hand in hand. Building trust requires transparency in how data is collected, used, and stored, along with giving customers control over their own information. Security needs to be embedded into every step of the product design process, not treated as an afterthought. This ensures that as new technologies are introduced, they are reliable and resilient from day one. Companies that integrate privacy and security into their operations from the start will be better positioned to innovate without compromising the trust they’ve built with customers.

Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to make their mark in the tech industry, particularly in AI and SaaS?

Stay focused on solving genuine, meaningful problems rather than chasing trends. In AI, it’s easy to get swept up in the hype, but the real value comes from developing technology that simplifies users’ lives.

Aim to create intuitive, impactful products that people need and prioritize long-term value over quick gains. Staying close to your customers and building around their needs ultimately sets apart impactful solutions from the rest.

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