{"id":309217,"date":"2025-02-28T06:16:30","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T14:16:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/?p=309217"},"modified":"2025-03-02T08:26:48","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T16:26:48","slug":"ai-at-scale-learnings-from-monday-com-co-founder-and-co-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/ai-at-scale-learnings-from-monday-com-co-founder-and-co-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"AI at Scale: 8 Learnings from monday.com Co-Founder and Co-Ceo Eran Zinman"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>monday.com has been a powerhouse in SaaS, scaling from $10M ARR in 2017 to over $1B &#8212; in just eight years (!)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Co-CEO and Co-Founder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/who-is-eran-zinman-co-ceo-of-saas-leader-monday-com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Eran Zinman<\/a> recently sat down with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin to share his insights on their journey, including how they\u2019ve leveraged AI, maintained growth, and expanded into multiple product lines.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"AI at Scale: 8 Learnings from monday.com Co-Founder and Co-Ceo Eran Zinman\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PQdPyHwdNPI?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/www.saastr.com\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: SaaStr 790: AI at Scale: 8 Learnings from monday.com Co-Founder and Co-Ceo Eran Zinman and SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"624\" height=\"351\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" data-src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/05UYyJvQKt6MwGJTJNaQl0\/video?si=vppbvD9fSyig8MAVJwHITQ&#038;utm_source=oembed\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Here are five AI learnings and 3 non-obvious business takeaways from the discussion.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>5 Key Learnings on AI in SaaS<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ol start=\"1\" data-spread=\"true\">\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>AI\u2019s Biggest Value in SaaS is Automation 3.0<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nAI isn\u2019t just about new features\u2014it\u2019s about removing friction and making automation seamless. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/5-interesting-learnings-from-monday-com-at-870000000-in-arr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">monday.com<\/a> has leveraged AI to help customers streamline processes with minimal setup, making complex workflows accessible through natural language prompts.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The Most Used AI Feature? Processing Unstructured Data<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nThe standout AI use case in monday.com is structuring and processing messy data. From CV screening to invoice parsing, AI is turning hours of manual work into seconds, making businesses vastly more efficient.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>AI Pricing Models Are Still Evolving<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nmonday.com decided to price AI features based on consumption rather than per seat. With AI potentially reducing the need for additional hires, tying AI pricing to usage instead of users aligns better with customer needs and long-term growth. &#8220;We were launching our pricing for AI and we had a debate,&#8221; Eran explained. &#8220;Should we do it per seat? Should we do it on a consumption basis? And eventually, we decided to charge per consumption and not be tied to the seat model. Because I think that, <strong>if this is going to be widely successful, some of our customers will not hire as many people as they plan to<\/strong>. So maybe we should probably be charging on usage and AI, deployment as opposed to add like additional charge per seat.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>AI Adoption is High, But Integration is Key<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nIn six months, monday.com recorded over 17 million AI-driven actions, showing strong adoption. But they credit this success to integrating AI into existing workflows instead of forcing users to learn entirely new processes.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>AI Will Soon Be Table Stakes<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nWhile companies can currently charge for AI enhancements, the landscape is shifting rapidly. In 18 months, core AI features might become expected\u2014like SSO\u2014rather than premium add-ons. Companies need to prepare for this shift and focus on delivering real value.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><iframe title=\"How Monday Has Deployed AI Across Its Customer Base With Its Co-CEO\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LqasGZwKEd4?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/www.saastr.com\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>3 Non-Obvious Learnings from Monday.com\u2019s Growth<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ol start=\"6\" data-spread=\"true\">\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>SMBs Are the Enterprises of Tomorrow<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nMany SaaS companies abandon SMBs as they move upmarket, but monday.com actively invests in SMBs. Why? Because today\u2019s SMBs grow into tomorrow\u2019s large accounts. Salesforce\u2019s move upmarket, for example, left a gap that HubSpot filled\u2014dominating the mid-market CRM space. &#8220;\u200aI think a lot of companies&#8217; intuition is we&#8217;re going to move upmarket, so abandon the SMB and mid- market segment,&#8221; Eran explained. &#8220;You do the math and you say, &#8216;Oh, I&#8217;m spending that amount of effort on closing those deals, getting those customers on board, I might as well invest time in the larger customers because its cost efficient.&#8217; But I think that&#8217;s a big mistake because eventually, and I&#8217;ve seen this in so many kind of veteran SaaS companies, what happens is eventually you abandon the mid-market and SMB segment, and then you have this huge vacuum. You leave a huge vacuum in the market.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Multi-Product Strategy is a Must for Scaling Past $1B<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nIf you want to grow beyond $1B ARR, you <strong>must<\/strong> go multi-product. monday.com expanded from one to four core products (Work Management, CRM, Service Management, and Dev) and is seeing faster adoption than its original product. This diversification creates resilience and long-term scalability.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Cross-Product Data Flow is a Game Changer<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nOne of monday.com\u2019s biggest competitive advantages is that data seamlessly connects across its product suite. Unlike traditional SaaS tools that create silos, their unified platform ensures departments have visibility into multiple workflows, making AI-powered insights even more valuable.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>And the full deep dive here:<\/h3>\n<h1 class=\"text-2xl font-bold mt-1 text-text-200\">AI at Scale: 8 Key Learnings from Monday.com Co-Founder and Co-CEO Eran Zinman<\/h1>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-200 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">1. Finding Product-Market Fit with AI<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Monday.com has quietly become one of the industry&#8217;s AI success stories, with over 17 million AI actions executed in their product over the past few months. Their approach differs dramatically from other SaaS vendors &#8211; rather than creating new AI-specific features that force users to adapt, they&#8217;re helping customers automate existing workflows and tasks they already perform.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">&#8220;When it comes to AI, our philosophy has been to make it accessible by automating tasks customers already do, not requiring them to adopt new technology or change how they use the product,&#8221; explains Zinman.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Their most successful AI use case? Processing unstructured information. From CV screening (where some customers process 100,000 CVs monthly) to analyzing invoices, RFPs and PDFs, monday.com&#8217;s AI capabilities transform time-consuming manual processes into seconds-long automated workflows.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-200 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">2. The Durability Advantage of a Diverse Customer Base<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">At $1.1B in revenue with 32% growth at scale, monday.com&#8217;s financial performance is remarkable by any standard. Even more impressive? Their 30% free cash flow margin and 110% net revenue retention.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Monday.com attributes this stability and predictability to their incredibly diverse customer base spanning industries, markets, and geographies. With 250,000+ customers &#8211; 70% outside tech &#8211; they&#8217;ve created natural insulation against sector-specific downturns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">&#8220;This diversity creates stability as we&#8217;re not overly reliant on any single industry or market,&#8221; Zinman notes. &#8220;It allows us to represent the broader economy and ride its waves.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-200 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">3. The Critical Balance: Serving Both SMB and Enterprise<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Unlike many SaaS players who shift entirely upmarket as they scale, monday.com continues investing heavily in both enterprise and SMB segments. Their enterprise business is booming (100K+ customers growing 45%), but they refuse to abandon smaller customers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">&#8220;Abandoning the small and mid-market segment is a huge mistake,&#8221; Zinman emphasizes. &#8220;It leaves a vacuum for competitors and ignores that today&#8217;s small businesses become tomorrow&#8217;s enterprises.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">This balanced approach requires thoughtful resource allocation. Rather than assigning specific budgets, Zinman communicates priorities through behavior and time allocation, ensuring both segments receive appropriate attention.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-200 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">4. The AI Pricing Question<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">After significant internal debate, monday.com decided to price AI capabilities on a consumption basis rather than per seat. This decision acknowledges the transformative potential of AI &#8211; if it reduces headcount needs, seat-based pricing could penalize successful adoption.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">&#8220;If AI is wildly successful, customers may not hire as many people as planned. We should charge based on usage and AI deployment, not seats,&#8221; Zinman explains.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Looking ahead, Jason and Eran recognized the uncertainty around AI pricing models: &#8220;The rate of change is so fast that in 18 months, we may not be able to charge for AI at all. It may become a core part of software that comes with a seat.&#8221; noted both of them.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"What SMBs Really Want from AI with Monday&#039;s Co-CEO\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HLgikMhsg70?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/www.saastr.com\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-200 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">5. Multi-Product Strategy as a Growth Accelerator<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Monday.com has expanded beyond its core Work Management platform to include CRM, Service Management, and Dev products. This multi-product approach has become essential to their continued growth trajectory.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">&#8220;Going multi-product is critical for scaling past $1 billion,&#8221; Zinman emphasizes. &#8220;It&#8217;s best to start earlier in your journey to give yourself time to learn and improve.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">The company evaluates new product opportunities based on buyer overlap, sales cycle length, and use case alignment. Their CRM product exemplifies this strategy&#8217;s success, with growth rates outpacing their original platform despite entering one of SaaS&#8217;s most crowded categories.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-200 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">6. Platform Integration as Competitive Advantage<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">As monday.com expands its product suite, the integration between products creates exponential value. Customers increasingly prefer connected tools that allow data to flow seamlessly across the organization.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">&#8220;People want to connect between different software tools,&#8221; Zinman notes. &#8220;Our platform enables this connection, creating a unified view of the organization.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">This integrated approach becomes even more powerful with AI, which can leverage cross-product data to deliver insights impossible with siloed solutions.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-200 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">7. The &#8220;Good Enough&#8221; Product Threshold<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">One of the most nuanced challenges in a multi-product strategy is determining how excellent each product must be. Zinman acknowledges that not every product needs to be best-in-class if the integration advantages are substantial enough.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">&#8220;It&#8217;s about finding the right balance and being honest about where the line is between having good enough products and having the best products,&#8221; he explains.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">This approach requires continual evaluation and transparency about trade-offs, with an understanding that integration can sometimes outweigh feature superiority.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"text-xl font-bold text-text-200 mt-1 -mb-0.5\">8. Launch, Learn, Iterate<\/h2>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Rather than waiting for perfection before launch, monday.com releases new products with the intention of iterating and improving post-release.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">&#8220;Releasing the first version doesn&#8217;t have to be perfect. You can iterate and improve after release, with the goal of eventually building a robust multi-product organization.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">This philosophy has enabled them to enter multiple categories quickly while continuously enhancing their offerings based on real-world customer feedback.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">As monday.com continues scaling beyond the $1B ARR milestone, their balanced approach to customer segments, pragmatic AI implementation, and multi-product strategy offers a masterclass in sustainable SaaS growth. By maintaining their product-first culture while expanding into enterprise markets, they&#8217;ve created a playbook for durable growth that today&#8217;s SaaS founders would be wise to study.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"AI at Scale: 8 Learnings from monday.com Co-Founder and Co-Ceo Eran Zinman\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PQdPyHwdNPI?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/www.saastr.com\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: SaaStr 790: AI at Scale: 8 Learnings from monday.com Co-Founder and Co-Ceo Eran Zinman and SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"624\" height=\"351\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" data-src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/05UYyJvQKt6MwGJTJNaQl0\/video?si=vppbvD9fSyig8MAVJwHITQ&#038;utm_source=oembed\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>monday.com Co-CEO and Co-Founder Eran Zinman recently sat down with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin to share his insights on their journey, including how they\u2019ve leveraged AI, maintained growth, and expanded into multiple product lines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":309359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[]},"categories":[24898,31,23,123,68,48,122,21,24987,28,24897],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-309217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ai","category-blog-posts","category-company-stage","category-featured-podcasts","category-featured-posts","category-featured-qa","category-featured-videos","category-podcasts","category-saastr-ai","category-scale","category-whats-new-at"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saastr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Youtube-Thumbnails-2025-14.jpg?fit=1000%2C563&quality=70&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5oib2-1irn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309217"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":309438,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309217\/revisions\/309438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}