Apply to Register Here

Founded in 2015, Activant is a global investment firm with $1.5 B AUM that partners with high-growth founders and teams that are transforming commerce.

Activant

We’re always looking to learn about new perspectives, new research, and new ideas.

Get in touch

Disclaimers & Terms of Use

Privacy Policy

323 Railroad Avenue
Greenwich, CT 06830
USA

Greenwich

New York

Berlin

Constantia Uitsig Wine Estate
Spaanschemat River Road
Cape Town 7806
South Africa

Cape Town

Harish is providing the Amazon Prime fulfillment experience to everyone else through a combination of AI and an asset-light network of warehouses across the United States.

Alex is automating workflows for the world’s largest enterprises by using process mining to build the connective tissue for businesses.

Mayan is delivering Autonomous IT to the largest companies in the world through systems of intelligence.

Carsten built one of the largest commerce platforms in the world, which powers enterprise merchants and retailers across the globe and now serves as the SAP commerce engine.

Soups is stopping financial crime in its tracks by building the first end-to-end platform for fraud, risk, and compliance.

Adam is enabling restaurant owners to take back their customer relationships by digitizing their entire online and offline operations in a single platform.

Activant is a research-led growth firm that invests in relentless founders

Read past issues

Monthly Newsletter

Browse Research Library

Research

Perspectives

Home

Activant is a research-led global investment firm that partners with high-growth companies.

We partner with founders who have won their initial battles and are ready for the next challenge.

We typically invest when two things come together. First, the company has the potential to achieve escape velocity and transform an entire industry. Second, we believe the founders can lead the company through hyper growth, and our support can significantly increase the probability of this success. 

The critical time window to escape competitors and transform an industry is not open for long.

That’s why after we invest, the real work begins.

About

We only partner with a few founders per year. But when we do, we’re fully committed.

Our portfolio

Companies

Read our investment rationales and market perspectives.

A team built to support and advise yours.

We invest behind insights.

View all research

Founders who aspire to build something bigger than themselves chose to partner with us at their most critical point.

Team

Scott was born and raised in East London, South Africa. He pursued an honors degree in Accounting at the University of Stellenbosch, where he first developed a keen interest in finance and investing. After completing his studies, Scott moved to London and joined Deloitte LLP in their international markets assurance division, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Investing remained a central focus in Scott's career, leading him to a role at Credit-Suisse Equity Research. There, he analyzed the online retail and sporting goods sectors. Following his tenure at Credit-Suisse, Scott joined BNP Paribas Exane as a sell-side analyst within the top-ranked internet and media team, covering sectors such as video games, media agencies, music, and online classifieds.

After spending nearly a decade working in London, from broadening my experience at Deloitte to sharpening my skills as a sell-side analyst, I discovered a deep passion for investing. I found myself particularly drawn to the dynamic realms of IPOs, mergers, and buyouts. This fascination led me to immerse myself in the worlds of early-stage investments, private equity, and disruptive startups. At Activant, I've found a team that shares my enthusiasm for the startup landscape—a place where collaboration, in-depth research, and lively debate lie at the heart of everything we do.

Anyone considering how to effectively implement AI within their business with a strategic focus on improving revenue is confronted by a sea of options. Generic solutions like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini might come to mind, or maybe a larger solution like Salesforce or Oracle. But these are often not tailored to specific business needs and many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) don’t want a whole suite of tools they don’t necessarily need. This is where Revenue Operations (RevOps) tools step into the spotlight. They integrate data and processes to align across sales, marketing and operations functions and can provide businesses with roadmaps for the introduction and integration of AI.

In this report, we build on the base of work in prior Activant research (

 to explore what might be possible with RevOps AI in the workforce. We have three key beliefs stemming from our research:

1. We believe in the transformative potential of AI-driven RevOps platforms.

2. We see immense value in specialized point solutions that master specific aspects of revenue operations, such as automated lead management and conversational intelligence, offering targeted enhancements that surpass broader platforms.

3. We are excited about the rise of innovators developing AI employees and advanced conversational intelligence tools, promising to revolutionize traditional business models by replacing human roles with highly efficient, AI-driven virtual employees.

We are more enthusiastic than ever about the potential of a complete overhaul of the workforce, and it all begins by optimizing across the revenue cycle.

RevOps strategically aligns sales, marketing, and customer success teams to drive revenue growth by optimizing processes, technology, and data across the sales cycle. RevOps intelligence platforms serve as central hubs, breaking down data silos between departments and providing significant cost-saving benefits by automating repetitive tasks and reducing labor costs. Prioritizing customer experience through RevOps tools fosters loyalty and satisfaction, which are crucial factors for long-term success.

According to Salesloft’s October 2023 benchmark survey, pipeline development remains the greatest challenge for revenue 

 55% of the respondents identified this as the greatest challenge, while 31% identified win rates, 24% focused on customer retention and expansion, and 13% prioritized sales capacity. RevOps platforms have the capabilities to mitigate these issues and will benefit from the adoption of pipeline-centric business models.

As organizations grow, so does the complexity of aligning departments. Many legacy companies have organizational structures a lot like the one shown in the diagram on the next page. The siloes created and the subsequent lack of coordination not only hinders performance but also exacerbates data management issues.

These legacy organizations typically suffer from five key pain points:

1. Lack of alignment between sales, marketing, and customer success teams.

2. Data silos and inefficient data management.

4. Ineffective sales and marketing strategies not backed by the right data.

5. Lack of visibility and accountability between teams and departments.

Creating a single RevOps lead within organizations can streamline operations, eliminate silos, and promote a cohesive, data-driven approach to revenue growth. This role is crucial for coordinating efforts across marketing, sales, and customer success teams, as highlighted in a Forbes report that shows RevOps emerging as the fastest growing job in the US as of December 2023, based on a LinkedIn jobs 

The simple exhibit below summarizes the organizational changes implemented.

Legacy systems still dominate, clearly shown in Salesloft’s Revenue Engagement 

 CRM remains the most utilized application for sales development, customer retention, opportunity scoring, and forecasting. The complexity and inefficiencies these systems bring necessitate a new approach, highlighting the potential for transformation.

We believe that the RevOps tech stack is a key component in assisting to upend legacy systems, priming the market for growth.

The $3.7bn RevOps platform market is expected to grow to $18bn over the next decade at a CAGR of 

 The SME and large enterprise segments are expected to grow at a CAGR of 19.4% and 16% respectively. The banking, financial services and insurance industries held the largest share of the global RevOps platform market in 2023, with expected growth of $3.2bn over the coming decade.

The healthy growth projected isn't surprising when one considers the benefits of implementing RevOps as seen in the diagram below.

The growth is more exciting when considering the strong market drivers:

1. Increased demand for data integration across business functions.

2. Need for improved efficiency and productivity.

3. Enhancement of customer experience and personalization demanded

4. Growing importance of AI and machine learning implementation.

5. Shift towards data-driven decision making.

These market drivers, together with the proven benefits and our belief that RevOps is one of the most logical and effective ways to deploy AI in a company, make us bullish on the market!

Gartner predicts that by 2025, 70% of all B2B seller-buyer interactions will be recorded or analyzed using AI, Additionally, 75% of B2B sales organizations will replace traditional sales playbooks with AI-based guided 

 Goldman Sachs estimates that AI investment will approach $100bn in the U.S. and $200bn globally by 

Reinventing business models is crucial, evidenced by PwC’s 27th Annual Global CEO Survey, which found that 45% of CEOs doubt their company’s current trajectory will keep them viable beyond the next 

 Proactive steps to create value and stay at the forefront technologically have become increasingly important.

As 2024 progresses, the appetite for deal making has returned, spurred by decelerating inflation, expectations of interest rate cuts, and a record amount of dry powder. The EY CEO Outlook Pulse Survey shows 98% of CEOs plan to pursue a strategic transaction in the next 12 

 indicating the pent-up demand for deals. We refer you to our article where we look deeper into the acquisition market surrounding RevOps.

With a perfect storm on the horizon, RevOps is positioned at the forefront of the following potential critical market changes:

Increased CEO focus on strategic acquisitions

These factors collectively place RevOps at the center of a transformative shift in market dynamics, offering substantial upside potential as businesses adapt and evolve.

In our Activant RevOps Market Map, we have broken out the key components and use cases of this diverse market, including marketing automation, conversational intelligence, sales enablement, sales engagement, conversational marketing, lead management, and CRMs.

Revenue Operations

Platforms have continuously expanded their capabilities and the scope of what is possible, particularly incorporating AI to extend into new quadrants of the market.

It is always challenging to try to simplify complex landscapes into neat boxes arrayed along discrete axes. We will be the first to acknowledge that legacy platforms and products are always innovating and evolving. We have considered the RevOps Tech Stack in terms of the product capabilities – from legacy products to more innovative ones – and our conviction in their market growth potential.

The RevOps Tech Stack 

The landscape is characterized by fierce competition with numerous players overlapping functionalities. The established giants like 

 are constantly evolving their offers and acquiring emerging technologies. There are emerging players that dominate certain areas, such as 

 (sales engagement). What we are most excited about, however, are those companies that appear to be on the cusp of changing the relationship between AI and employees. It is still very early, and our thesis remains speculative, but we see the potential for a complete overhaul of organizations and their workforces with RevOps leading the way through the implementation of AI automation. The next logical step — automation of entire employee’s roles — where we find not only a chatbot or AI agent but, eventually, a complete “virtual employee” operating indistinguishably from human counterparts.

Before we jump to conclusions and predict a radical shift overnight, it is helpful to revisit some prior Activant research and understand the pace of change in the RevOps landscape driven by AI.

Conversational AI and the Future of Customer Service

 highlighted a shift towards replacing customer service teams with AI, potentially automating up to 50% of calls and creating $40bn in the U.S. and $100bn globally. Startups like 

 are creating nearly indistinguishable voice clones. Companies like 

 are developing lifelike digital humans that interact seamlessly with users.

 — showed that while LLM-enabled software can handle complex tasks autonomously, human intervention is often necessary. We saw companies like 

Our research on RevOps platforms revealed a third perspective, emphasizing the ongoing expansion of automation capabilities. Consequently, RevOps is exploring AI employees, exemplified by innovators like 

, which aims to replace Sales Development Representatives with AI avatars billed hourly like human employees. This novel approach indicates that RevOps is poised to transform the relationship between AI and employees, although it is early in the journey, and our thesis remains hypothetical.

This road to “virtual employees” is a move from AI assistants to AI employees. Our Activant thesis map, shown below, highlights the key segments of the market and arrays these against our view on tech maturity and our conviction in the market growth potential. We find conversational intelligence, focused RevOps, and automated employees to be the three segments most interesting for investment.

Road to Virtual Employees

Innovation occurs across the spectrum, but we think about the potential evolution across three pillars within RevOps: Innovators transforming the sales cycle, outstanding point solutions offering best-in-class solutions, and all-in-one solutions addressing a broad array of RevOps needs.

These players are working on the development of automated or virtual employees in the “automated employee” and “conversation intelligence” segments on our thesis map. Companies like 

 have developed outstanding conversational intelligence tools. All six are changing the perception of RevOps and challenging how business can be done.

Each brings a unique value proposition, whether it’s replacing human roles, enhancing real-time engagement, providing hyper-personalization, streamlining document workflows, or automating content creation. Innovators are at the core of enhancing the RevOps narrative.

 (conversation intelligence) focus on specific aspects of revenue operations, driving measurable improvements through specialized tools. These companies excel in their niches, making them attractive targets for larger platforms seeking to enhance their capabilities. For example, 

 has acquired over six companies, including most recently 

 (sales engagement) integrate various capabilities into a single solution, simplifying revenue operations for businesses. These platforms address the rising costs and complexity associated with managing multiple SaaS products.

Consolidation in the market addresses a significant challenge for businesses: managing the rising costs associated with multiple SaaS products. According to a survey by 

, businesses spend an average of $2,623 on SaaS per employee annually, with each employee using more than 8.3 SaaS 

Expansion from point solutions to all-in-one platforms will occur as evidenced by 

, which was initially focused on conversation intelligence and has expanded its suite by acquiring companies like 

 Technology, enhancing its features and boosting its valuation to over $7 billion. This strategy reinforces Activant’s 

 research thesis that investing in consolidation is key to future market success.

For too long, RevOps has been either an afterthought or deemed too complex to implement effectively. As a result, companies often face inefficiencies and missed revenue opportunities. With the increasing adoption of AI, these challenges are becoming even more pronounced. It’s time for organizations to prioritize RevOps, making it the foundation of their business strategy to streamline operations, enhance sales effectiveness, and drive sustainable growth. Given the close ties with AI, we are excited about the innovation and growth that will inevitably transform the RevOps landscape.

If our work resonates, if you're building in the space, or if you have a different perspective, please reach out – we’d love to hear from you!

The information contained herein is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. The opinions, views, forecasts, performance, estimates, etc. expressed herein are subject to change without notice. Certain statements contained herein reflect the subjective views and opinions of Activant. Past performance is not indicative of future results. No representation is made that any investment will or is likely to achieve its objectives. All investments involve risk and may result in loss. This newsletter does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Activant does not provide tax or legal advice and you are encouraged to seek the advice of a tax or legal professional regarding your individual circumstances.

This content may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund or investment, including those managed by Activant. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by Activant. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, Activant has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the current or enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.

Activant does not solicit or make its services available to the public. The content provided herein may include information regarding past and/or present portfolio companies or investments managed by Activant, its affiliates and/or personnel. References to specific companies are for illustrative purposes only and do not necessarily reflect Activant investments. It should not be assumed that investments made in the future will have similar characteristics. Please see “full list of investments” at https://activantcapital.com/companies/ for a full list of investments. Any portfolio companies discussed herein should not be assumed to have been profitable. Certain information herein constitutes “forward-looking statements.” All forward-looking statements represent only the intent and belief of Activant as of the date such statements were made. None of Activant or any of its affiliates (i) assumes any responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any forward-looking statements or (ii) undertakes any obligation to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in their expectation with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. Due to various risks and uncertainties, actual events or results may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in such forward-looking statements.

RevOps Intelligence Tools

RevOps - The Road to Virtual Employees 

Identifying the next generation of businesses poised to transform the world

Join us for our
Genesis Summit!

Office

Hometown

Residence

Scott
Watson

Research Associate

Office

Hometown

Residence

Research

Relevant Experiences

Join us for our Genesis Summit!

Office

Hometown

Residence

Scott Watson

Research Associate

Office

Hometown

Residence

Research

Relevant Experiences

Join us for our
Genesis Summit!

Scott
Watson