Why we are going all-in on Hightouch
Our Two Bets
As you might or might not know, there are a LOT of data tools out there. And at Sasquatch, we have experience with a good bit of them. So why are we going all-in on Hightouch?
Our bet on Hightouch can be broken into two smaller bets:
Bet #1: Data Activation as a field is in its infancy and is perfectly positioned for rapid and transformative growth.
Bet #2: Of the companies in the data activation space, Hightouch is the best positioned to capitalize on this opportunity.
Bet #1 takes more words to explain, so we will start there.
Strength of Position
If you had told somebody at the beginning of the 2000s that Google would go on to become the most powerful company in the world, they would have told you to Ask Jeeves for a psychiatrist. Yet with perfect hindsight, it no longer feels surprising that what started as a humble search engine became our maps, our weather, our news, our operating systems, our data platforms, our slide decks.
In simple terms, Search was the intersection point for everything else on the internet. While other early internet sites and products were working to master their individual instruments, Google was working to master the art of conducting the orchestra. In doing so, they were able to expand beyond Search, launching successful product after successful product because via Search, they had a permanent mechanism by which to study their users and deliver value to them.
I am not here saying Hightouch will ever be in the same stratosphere as Google. But I do think that like Search, reverse ETL (rETL) sits over a critical intersection point that lends itself perfectly to becoming a powerful growth engine for a much broader platform of products. Once rETL is successfully ‘solved’, allowing a company (like Hightouch) to send data from a warehouse to a vast array of destinations, the real unlock is that that company becomes the de facto orchestra conductor for the outward flow of data.
Just like Search was perfectly positioned to measure and direct the flow of traffic, rETL is ideally suited to measure and direct the distribution of data. So while rETL by itself might be just another small piece of the ever-growing data stack, the subsequent data activation products that come out of this rETL space will forever change the way the world utilizes and interacts with data.
Rise of AI Decisioning
In addition to the strength of the position of rETL within the data stack, the other primary factor in our bullish predictions for the future of Data Activation is the continued elevation of AI capabilities, specifically in the realm of AI decisioning — meaning AI that is able to make decisions and take action independently. By using the backbones of rETL with the intelligence of an AI, a much more powerful tool comes to form.
To show the potential significance of AI decisioning + rETL, imagine a supercomputer has been invented that is much smarter than the smartest human and is given the task of eliminating traffic and road congestion in the US. One version of this AI is built as a chat interface, where humans can ask it questions and get back super intelligent answers. A second version of this AI is deeply integrated with all of the relevant systems and platforms.
The chat version of the bot might say which intersections to focus on first, or recommend improvements to traffic light timing, or to suggest constructing new lanes of a highway. The humans on the other side of the chatbot would then have to figure out how to make it all happen: how much should they budget for each initiative, who needs to approve what, etc.
In contrast, the second and deeply integrated bot wouldn’t be bottlenecked by humans and could get right to work. The humans set the budget and the optimizing factors, and step away. The bot then tests and iterates on reprogramming traffic lights, hiring construction crews, installing roundabouts, creating improved signage, communicating with Google Maps, submitting policy ideas to Congress, putting out ads to promote public transportation, etc. While the group working with the first bot is still trying to agree on their first course of action, the second bot has already put into motion a five-year plan with thousands of moving pieces.
Obviously a dramatized example, but the point is that AI decisioning is powerful, and rETL is powerful, but once these two things are combined, a whole new thing emerges that is much more powerful than the sum of its parts. The result will be a level of testing, iteration, optimization and orchestration far more advanced than the data activation strategies being employed today.
All in all, we feel confident that some version of this rETL + AI is almost certainly going to erupt over the coming years, and that is why we are making Bet #1 (Data Activation as a field is primed for transformative growth). Now, on to Bet #2.
Why We Think Hightouch will be the Winner
Now things start to get a bit more subjective. It is easier to see the forest than the trees. So to keep it short and sweet and as objective as subjective can be, here is why Sasquatch is picking Hightouch to win in this space:
Velocity: Hightouch became the company we know today in late 2020, making them the youngest of their primary competitors. In the less than four years since, they built their core platform, over 200 destinations, and 8 distinct product lines. They also acquired 3 companies and raised $90 million. They are moving fast.
Vision: There is much to be said here, but we need look no further than Hightouch recently unveiling their new AI Decisioning platform, being the first rETL company to do so. As their competitors work to jump on the AI decisioning bandwagon (as we are here at Sasquatch), Hightouch will already be working on v2 or v3.
Summary
So there it is! Sasquatch is officially a Hightouch-focused data consultancy. We’ve also decided to start calling ourselves Sasquatch instead of Sasquatch Analytics because we are cool and trendy now. But we are keeping our same emails because that seems annoying to change.
Email me at sean@sasquatchanalytics.com if you want to keep the brain-blast going.
