Building Pendo Outside Silicon Valley

How do you turn trillions of user interactions into meaningful decisions without drowning in data?

In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sit down with Todd Olson, co-founder and CEO of Pendo, to talk about the future of product-led organizations and why AI is reshaping how software companies grow, build, and compete.

Pendo tracks trillions of product usage events to help organizations understand how customers actually interact with their software. That level of data sounds powerful, but it also raises a challenge many teams face today. How do you turn massive data sets into clear signals that teams can act on without falling into analysis paralysis?

Todd explains how Pendo approaches this problem by organizing product data around real user journeys, feature adoption, and areas where people drop off. Instead of leaving teams buried in dashboards, the goal is to surface insights that matter. Increasingly, AI is helping by acting as a kind of embedded analyst that highlights the patterns product teams should focus on.

Our conversation also revisits the idea behind Todd's book, The Product-Led Organization. When it was published around the time of the pandemic, it argued that great products should do much of the heavy lifting traditionally done by sales or support teams. Looking back now, Todd believes the core idea remains intact. AI simply accelerates the model by allowing companies to experiment faster and scale product-driven experiences with far fewer people.

But that shift is also creating tension in the software industry. We talk about the so-called reckoning in SaaS economics and the growing debate around whether AI will make traditional software companies obsolete. Todd offers a more measured perspective. While AI allows anyone to prototype software quickly, the companies that survive will still be the ones solving difficult problems, navigating compliance requirements, and building products that customers trust.

Another theme we explore is geography and innovation. Pendo is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, far from the usual coastal tech hubs. Todd shares how building outside Silicon Valley has shaped the company's culture, talent strategy, and mindset. There are advantages to being close to the center of the AI boom, but there is also value in building away from the echo chamber.

We also spend time unpacking the rise of AI-assisted development and the trend many people call "vibe coding." Todd believes AI will dramatically reshape product teams, but he also pushes back against the idea that humans will disappear from the development process. Engineers will still need to review code, teach AI systems best practices, and ensure security and reliability.

One of the most interesting moments in our conversation comes near the end when Todd shares a belief that originality will become one of the most valuable assets in the age of AI. As automated content and automated code become easier to generate, he believes people will increasingly value craft, taste, and original thinking.

So in a world where AI can generate almost anything with a prompt, the real question becomes far more human. What problems are actually worth solving?

If you care about the future of software, product strategy, and how AI is reshaping the economics of building companies, this is a conversation that offers plenty to think about.

And after listening, I would love to hear your perspective. As AI becomes embedded in every product and workflow, do you believe originality and craft will become the true differentiators in the software industry?