Hatem Diabi from Inboundr.ai: Can AI Make LinkedIn More Authentic?
"People will pay only when you solve their pain, not when you build the best technology" - Hatem Diabi, Inboundr.ai Co-founder & CTO
In this episode, Rod and co-hosts Chris and Max engage with Hatem Diabi, the co-founder and CTO of Inboundr.ai, to explore the evolution of AI agents in content creation.
Hatem shares his journey from a failed food delivery startup to developing Inboundr.ai, a tool designed to help professionals create authentic content for social media.
The conversation delves into the challenges of maintaining authenticity in online communication, the data sources that inform Inboundr.ai’s AI, and the importance of building a strong team.
Hatem also discusses the integration of Inboundr.ai with Slack, the future of video content, and the pricing strategy that positions Inboundr.ai as a valuable service in the market. In this conversation, Hatem discusses the evolution and impact of AI agents in the realm of inbound marketing.
He emphasizes the importance of expertise in AI solutions, the value proposition for clients, and the simplicity of pricing strategies. The discussion also covers the practical demonstration of Inboundr.ai, a tool designed to enhance social media engagement while maintaining authenticity.
Hatem shares insights for founders in the AI space, stressing the need to focus on solving real problems and the importance of starting early in building a personal brand.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to AI Agents and Inboundr.ai
01:45 The Journey from Food Delivery to AI Content Creation
03:02 Understanding Inboundr.ai’s Functionality and User Experience
09:31 Authenticity in Content Creation
10:06 Data Sources and Learning Mechanisms
13:23 Building the First Version of Inboundr.ai
16:29 Integration with Slack and Future Developments
19:12 The Future of Video Content in Marketing
22:09 Team Building and Attracting Talent
26:22 Pricing Strategy and Market Reception
27:20 The Evolution of AI Agents
28:08 Client Insights and Value Proposition
30:01 Pricing Strategies for AI Solutions
31:51 Demonstrating Inboundr.ai: A Practical Walkthrough
39:00 Engagement Beyond Posting: Future Features
40:55 Maintaining Authenticity in AI-Driven Interactions
46:56 Key Takeaways for Founders in AI
48:57 Final Thoughts and Call to Action
Takeaways
Authenticity Drives Engagement in AI Content Creation
Inboundr.ai demonstrates that authenticity is a cornerstone of successful content on platforms like LinkedIn. By leveraging AI to capture a user’s unique tone and style, the tool helps professionals craft posts that resonate deeply with their audience. This approach challenges the generic outputs of traditional AI models and highlights the value of genuine, personal storytelling in building a strong personal brand.
The Shift Toward “Value as a Service” in AI Pricing
Inboundr.ai’s pricing strategy underscores the transition from traditional SaaS models to “value as a service.” By focusing on domain expertise, such as LinkedIn content, the platform justifies a premium price point compared to generalist tools like ChatGPT. This evolution reflects a broader industry trend where niche-focused AI solutions are redefining how value is delivered and monetized in the AI market.
AI Tools as Catalysts for Personal Branding
The discussion with Hatem Diabi highlights the growing importance of personal branding for professionals and executives. Inboundr.ai not only simplifies content creation but also helps users build the habit of consistent posting. This positions AI tools not just as productivity enhancers but as essential partners in helping individuals establish and grow their professional presence online.
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Episode Transcript
Introduction
Rod: Welcome to another episode of the Chris Rod Max show. Every week, together with AI founders, we discuss what’s happening in the AI space, what they’re doing, and how they’re impacting industries and our society. Before we get started, remember that we have our newsletter on our website, chrisrodmax.com. Subscribe there to get the latest news, updates, and all of our shows.
Today we have as our guest Hatem, who is a co-founder and CTO of Inboundr.ai. We will discuss with him what it means to build a product around AI agents, how he got started, and how he sees the space of AI agents. So, Hatem, welcome. Thank you for being here today.
Hatem: Thanks, Rod. Thanks for having me. I’m Hatem, CTO and co-founder of Inboundr.ai, which is an AI agent for content creation. We help professionals build their personal brand through content that is authentic. And also, we help them build the habit of posting regularly.
Rod: And of course we have our two co-hosts, Chris and Max.
Chris: Hi everyone. Good to be back. Excited about hearing your story, Hatem.
The Origin Story
Rod: So let’s start there. How did it start? Tell us about day one. How did you have this idea of having an agent for content creation in social media? How did that happen?
Hatem: Yeah, so actually, me and my co-founder Sean, we started this after a failure. We had a startup in the food industry - it was like a homemade food delivery app that we had to shut down because it was going viral in the city. The government called us and said we were risking a $20,000 fine. So we had to shut down the startup and build a new one.
We had tons of ideas, and then Sean started talking about inbound marketing. To be honest with you, at that time, I didn’t know what inbound was at all, so he had to teach me. It was the end of 2023, and a lot of people were revising their sales quota. At that time, many people realized they would never reach their quota. The only ones who reached the quota were people who were creating content, especially on LinkedIn. So this is how we started focusing on this problem.
Understanding the Tool’s Value
Rod: So out of necessity - you had to find something new and then turned out to be here in inbound marketing. I find that interesting. Max, Chris, you are not necessarily the most active people on social media. Maybe from your perspective, how do you see these types of tools? Maybe how would you use this type of tools?
Max: So Chris, you’re not super active in social media and then Hatem has Inboundr.ai, right? And with Inboundr.ai, I understand it generates for you just topics and posts that you can just copy paste and get engagement on your profile. Is that correct, Hatem?
Hatem: Yeah, so basically we help you capture the best moments of your podcast or any YouTube URL you have or any Slack discussion you have. Inboundr.ai captures everything and proposes the best things to talk about on LinkedIn, whether it’s success or failure.
If you go to my LinkedIn, yesterday I had a big bug in my software. Inboundr.ai proposed that topic and it was a bug, but it was really an authentic story to share. This is the type of topics that we miss as humans. We have a lot to say, but sometimes we are shy. Sometimes we think that just talking about success is the only way to build the brand. But honestly, people will react to your posts only when you’re authentic, and part of it is sharing failure.
The Technology Behind Authentication
Chris: So essentially what I’m understanding, it’s a tool or product that helps to turn any information bits and pieces into some coherent content that can be reshared. Tell us a little bit more, how do you get to a very natural tone? I mean, if you use some of these foundational models like ChatGPT or whatever, by now, I think everyone can tell whether a text is actually composed by an AI or by a human.
Hatem: Great question. So actually we have our chief innovation officer focusing on how to make content authentic first. Our AI agent goes to your LinkedIn profile, your blogs and podcasts you have participated in. With that, it knows how you talk and what kind of words you use. Are you North American? Are you African? All this plays into the way you express yourself.
Our AI agent captures that regularly. Also, as a human, you evaluate and learn new words, so our AI agent learns with you. Anything you share, it will learn from your tone and apply it to any posts it generates.
Business Model and Pricing Strategy
Chris: Looking at the business model, we can see the pricing starts at $8 per month plus $30 per each user. For some, that might sound a bit steep if we think ChatGPT costs around $20 per month. But also you are saying that some CEOs are paying for ghost writers thousands of dollars. What has been the reception for this specific pricing and how did you come up with this number?
Hatem: Great question actually. When you look at pricing evolution over the last 20 years, it evolved a lot. Right now, we’re seeing a new trend in pricing which some people call “value as a service.” We don’t offer SaaS anymore, we offer value.
Think about ChatGPT as a generalist - someone who knows a little bit about everything but isn’t an expert. You wouldn’t pay someone like that $200 to create your post, maybe $15-20. That’s okay because they’re not an expert. With AI agents, we’re building experts in one domain. My AI agent does one thing - LinkedIn posts - but does it better than any ghostwriter.
Team Building and Growth
Rod: And Hatem, you were also mentioning that you have now an innovation person that is really looking at how this tech can sound as natural and on-voice as possible. Given that you had this idea before for the food app, I imagine you have a team in place. Were you able to move with this existing team and develop this new topic or did you have to hire new profiles? How did you go about the team building process?
Hatem: Great question. So we started with me and Sean. Then we realized we needed an AI expert. I do a lot of things - DevOps, backend, frontend, and everything in between. I also do support. So it’s a lot for me to do everything and do it well.
What we did is bring in two other co-founders. They’re both ex-Microsoft. One is MG, who has the best course on machine learning on Udemy. If you go to Udemy and type ‘machine learning,’ he’ll be the first guy. He has like 20,000 students. And also he’s a YouTuber with thousands of followers. That guy is our innovation officer.
The other co-founder is Samir who is a professor at McMaster and also one of the top 200 employees at Microsoft worldwide. We brought the best talent from Microsoft in the AI field.
Future of Social Media Interaction
Chris: And let’s imagine that Inboundr.ai is very successful. So every post coming on LinkedIn was generated with Inboundr.ai and even replied to. Where would be the space for human interaction? Will there still be human interaction on LinkedIn or are we approaching a future where it’s only agents talking to each other and then humans are somewhere else doing something different?
Hatem: Yeah, I think we don’t want to reach that point. The whole reason for doing this is to make LinkedIn authentic because probably when you open your feed, there are a lot of ChatGPT posts there. People don’t even know what they’re talking about - it was just proposed by ChatGPT, so they post.
We want to reach a point where you really build connections with people. This is why you want to build your personal brand. This is just a way to do it faster, not about becoming an influencer and forgetting about your responsibilities as a C-level executive or as a developer.
Posting is a way to get leads, but then from that moment it’s your responsibility to take that lead and build the network and communication.
Closing Thoughts and Contact Information
Rod: So there it is for everyone, right? Go to Inboundr.ai, sign up, get onboarded. I actually had my onboarding yesterday, so I’m looking forward to starting using it.
Hatem: Thanks Rod, Chris, Max. It was a pleasure. Let me know when you want to start. And last advice for everyone - start as soon as possible. I started late and I regret it. Every time I meet with people, I remind myself I built this for you - for people who are busy, who work hard, but don’t have time to build a personal brand. So anytime there’s a hard worker who starts posting, I get very happy. Please reach out if you need some help.
Rod: Very motivational! So everyone, don’t overthink it, just do it. See you everyone!
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