Shambhabi Raha

Founder & CEO @Fieldmobi | @CambridgeMBA | Transforming the Construction and Infrastructure Space with AI/ML-powered Site Intelligence Solutions

[Shambhabi Raha @ShambhabiRaha]

One of the things Laurent Cochet asked me about during the @AI_InterConnect Podcast is how artificial intelligence will reshape ERP and field operations over the next five years. At Fieldmobi, this is something that has been on our minds from the beginning, and the first thing we believe it will do is reduce the time, effort and cost of customization but it's not the last.

If you're interesting in hearing more about AI, Site Intelligence and how we've been building Fieldmobi, check out the full video here: https://t.co/vP9iJNQSwD

#buildinpublic #ai #machinelearning #erp #Constructiontech #siteintelligence #startups

[Laurent @AI_InterConnect]

How Shambhabi Raha Is Transforming Construction ERP with AI | @fieldmobi https://t.co/Mz3dlVwUaB via @YouTube with @ShambhabiRaha

[Shambhabi Raha @ShambhabiRaha]

Now that we're a week into the New Year and the hype and excitement has settled into executable plans, I think it's time for a little bit of reflection but more than anything, in true #buildinpublic fashion, share our goals for the year to come.

Last year was a year of exploration. @Fieldmobi found itself in the hands of everyone from contractors fixing pothole, volunteers going door-to-door to conduct rural surveys, technicians installing devices at retail outlets to supervisors tracking material moving through ports.

We saw new faces join our team. New features built. But most importantly, we proved that Fieldmobi works. We proved that workers with a limited education can work with it comfortably. We proved that our app can work in the most remote places. We proved that we can customize and roll out applications for customers at an unprecedented speed.

Now that our product is proven, stable and strong, this year is all about creating micro ERP solutions for businesses at scale and changing the way they interact with operations outside of their offices. It's about making field data verifiable, as the norm, so no one ever has to put "garbage" into their ERP systems again.

It's been one week into the year. We've already taken steps to grow our team, build new partnerships and bring onboard new clients. If this week has been any indication of the year to come, I think it's going to be a very exciting year at Fieldmobi! The biggest thanks to my amazing team!

It wouldn't feel right to end this post without talking about a some incredible communities that I've become a part of this year.

A big thanks to everyone at the Cambridge Society, Bombay for taking me in and making me a part of the General Committee. I've had the chance to meet some incredible people from @Cambridge_Uni through it and look forward to some of the incredible events coming up.

I had a wonderful time helping host some amazing events as a volunteer for the @CJBSAlumni Mumbai Chapter as well.

I also went to my first St. Xavier's College, Kolkata Mumbai Chapter event last year and immediately felt at home. I'm so excited to meet all of you again in the year to come.

Any alumni moving to Mumbai this year, please do reach out!

Happy New Year everybody!

[Shambhabi Raha @ShambhabiRaha]

It's been another big month at @fieldmobi and I'm particularly excited to introduce the new and improved Workforce Management App to you all:

🚀New Launch

We just launched the new and improved Fieldmobi Workforce Management App and for a limited time we are making it available at the price of a cup of tea (the kind you get on the street, not in a fancy coffee shop) because we want you to be able to get everyone on it from field engineers to janitorial staff. If you have teams that work across multiple sites or in the field, DM me or sign up on our website (https://t.co/f78VYw5ueN) because we have a crazy offer going!

🛠️Product and Feature Updates:

PDF downloads of charts directly from Graph View
Monthly Reports with Daily Breakdown

👩‍💼Customer Milestones:

An existing customer rolled out our Service Management Module to track Daily Progress

Our Roads ERP customers closed over 2,000 defects using the Fieldmobi mobile app last month

🐝Founding Force Milestones

We are introducing the Fieldmobi Sales Internship this month with a unique compensation model! Stay tuned for more on this!

#buildinpublic

[Shambhabi Raha @ShambhabiRaha]

I spent a great deal of my time at @CambridgeJBS obsessing over a problem that I had the hardest time believing. Most consumer goods brands have very little understanding of where and how their products are physically being sold and a great deal of spending goes into collecting this data.

After spending years in advertising writing and creating campaigns at @FcbUlka , I would pay a lot of attention to how they were executed, especially in rural areas. There would always be some inconsistency. Every now and then, you'd even find a campaign that was years old and no longer relevant.

I spoke to a bunch of marketers and these issues seemed universal across most of the world. FMCG and consumer durable brands would spend massive amounts on retail audits to try to gain a little insight into some of their most important points of sale.

Covid hit, retail was hit hard and my ideas were put on hold. But as we started building @fieldmobi, this problem remained at the back of my mind. The dynamics of the industry started to change with Quick-commerce coming in. But I think that made it even more important because the important physical stores started becoming more rural, most distributed and more difficult to audit.

Next week, we are launching what we believe is the first step to solving this problem with an all new Bento Box, specifically designed for trade marketing. It's going to take the power of Fieldmobi, an AI-driven field-focused ERP platform and apply it to transform the way brands engage with their retail networks. We're also partnering up to bring some IoT into play to make the solution even stronger.

I'm not going to say much more right now but if you've been struggling to manage promotional assets, material, campaigns and brand consistency across retail outlets, please reach out to me. I'd love to hear more about it.

[Shambhabi Raha @ShambhabiRaha]

@paulg I completely agree with this and one of the side effects of AI has been that customers and partners have stopped asking about head count as much. It's made completing on larger projects as a startup much easier.

[Shambhabi Raha @ShambhabiRaha]

Earlier this month, some of the incoming MBA students from @CambridgeJBS invited me to talk to them about building @fieldmobi. It really got me thinking about my time there and how much of a role it played in making Fieldmobi a reality.

For as long as I can remember, I loved building things from scratch. That's what got me into art and then writing. I really enjoyed the blank page. My creative pursuits led me to advertising, where as a copywriter I got to create ads. It was rewarding and all-consuming and in being so, very easy to get sucked into. The MBA did many things but the most important is that it gave me a chance to reevaluate what I want to be doing for the rest of my life.

I grew up in tech and at the back of my mind I knew that the ultimate blank page was a startup. But when you've been doing something for years, it can be difficult to see yourself doing something so fundamentally different. That one year completely shattered that. When you're in a classroom full of some of the most amazing people from all sorts of industries, functions and countries, you start to rethink what your strengths and weaknesses are.

While we had some amazing professors who no-doubt had a huge impact on me, it was all the people sitting next to me who made the most difference. They brought perspective that I would have never gotten anywhere else.

The first 6 months of the MBA gave me perspective. In the next 6 months, Covid hit and in a strange way, that gave me the time I needed to figure things out. I started working on my first business plan then, sitting in the garden at Selwyn College.

That business plan ended up being my final project and although it wasn't for Fieldmobi exactly, I got to sit down with people I would have never dreamt of, one of the most memorable being with Jack Lang, one of the co-founders of Raspberry Pi, at his home on an apple orchard. I remember him going through every word of my business plan and questioning every statement.

It was people like him and David Gates, who spent an hour walking around Cambridge talking to me during lockdown, who got me ready to start Fieldmobi.

To all of you starting your year there, you are in for incredible time.

[Shambhabi Raha @ShambhabiRaha]

Let's not forget it's PEOPLE not businesses that use B2B apps!

I realise that seems obvious. But you wouldn't think so if you look at how most apps are designed.

On one side, there are consumer apps. They look great. They are very easy to use. They require zero training. Clearly designed for human beings to enjoy them.

On the other, there are business applications. They look grey. They almost take pride in how difficult they are to use and often offer paid certifications so users are skilled enough to find a piece of data. They feel like they were built to reflect every reason that a person has to dislike going to work.

Don't get me wrong. The two are different beasts with different needs. There are many reasons why an ERP system isn't going to be as simple as a quick commerce app. But it feels like most business applications just forget to try.

More often than not, when you ask someone building in B2B who they are building for, they name an industry or a type of business. Maybe it's copywriter in me talking here, but a business is not a user. The question is "WHO are you building for?" not what.

When we started building @fieldmobi, we did this totally differently. We didn't want to build business applications for businesses. We wanted to build business applications for the people using them. That means:

1. Paying attention to every type of user (human) in an organization - That's why our mobile app is designed for field users and our dashboard is designed for managers

2. Recognising that the same people who like using consumer apps hate using business apps - That's why we have a little colour in there. Just because we do serious things doesn't mean it has to be designed like a prison.

3. Realising that users have evolved and have normalised certain behaviours - Tiny bits of technology have become everyday things now. Things like QR codes and capturing pictures. We take from consumer normal and build for business utility because that's what people are used to.

That's @yashdhanaji there showing Fieldmo the Bee some love!

Also, if you're curious about what Fieldmobi does. check out https://t.co/RvVkXAJlPs

[Shambhabi Raha @ShambhabiRaha]

The @fieldmobi Founding Force Internship is open to applicants again so I thought I'd talk about one of the most mutually beneficial relationships in the startup world… Startup and Interns.

When you're an early stage startup hiring is hard. Before the funds come in and the whole world knows who you are, you can't really afford experience. And even if you could, you can't risk being wrong about the one person who makes it through your doors. It's hard to judge because being one of the first hires in a company that is still searching for its footing is hard. You need someone who never says no. Who doesn't think that there is any job too small. Who isn't going to run when things get tough because things WILL get tough. You need someone who can learn fast. Grow fast. But is tremendously reliable.

I'd say that I've been very lucky with this (Shout out to my amazing team… @yashdhanaji, @ThitheekshaS and @xlncbasit). But it's not all luck. Each of them were once interns at Fieldmobi.

From the very start we started hiring interns at Fieldmobi and it's been incredible. Only the most driven, ambitious students with strong risk appetites apply to unknown startups for internships. They come in with energy that recharges the room and you need that sometimes. They bring new ideas. They ask the dumb questions you need asked. And they bring no baggage. I personally really enjoy working with interns. Before we had customers, they helped us understand what was difficult to do. What needed more structure. More ease of use.

Then there is the fact that you get a few months to evaluate new hires.

So we've established that interns are invaluable to startups. But I said the relationship was mutually beneficial.

At a startup, there is always more work than hands to do it. That means that if you step through the door and are able to contribute in any way, no one is going to stop you. We treat our interns like they are full time members of the team. And I'm sure a lot of startups do that. What that means is that if you are an intern who is looking for real experience (not just going research on the side), you are far more likely to get that at a startup.

If there is one thing every one of our interns told us before leaving, it's that they didn't expect to learn so much or do so much. They didn't expect to see their work in action, being used to take a company one step further. Big companies may come with a brand, but at a startup each intern is simply more valued. Each intern has more impact. And because of that each intern learns so much more.

Apply for our internship:

The Fieldmobi Founding Force Internship (on-site): https://t.co/glZEAkuYO3

The Fieldmobi Growth Internship (Remote): https://t.co/wiuj5PUu3R

And finally a huge shout out to all the amazing interns we've had at Fieldmobi.

#buildinpublic #interns #startup #startupinternships

[Shambhabi Raha @ShambhabiRaha]

I never thought I'd see Fieldmo next to Deepika Padukone (or me for that matter). @fieldmobi and I got featured on Mid-Day amongst some incredible entrepreneurs. Check out the article here: https://t.co/3llpxy73p3

[Shambhabi Raha @ShambhabiRaha]

AI, Mobile and the Next Wave of Business Applications

Last week, I told you all that you'd see a lot more of me on social media. So here's me keeping my promise. I thought I'd start things off with something everyone talks about but in a context that isn't quite as widely discussed. You guessed it… AI (well, sort of).

As everyone knows, we're seeing another major shift in the world when it comes to technology. We went from analogue to digital to web/cloud to mobile and now AI. While many of us have started using a lot of AI in many ways, there is one area that has always been relatively sluggish when it comes to evolving with tech and that's core business applications like ERP.

If you look at most ERP systems today, they don't use AI. If they do, it's for something outside of their core offering like an AI agent to aid with customer support. But what is more surprising is that most don't have a strong mobile application either. And many businesses still use systems that can't be accessed from the web. In short, a lot of business applications are a few stages behind other tech.

There are many reasons for this. A major one being that business applications prioritize stability and security over usability and innovation. They take a "Let's not fix what isn't broken" approach which is all well and good, but at some point, being difficult to use and expensive to roll out will also have to be seen as broken.

Over the next few years, there will be a monumental shift in business applications. For one, most of the major ERP players have announced sunset dates for support of their legacy systems forcing businesses to migrate to the cloud and as a consequence, reevaluate their entire tech stack for the first time in decades in some cases.

This comes with a major opportunity to leap frog some of the stages that they've missed, bringing business applications straight into the age of AI and building the mobile-side up just as strongly.

My view (and the views that drove us to build @fieldmobi) is that it's time for a new wave of business applications. One that is not only designed for certified users but connects every person in an organization. A wave of applications that are not so difficult to roll out that a small, growing business cannot imagine implementing it. And while security and stability still remain as important, mobile and AI are key to making this possible.

Today mobile is stable and mainstream enough to become a data collection tool at the hands of every worker. AI is not. AI is not ready to be directly connected to raw enterprise data. There is still a lot to figure out in terms of privacy, security and stability there. But it is ready enough to significantly transform the customization and roll out process of these applications (on a different server, away from sensitive enterprise data).

On that note, let me introduce you to my colleague in the picture. That's Fieldmo the Bee, Fieldmobi's AI ERP Customizer and Consultant.

[Startup Ranking @StartupRanking]

🎉Drumroll, please!🎉

Our top startups of the week! 💯💡🌟

👤@withpersona
🧠@glean
🌱@getfreshgrowth
🗺️@fieldmobi
⚡ATOM Mobility

Would you like your startup to be the next one featured?
Apply for FREE 👉 https://t.co/KYWgwqxvZ6

#InnovativeStartups #Entrepreneurship

[Shambhabi Raha @ShambhabiRaha]

Starting next week you are all going to see a lot more of me on X (and everywhere else on social media).

I've never been very active on social media. Most of my posts so far have been art from when I was younger or updates about @fieldmobi. I'm not sure why that is exactly. Perhaps I've never thought that too many people would be very interested in what I have to say. My team at Fieldmobi seems to disagree. For months now, they've been pushing me to start sharing some of things they get to (or are forced to) hear on a daily basis with more people.

We started Fieldmobi to help businesses digitize, become more efficient and get ready for scale. So after a lot of thought, I've agreed that helping businesses should go beyond building software. So, starting next week, I'll start sharing some of things I've picked up over the years, working with various type of organizations, particularly helping them digitize. This could include information about the different software available to solve particular challenges, some of the challenges that come with rolling out these software, or tips to help get ERP ready.

I want this to be as interactive as possible so if there is anything you'd like me to cover, please let me know in the comments.

For those who don't know me (and are wondering why I'm talking about any of this), let me introduce myself.

I'm Shambhabi, the founder and CEO of Fieldmobi - An AI-customizable, Field-focused ERP platform. Over the past 3 years, @ShivShankarRaha (my father, Co-founder and CTO) and I have been building Fieldmobi to bring ERP out of large enterprise back offices and into the frontlines, where the real work gets done. Between the two of us, we have nearly half a century of experience working with all kinds of businesses.

P.S.: If you get tired of seeing my posts pop up on your feed, please blame @yashdhanaji, @ThitheekshaS and @xlncbasit. They made do it.

[Shambhabi Raha @ShambhabiRaha]

Fieldmobi: A complete suite of AI-customizable, Field-focused ERP https://t.co/n0GcgTyqWG by @ShambhabiRaha @fieldmobi #ProductHunt

[Shambhabi Raha @ShambhabiRaha]

Thanks a lot @AIPressRoom for the feature. It was great sharing my experience building @fieldmobi with @ShivShankarRaha! #buildinpublic

[AIPressRoom @AIPressRoom]

Shambhabi Raha (@ShambhabiRaha) is transforming ERP with @Fieldmobi—making it mobile-first, AI-powered, and finally accessible to businesses of all sizes. 🚀 (Full interview below!) 👇https://t.co/1SbY1NwMmn

[Shambhabi Raha @ShambhabiRaha]

Hi Everyone! Today's a very special day for us at @fieldmobi! We turn 3 today!

And this time, it's particularly special because all the effort and hard work that every single member of our team has put in is all coming together with the launch of the Fieldmobi ERP Starter Pack, next week.
@yashdhanaji @ThitheekshaS @xlncbasit @ShivShankarRaha

[Shambhabi Raha @ShambhabiRaha]

@Jason At @fieldmobi, we are focused on disrupting the ERP space with mobile-first, customizable ERP solutions that can be rolled out in minutes, not months using AI.
You can check it out here:
https://t.co/nSpfUNEvz6

[Fieldmo the Bee @fieldmobi]

For an industry that is focused on increasing efficiency, ERP sure has an inefficient implementation process....

Unless you're using Fieldmobi of course. :)