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Rocketlane has been making waves in the professional services automation (PSA) space with its AI-first approach to streamlining client onboarding and project delivery. Rocketlane not only streamlines operations but also significantly enhances customer satisfaction and profitability. This transformational tool offers a unique trifecta that propels businesses towards exceptional delivery performance, making it the ultimate solution for modern service teams looking to achieve world-class results.
Srikrishnan Ganesan is the Co-founder and CEO of Rocketlane, a platform for client onboarding and project success. Passionate about customer experience and startups, Sri has spent over a decade founding and scaling SaaS businesses. Before Rocketlane, he co-founded Konotor, a mobile engagement platform acquired by Freshworks in 2015, which became Freshchat.
In an interview with CIOL, Srikrishnan Ganesan shared insights into Rocketlane’s mission, its AI-first approach, and the innovations shaping the future of professional services automation.
Can you walk us through the core mission of the platform and what sets it apart from traditional PSA solutions?
Our platform caters to companies and teams that deliver project-based services to clients, such as implementation teams, agencies, or consulting firms. We provide an integrated solution that manages the "front of house" aspects—project management, customer collaboration, status updates, governance, and contract management—and the "back of house" elements like staffing, profitability tracking, effort allocation, and accurate invoicing.
Larger companies typically use PSA (Professional Services Automation) solutions, while smaller companies often struggle with their implementation. Many smaller organizations resort to spreadsheets instead of adopting PSA solutions due to complexities and resource constraints. Most companies rely on a combination of PSA tools and separate platforms for collaboration and project management, such as Asana or Monday.com. This bifurcated approach often leads to inefficiencies.
Being an all-in-one platform, we offer unique advantages by consolidating these functionalities, enabling our customers to operate more efficiently and effectively.
Could you elaborate on how Rocketlane plans to allocate its funding, particularly in advancing your AI roadmap?
We are developing a second product that is AI-first. Over the past two years, the technological landscape has evolved significantly. Instead of superficially integrating AI into our current offerings, we envisioned a solution that fully leverages these advancements. This led to the creation of a new platform called Account Intelligence Software, designed to assist with client account management using intelligent AI agents.
This innovative product has resonated well with our customers during its early testing phases. We are investing in this new offering while simultaneously expanding the global reach of our existing product. Key efforts include strengthening our presence in the U.S., building a robust leadership team, and scaling operations to serve a broader audience.
What specific AI technologies or capabilities are you focusing on? How do these differentiate Rocketlane from legacy PSA tools?
We approach AI with a dual focus: as a co-pilot to assist users and as intelligent agents that automate tasks. For example, when initiating a new project, AI can suggest the optimal team configuration based on goals such as maximizing margins or balancing workloads. It also proactively governs projects by identifying risks and alerting leaders in real time. Instead of requiring manual intervention, AI-driven insights highlight areas needing attention, such as delays caused by missing client stakeholders or recurring project issues.
This proactive approach enables faster decision-making and reduces dependencies on manual oversight, setting us apart from traditional PSA tools that rely heavily on dashboards and human input for risk assessment and project monitoring.
You recently launched Customer Portal 2.0, which has been widely appreciated. What are the standout features of this new platform, and how does it redefine client engagement?
One of the challenges organizations face is customer reluctance to adapt to new project management tools. Customers prefer familiar interfaces and often avoid learning new software.
Customer Portal 2.0 addresses this by creating a user-friendly, customizable interface that feels like browsing a website. Organizations can create tailored templates to suit different client needs, offering an intuitive and seamless experience. Customers can easily access real-time updates, project histories, plans, status updates, and meeting notes—all in one place.
This modern approach enhances professionalism and serves as a unique selling point for organizations, enabling them to showcase their commitment to transparency and collaboration during the sales cycle and throughout the client relationship.
The platform emphasizes centralized communication and real-time updates. From a technical perspective, how does this impact project timelines and productivity for service teams?
Centralized communication and real-time updates significantly reduce delays caused by waiting for client approvals or inputs. The platform ensures visibility into bottlenecks and automatically sends notifications to stakeholders, prompting timely action without relying solely on project managers.
This transparency accelerates decision-making, maintains accountability, and ensures projects stay on track, improving productivity and enabling teams to deliver projects on time and within budget.
Could you share insights into how your unified workspace leverages data trends and benchmarks to develop playbooks and best practices?
Rocketlane enables organizations to standardize project delivery by creating process templates. These templates streamline workflows and ensure consistency across projects.
By analyzing data from completed projects, teams can identify recurring bottlenecks and areas of delay. For instance, if a specific step frequently causes delays, adjustments can be made, such as breaking it into smaller tasks or providing additional resources to facilitate faster decisions. This iterative refinement of processes helps organizations continuously improve their efficiency and effectiveness.
How do you see AI transforming the professional services sector over the next five years?
AI will significantly impact both the core work professional services teams perform and the surrounding administrative tasks.
For example, AI can automate repetitive tasks such as updating clients, generating reports, tracking time, and invoicing. It also enhances the actual work by streamlining creative, analytical, and configuration tasks.
The greatest benefit of AI lies in its ability to reduce project timelines and risks. Shorter, less risky projects increase customer confidence, leading to greater opportunities for service teams. By enabling faster, on-budget delivery, AI will drive increased demand for professional services, transforming the industry into a more dynamic and efficient ecosystem.
Rocketlane has been featured in outlets like Forbes and TechCrunch. What strategies are you employing to solidify your position as a leader in AI-driven PSA software?
Our primary focus is on market education. Many organizations are unaware of the capabilities of next-generation PSA tools and remain reliant on outdated platforms.
We aim to create awareness about the benefits of modern, agile PSA systems through conferences, creative content, and educational resources like our recently launched ebook, The Case for Next-Gen PSA. These efforts highlight how transitioning to next-gen solutions can enable businesses to adapt quickly, deliver superior customer experiences, and operate more efficiently.
By emphasizing agility and innovation, we strive to position Rocketlane as a trusted partner in helping organizations navigate the evolving business landscape.
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