Sam Cummings is the CEO of DataPlant, an St. Louis based AI-driven software that has revolutionized how companies collect, analyze, and interpret their business data. Cummings has used the lessons he has learned during his career as the head of data science at Gainsight, an award-winning customer success manager at LinkedIn, and as a head of enterprise teams at companies such as Indeed to lead DataPlant in becoming a leader in AI-driven data analytics and insights.
As he has seen companies struggle to grapple with the emotional aspect of empathizing with their customers, he has come to believe that having the capacity to be understanding towards customers is critical to the success of a business. These experiences led him to create DataPlant to help companies become better, more empathetic partners for their customers. In our modern world, where technology is constantly evolving and advancing, empathy is more important than ever in the tech world. Empathy is essential in creating strong and successful businesses, as it allows them to understand customer needs and challenges at a fundamental level.
DataPlant enables companies to develop data architecture and produce valuable insights rapidly. With the emergence of generative AI, software systems are becoming smarter and easier to use, redefining how businesses efficiently develop and analyze insights. Examples of tools utilizing generative AI include the language model chat GPT, created by Open AI. Other tools include Stable Diffusion and Mind Journey, which can be found by performing a simple Google search. With companies such as DataPlant, these extremely useful and powerful tools are now being applied in the business context. Sam Cummings shared with us how DataPlant uses this technology to revolutionize the business world.
He describes DataPlant as the “modern-day calculator,” meaning that anyone, no matter how big the business, can utilize DataPlant for analytics. “If you have a warehouse and you’re shipping goods, you can run analytics on your vendors. If you have a store, and you’re selling products, you can run analytics on your products in your store.” Cummings stresses that this relieves the need for data scientists and analytics teams that smaller businesses sometimes struggle to afford. By providing access to data science and analytics to businesses of all sizes, DataPlant is revolutionizing the way companies understand their data.
Sam illustrated how DataPlant aids companies in staying agile in the face of ever-changing markets and socio-economic conditions. “What makes DataPlant really unique is we’re taking this and applying it in the business context,” said Sam Cummings. This could be a revolutionary shift for businesses, allowing them to become more efficient, empathetic partners for their customers. By freeing up human energy from the equation and relying on automation, businesses have the opportunity to gain value from these platforms. “in the business context, this is where it has the biggest opportunity to help companies be better empathetic, you know, partners for their customers that they work with,” explains Cummings.
Sam and his team are working hard to improve DataPlant and to increase its potential applications. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the structures and rules companies had developed over the years to gather and analyze data, build reports, and create databases were suddenly upended. All the hard work and energy that had gone into piecing together all these components of their digital architecture became instantly threatened. DataPlant will revolutionize the way businesses operate in these situations.
“If we can create systems that self-configure themselves, that take all that human work effort out of it, and allow for us to get that value. Now we can be agile. When anything happens, whether it’s market changes, whether it’s societal changes, macroeconomics, you could completely restructure your data architecture, to be able to understand the new factors of business.” Cummings says that this shift will make DataPlant a real transformer for the world.
DataPlant is set to have a historic release in the near future. Cummings anticipates rolling out Success GPT, which provides businesses with suggestions on how to reach their goals. Already a revolutionary step in transforming how businesses and customers interact, the feeling of excitement in St. Louis only continues to grow.
DataPlant has found much success here in St.Louis. DataPlant was listed in St. Louis INNO as one of the top startups to watch in 2023. St. Louis is the perfect place to bring DataPlant’s mission to life. Everyone in St. Louis is excited to be part of this revolutionary new venture, including Cummings himself. He states, “we’re building and growing in St. Louis, and really establishing our stake in this world with St. Louis at the core…And we couldn’t have developed as fast without our city behind us.”
Sam Cummings and Data Plant are at the forefront of a revolution in generative AI and St. Louis is here to witness their historic mission. With their upcoming release of the Success GPT, their aim to have businesses and customers interact in a novel way is underway. St. Louis is proud to have Sam Cummings and Data Plant represent our city at the forefront of this revolution. TechSTL is incredibly thankful to Sam Cummings and DataPlant for taking part. DataPlant’s journey and revolutionary ideas exemplify the greater narrative of St. Louis, a city that has been a perpetual beacon of innovation proving it can box above its weight with great pride.
