- Jit's VP Product, Amir Kessler, details the shift from passive SaaS to active agentic products.
- The rise of AI in development created a bottleneck for security teams, prompting a radical solution.
- Internal company-wide transformation was key to successfully building agentic solutions.
- Early renewal rates serve as a critical KPI for measuring agentic product value.
In an era where AI is rapidly accelerating development, traditional SaaS models are facing unprecedented challenges. Amir Kessler, VP Product at Jit, shares his company's journey in transforming its cybersecurity SaaS product into an 'agentic' solution, a paradigm shift from merely assisting users to actively performing tasks for them. This transition, born from a critical market need, required not just product innovation but a complete overhaul of Jit's internal operations and mindset.
The impetus for this transformation stemmed from a glaring problem: as developers leveraged AI tools to write more code faster, the small, often static, security teams at companies became significant bottlenecks. Kessler recounts hearing constant signals from customers about being overwhelmed, unable to meet targets, and desperately needing help in areas previously unaddressed. This led Jit to a profound realization: to combat AI-driven overload, security teams needed AI-powered agents.
Jit's approach to validating this agentic shift was meticulous. They didn't jump straight to building; instead, they first validated the problem with extensive customer conversations. Then, they prototyped solutions, focusing on a specific, time-consuming 'use case': risk assessment. The key insight was transparency. An agent couldn't just say 'I did it'; it needed to show its reasoning and allow for customization and actionability. This meant moving beyond simple automation, which follows fixed processes, to a dynamic agent that can adapt, learn, and even interact with other tools and team members, effectively 'closing the loop' on problem-solving.
Perhaps the most radical aspect of Jit's journey was the realization that to build an agentic product, they first had to become an 'agentic company.' This involved a company-wide transformation. Engineering teams moved exclusively to Cursor, an AI-native IDE, boosting velocity dramatically. The product team adopted internal agents for tasks like competitor analysis and PRD generation. Even the UX team, led by Lital, shifted from Figma to Cursor, allowing designs to seamlessly translate into code. This internal immersion in agentic workflows was crucial for understanding user needs and the true potential of AI agents.
Kessler emphasizes the ongoing challenges, particularly in packaging, pricing, and user experience. The market isn't uniformly ready for a 100% chat-based interface, requiring a delicate balance between traditional dashboards and dynamic agent interactions. The focus remains on empowering teams, not replacing them, a crucial marketing distinction. Ultimately, Jit measures success not just by renewals, but by 'early renewals' – a commitment from customers to continue using the product well before their contract is up, signaling undeniable value and a successful agentic transformation.
“You cannot develop agents properly and make this mental shift if you are not, you cannot expect your users, and I'll put it this way, to use agents if you yourself are not accustomed to it and don't understand how this thing works.”
- Amir Kessler, VP Product at Jit
