When Money Appeared in IoT, Enemies Started Collaborating | The Turning Point

Описание: In the early days of IoT, engineers would walk into customer meetings and talk about the technology. Customers would listen politely—and then ignore them. The problem wasn't the tech. The problem was that engineers were answering questions customers weren't asking.

Alistair Fulton explains the fundamental disconnect that killed early IoT sales: engineers wanted to discuss what they built, but customers only cared about what business problem it solved. Walking out of those meetings with engineering counterparts, the lesson was clear—nobody wants to know what you think about your technology. They want to know: what problem are you solving and how will it make us money?

Early IoT failed because there was no money flowing, so companies competed over nothing while talking about technical specifications. When real money finally appeared—when enterprises saw solutions they could actually buy—cooperation suddenly became valuable. Even competitors who hated each other started working together because customers demanded integrated solutions, not point products.

The shift happened when IoT vendors stopped leading with technology and started leading with business cases. Instead of "here's our LoRa chip with 15km range," successful pitches became "here's how we'll reduce your truck rolls by 40% and save you $2M annually." The technology became the means to deliver value, not the value itself.

After 25 years building IoT at Microsoft Azure IoT, Semtech LoRa ($300M), and Hitachi Lumada, Alistair's lesson for engineers and product teams: understand the core business problem your customer is trying to solve, then build the solution to that problem. Lead with outcomes, not technology specs.

Watch the full episode:    • TBT Ep67 Why IoT Failed & What Works | Azu...  

Learn why tech-first sales failed, how to shift from features to business outcomes, and what made IoT vendors finally start delivering real customer value.

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