Robert Issacs saw firsthand the making of a tech unicorn.
He was the chief software architect for ConnectWise when it sold for more than $1 billion dollars and made 70 millionaires overnight.
“Not very many people get to see that kind of growth,” Issacs said. “That company kind of inspired me to be an entrepreneur.”
Today, Issacs is the CEO and founder of Nine Minds, a small Tampa startup looking to add artificial intelligence-powered automation to managed service provider (MSP) software. Arnie Bellini, the Tampa investor and previously the CEO of ConnectWise, is an investor and partner in the start-up. The company just launched an early version of its product, Octavia.
Octavia uses a customized version of a publicly available AI foundational model, also known as a large language model. The model is trained on service tickets from companies with technology issues. The AI product will be trained to produce responses for customers, categorize issues, and give advice based on service tickets. It’s a browser extension that runs alongside ConnectWise software, and it will understand ConnectWise tickets to support customers with technology malfunctions, Issacs said.
MSP software is, in simplified terms, outsourcing operations for one’s company, like with technology support. ConnectWise is an example of an MSP through its suite of software products for businesses. Eventually, Nine Minds will release more products using AI to support MSP options, Bellini said.
Nine Minds is looking to solve problems for MSP technology through AI. The two have a background in MSP and software products, and they want to use that to further the industry as AI-technology becomes more available and developed.
"It doesn't take a tremendous amount of effort to build on top of these large language models and turn them into something that is an order of magnitude better productivity for your end clients," Bellini said.
Nine Minds was born from a conversation with Bellini. The two devised a way for Issacs to "try his hand at entrepreneurship," he said. Eventually, Nine Minds was founded in 2022. Today, it has an office in Clearwater that employs 10, and Bellini is a partner in the company.
“His resources have been amazing, his experience, his knowledge; it wouldn't have been possible without him,” Issacs said. “And I've worked with him for 23 years now. So it's fun to be working together again with him."
Bellini said AI is the next great disruptor, and it's a central focus for Bellini Capital, Bellini's investment firm. For Bellini, it's a step into the MSP field again.
"I'm re-engaging with the industry that I took a vacation from, I guess is the way to put it, I mean, I have a failed retirement," Bellini said, joking about his return to the MSP industry.
