A dispatch from ServiceTitan’s Pantheon conference 

ServiceTitan hosted its annual Pantheon conference in Orlando this week, where contractors from around the country gathered to mingle, hear updates — and wisdom from the Manning brothers — and, surprise, surprise, talk AI. 

Here’s a dispatch from down in Disney, courtesy of me, Noah Zahn, and Alec Stevanovski.

133

The total, unique number of times our team heard the word “AI.”

What you’re saying

Our favorite snippets from on-the-ground conversations, anonymized and in no particular order.

“The next [AI] agent I want to build is one that sounds like Samuel L. Jackson. Like, ‘What’s up, motherf**ker?’”

“I liked what Peyton Manning said: ‘Don’t cut corners in anything. That means you’ll cut corners in everything.’”

“It’s a challenging macro environment. There’s consumer uncertainty; houses aren’t turning as much. But that shouldn’t be an excuse.”

“I love this ‘non-private equity, private equity’ concept. It’s like, ‘We’re backed by venture capital. We’re different.’ Yeah, okay.”

“AI fatigue is real, and it’s tough out there for a lot of operators. I think willingness to spend on new flashy stuff is depressed. AI has exploded since last year, but I’m hearing fatigue.”

“This event’s changed so much with trade types. A few years ago, it was all HVAC and plumbing. I met a guy whose company scrubs barnacles off of boats.”

“We gave out around 110 free memberships to customers who spend over $500. Within six months, we’ve made around $250,000 on those customers because they called us back first.”

“My job is basically just to train AI to take my job.”

“The stigma around the trades has changed so much in the past five years. It used to be even more of an uphill battle to find people, but it’s not that anymore.”

Hits and misses

Hits

• Kelly Clarkson’s performance
• Custom airbrushed t-shirts
• The DJs’ background music throughout the event (slapped)
• “Shingle and mingle” as a roofing happy hour name
• Easy access to ice cream
• Friendly people sharing goals and strategies

Misses

• Having three expo halls instead of one
• Orlando, Florida
• The lack of available power outlets
• Escalator traffic jams — and bathroom lines
• No one there being able to explain how contractors will be ranked on ServiceTitan’s new tool, “Homh”

On the agenda

What Pantheon’s session lineup signals for operators and ServiceTitan alike.

Vertical solutions took the largest share of sessions, which simply reflects ServiceTitan’s push into new industries. 

AI was a common thread. 22 sessions were primarily about AI; however, sessions in other categories were also framed around AI products. 

Growth (26 sessions) beat operations and back office (17 sessions).

One thing we’re chewing on

As AI improves exponentially and barriers to entry come down, will it ever be actually feasible for operators to ditch traditional software en masse and build their own tools, or will switching costs be too high to make it worth the pain?

Or, or, or: Will AI make established software platforms more valuable over time?

Tell us what you think