Ambient business systems with bem
also titled "Software that works for you, and not the other way around"
The team and I have been thinking about ambient systems for a very, very long time. VLMs and LLMs are new paradigms that allow us to build very adaptive tooling for businesses, but we think of AI as a set of abstractions to leverage, not as the end.
In order to produce the next generation of business software, we have to go beyond the inner components and into the packaging of the product and its access pattern. How easy is it to connect to your existing systems? Does a human have to be in the loop?
For decades, businesses have been patching together workflows, hacking inefficiencies with stopgap solutions like spreadsheets, RPA, or agents. These tools were built to survive yesterday’s problems, not scale into tomorrow’s opportunities.
At bem, we’re rethinking how software and businesses coexist. We’re not just building automation tools or band-aid solutions; we’re creating ambient business systems—a generational platform where software doesn’t just run alongside your business but deeply integrates into it.
Here’s how we’re doing it—and why ambient systems are the future.
From Chaos to Clarity: Why Ambient Systems Matter
The back office has long been seen as the “messy middle” of business. Think endless PDFs, emails, ERPs, CRMs, and siloed legacy systems that don’t speak the same language. Traditional tools like RPA or agents tried to tame the chaos but failed to address the root issue: these systems were built to mimic broken processes, not rebuild them.
That’s where bem comes in.
What are ambient business systems?
Ambient systems don’t just react to workflows—they anticipate them, integrate seamlessly, and adapt as your business evolves. They’re invisible yet indispensable. They don’t require dropdowns, custom field mapping, or human workarounds. Instead, they transform every interaction into a seamless, structured process that actually works.
At bem, we believe that businesses shouldn’t be forced to manage complex technical pipelines just to use cutting-edge tools. Unlike other platforms that shift the burden of deploying and maintaining Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines onto their customers, bem keeps this complexity under the hood.
We integrate RAG, vector storage, and retrieval natively into our platform to power data transformation and enrichment—but this complexity is invisible to our users. Why? Because businesses don’t need to manage infrastructure; they need solutions. Our focus is on delivering outcomes, not technical hurdles.
Generalized, But Earned: Why Specific Use Cases Lead to Universal Platforms
Building a generalized platform is every startup’s dream. But here’s the reality: horizontal platforms aren’t born, they’re earned—customer by customer, use case by use case.
We’ve worked with companies ranging from early-stage startups to Fortune 500 enterprises and governments. Across this spectrum, one truth is clear: customers don’t buy horizontal platforms; they buy solutions to their specific problems.
By deeply engaging with our users’ pain points—whether it’s transforming data dumps into actionable insights, integrating with legacy systems, or automating tedious back-office tasks—we’ve created tailored solutions that will eventually scale across industries.
Our approach:
Start narrow: Solve specific, high-value problems deeply.
Think big: Use these solutions to create reusable, scalable components that expand into a generalized platform over time.
Horizontal success is earned through precision, iteration, and listening.
What We’ve Learned: From Experimentation to Transformation
In our first year, we learned that progress isn’t about trying to solve every problem at once—it’s about being pragmatic, focused, and experimental. Here’s what drives us:
Deliver Simplicity Through Complexity
Businesses don’t want to deal with the complexity of deploying infrastructure like RAG pipelines or vector databases. They just want systems that work. At bem, we handle the hard parts—retrieval, enrichment, transformation—so you don’t have to. Our users interact with a clean, simple interface, while we do the heavy lifting under the hood.Build for Specific Use Cases, Generalize Later
Every enterprise is unique. By solving deeply specific problems first, we’re able to learn, refine, and eventually build reusable solutions. This iterative approach ensures we’re delivering meaningful value, not superficial features.Automation Isn’t Enough—Transformation Is Key
Automation tools like RPA and “AI agents” often fail because they only patch over inefficiencies. Instead of mimicking human workflows, bem rebuilds them from the ground up—eliminating redundancies and creating systems that are inherently smarter, faster, and more scalable.Customer-Centric Experimentation
Our platform evolves by learning directly from our users. Whether it’s a startup with a scrappy tech stack or a Fortune 500 company wrangling complex integrations, we partner with our customers to test, refine, and deliver. This collaboration is our superpower.
Beyond Automation: Elevating the Back Office
At its core, bem transforms the back office from a tangle of inefficiencies into a source of value. With bem:
Data dumps become dashboards.
Manual workflows become automated pipelines.
Disconnected systems become seamless integrations.
We don’t just eliminate tedious data entry—we turn it into a competitive advantage. Whether it’s logistics, healthcare, fintech, insurance, or government workflows, bem empowers businesses to operate at their best by enabling entirely new ways of working.
This means moving the back office to customer-facing products. We fundamentally think the back office is dead, and if that’s true, that also means RPA and other puppeteer-based paradigms and agents will become outdated.
The Core Philosophy: Why Ambient Systems Are the Future
Most enterprise software still treats humans like clerks—forcing them to interact with dropdown menus, repetitive forms, and outdated systems. At bem, we’re flipping that script.
We believe that systems should adapt to humans, not the other way around. Ambient systems work for you, invisibly and intuitively. Instead of building bots that mimic human behavior, we’re creating true software abstractions that reimagine workflows entirely.
Our mission is simple:
Eliminate the need for manual data entry, validation, and communication.
Create infrastructure that businesses can depend on for decades.
Build systems that integrate seamlessly into workflows without exposing users to technical complexity.
We don’t think about AI as hype or as “agents” trying to act human. For us, AI is a means to an end—one part of a broader system that redefines how businesses operate.
Why Now, Why Us
The world is at an inflection point. Businesses are drowning in complexity, and the old tools—RPA, agents, and piecemeal automation—are no longer enough.
Advances in AI and machine learning have created a unique opportunity to build something better. At bem, we’re combining decades of experience in automation and data transformation to create a platform that will power the next century of software.
Our unique position:
From startups to governments: We’ve already proven our ability to solve hard problems across industries, from seed-stage startups to Fortune 500 enterprises and public institutions.
Data transformation as the wedge: By solving one of the hardest, most universal business problems—data transformation—we’re creating the foundation for broader operational transformation.
A generational platform: We’re not iterating on old ideas; we’re replacing them. bem is the infrastructure for the software-first economy of the future.
Let’s Build the Future of Business Computing
bem isn’t just a company—it’s a movement. We’re building systems that work in harmony with humans, eliminating inefficiencies, and redefining how software serves businesses.
The back office of today is a patchwork. The back office of the future is ambient, intelligent, and transformational.
If you’re ready to help build that future—with us, as a partner, or as an investor—get in touch.
The next era of software starts here. Let’s make it happen.