Cleverbridge vs Mercury

New Cleverbridge Research Reveals Execution Gap as B2B Software Buying Moves Digital

New research: What does it really cost to sell software? Read the benchmark report. Cleverbridge research reveals execution gap as B2B software buying moves digital.

AI Speeds Software Discovery but Self-Service Checkout Lags

B2B software buyers are leveraging AI chatbots to accelerate discovery and shortlisting, yet the post-decision purchase process remains bogged down by slow sales-led journeys, internal approvals, and lengthy vendor negotiations. According to G2's 2026 Buyer Behavior Report, over 80% of buyers used AI for software recommendations, with 80% of AI users purchasing from their initial shortlist. However, Cleverbridge's research reveals that nearly 75% of purchases face significant delays or abandonment due to internal approvals and vendor back-and-forth. While 84% of buyers prefer a self-service digital path, only 17% of sellers have implemented one. Delays stem from waiting for quotes, security reviews, and budget approvals. Buyers express willingness to handle routine transactions, including those over $25,000, through self-service, indicating a clear gap between buyer expectations and seller capabilities.

• Over 80% of B2B software buyers used AI chatbots for software recommendations in the past two years (G2).
• 80% of AI users bought from their initial shortlist in at least three of five purchases, versus 65% of non-AI users (G2).
• Nearly three-quarters of software purchases are delayed or abandoned due to internal approvals or vendor back-and-forth (Cleverbridge).

Cleverbridge and DigitalRoute Partner to Scale Usage-Based Monetization Globally

Cleverbridge announces a partnership with DigitalRoute to scale usage-based monetization globally.

Introducing Mercury Books

Mercury has launched a new product called Mercury Books, a bookkeeping solution, and also introduced exclusive mutual fund products through Mercury Treasury.

Grok Bot Built in a Month by Small Team

Roman Ugarte, who led Growth at Cursor, details how he and a small team built Grok Bot for SpaceXAI from scratch in four weeks, then launched it publicly three weeks later. The article covers key decisions, such as building independently rather than integrating with Cursor, and the team's manual onboarding of nearly 300 initial users. Early product choices and a 'colleague-pilled' philosophy contributed to the bot's success. Roman also discusses moats and Cursor's competitive strategy.

• Grok Bot was built from scratch in four weeks by a small team at SpaceXAI.
• Roman Ugarte previously led Growth at Cursor, scaling it from 15 to over 1,000 employees before acquisition by SpaceX.
• The team manually onboarded nearly 300 of the first users.