Growth+
"Apart from development, it is critical not to lose sight of the business, sales, and customer acquisition"
As part of the Growth+ project by Calcalist and Poalim Tech, Michal Kissos Hertzog, CEO of Poalim Tech, met with Dekel Yaacov, co-founder of enSights: "It is essential to stay close to customers."
As part of the Growth+ project by Calcalist and Poalim Tech, Michal Kissos Hertzog met with Dekel Yaacov, co-founder and CTO of enSights, a one-stop platform for renewable energy that sits at the heart of organizations, connecting financial systems to solar assets in the field.
The Growth+ project, now in its third year, includes one-on-one meetings between founders of Israel's leading tech companies and entrepreneurs from promising startups, with the aim of providing advice, support, and practical tools on entrepreneurship, creativity, startup management, and building companies for growth.
Michal, what must entrepreneurs have right now, in this challenging year and amid the AI revolution?
“In a world where you can build software in a weekend, the code itself is no longer the advantage. We are in the midst of a surge in expectations. And as in any surge, there is enthusiasm, but also confusion. One manifestation of this is the pursuit of one-off ‘magic moments.’ When models can do almost everything, innovation is measured differently, not by the ability to impress, but by the ability to repeat the same action consistently, at scale, without surprises.
“This is where the difference between companies begins. Strong companies don’t just present information or insights, they change behavior. Companies with a strong product embed themselves at decision points and become part of how an organization operates. Once a system is stable enough to be trusted, real change happens.
“This is where data becomes the true ‘moat’, not the collection itself, but the ability to accumulate high-quality, continuous, and relevant data that improves with every use. Data that not only describes reality, but enables it to be predicted in ways others cannot replicate. This kind of advantage cannot be built overnight, and it is not easily copied. At that point, the product stops being just software. It becomes a layer the organization depends on, it becomes infrastructure.”
Dekel, what was your most significant challenge this year?
“The challenge is how to stay relevant. What is relevant today will not be enough tomorrow. Our challenge is to extract value from data that a programmer’s eye or a standard script cannot detect. We aim to be a Copilot for the asset manager: when they arrive in the morning facing thousands of systems and alerts, we present the ten exact issues they need to address that day.”
Michal, what advice would you give Dekel?
“Dekel comes from 20 years in the cybersecurity world and has moved into the energy sector. This transition is fascinating and reflects how geopolitical crises, such as the wars involving Russia and Ukraine, as well as tensions involving Iran and Israel, are accelerating demand for technology-driven fields like alternative energy and defense. This transition is challenging, but there is another layer as well.
“Dekel’s challenge is that, in addition to being CTO, he also wears a founder’s hat. Technology leaders often have a natural tendency to retreat into development, but it is critical not to lose sight of the business, sales, customer acquisition, and understanding what the technology must deliver to move the company forward.
“This is especially important now, as the company scales in the U.S., moving from customers with thousands of endpoints to those with hundreds of thousands. It is essential to stay close to customers, understand their needs, and how they operate. A CTO must also be strategic and deeply understand the market.”
What did you learn from each other?
Michal: “Dekel brings energy, optimism, humor, and a strong drive to act, qualities that are essential for resilience in such a challenging period. Our brainstorming also led to an idea for future business development: integrating fintech into their platform and turning their insights into a financial tool.”
Dekel: “Banks in the U.S. provide loans to finance solar projects. If we can provide banks with reliable insights and confidence about what is happening on the ground, enSights can become a tool they fully rely on. Additionally, the fact that I didn’t receive negative feedback from Michal reinforced that we are likely on the right track.”
Is there anything surprising that you discovered about each other?
Michal: “We discovered that we had both previously faced nearly identical challenges in data architecture.”
Dekel: “We realized we are exactly the same age and have children of the same age.”
Michal Kissos Hertzog’s Golden Advice
“It’s important to maintain the ‘machine,’ which is ourselves. Make sure to sleep well, eat properly, and find time for your family. It’s easy to try to stay on top of everything all the time, but if you’re building for the long term, taking care of yourself is essential.”
