With extensive experience in scaling revenue organizations and driving go-to-market strategies, Francis Paras has navigated the evolving landscape of SaaS. From the rise of product-led growth to the increasing demand for customer-facing analytics, the newly-appointed Head of Sales at Explo is now focused on leveraging his expertise to accelerate growth and innovation at the company.

We sat down with Francis to discuss his vision, industry trends, and what excites him most about joining Explo. For brevity, the conversation below has been edited.

The SaaS Landscape and the Growing Demand for Embedded Analytics

Francis has seen firsthand how the demand for embedded analytics has evolved in the SaaS world. Traditionally, companies relied on quarterly business reviews (QBRs) and internal reporting tools to share insights with customers. But today’s users expect more—they want real-time, self-service access to data directly within the SaaS products they use every day.

For SaaS companies, delivering a seamless analytics experience is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s essential for driving user engagement, retention, and competitive differentiation. However, building robust, customer-facing analytics from scratch is complex, requiring significant engineering resources and time. That’s where Explo comes in. By providing an easy-to-implement embedded analytics solution, Explo helps SaaS companies get analytics up and running quickly, without the burden of custom development.

Across industries, Francis notes that HealthTech and FinTech are leading the charge in embedding analytics into their products. As these sectors grow increasingly competitive, companies need to deliver insights at scale—helping their users make data-driven decisions faster, improving the overall product experience, and ultimately driving business outcomes.

Buy vs. Build: The Embedded Analytics Dilemma

When it comes to adding analytics to a SaaS product, companies often face a critical decision: Should they build their own analytics solution or buy an embedded solution? While building in-house might seem like an appealing way to maintain full control, Francis has seen organizations struggle with three key challenges:

• Scalability – Managing multiple databases, optimizing query performance, and ensuring analytics scale seamlessly across a growing user base is incredibly complex. Many teams underestimate the ongoing maintenance required to keep their analytics infrastructure running smoothly.
• Resource Constraints – Engineering time is one of the most valuable resources in any SaaS company. Developing an embedded analytics solution diverts time and effort away from core product innovation, slowing down the roadmap and delaying go-to-market timelines.
• User Adoption – Even with a homegrown analytics solution, companies often struggle to make data truly accessible to non-technical users. Without intuitive dashboards and self-service capabilities, users may still rely on support teams or data analysts, reducing the effectiveness of the solution.

Explo eliminates these challenges by offering a white-label embedded analytics platform that seamlessly integrates into existing SaaS applications. Rather than spending months—or even years—building and maintaining analytics infrastructure, companies can deploy a fully functional analytics experience in days. Explo’s flexible, no-code approach ensures that businesses can provide their users with the insights they need, while keeping their engineering teams focused on driving core product innovation.

As competition in SaaS intensifies, delivering powerful, built-in analytics can be a key differentiator. With Explo, companies can move beyond static reports and complex homegrown solutions—offering real-time, embedded analytics that enhance user experience, drive engagement, and accelerate business growth.

What It’s Like to Work With Explo

For organizations looking to implement customer-facing analytics, Francis emphasizes that Explo offers a hands-on, consultative approach. Our team works closely with customers to assess their current analytics landscape, identify goals, and create a roadmap for success. The setup is lightweight, but the impact is substantial—helping customers drive stronger user engagement, retention, and revenue growth.

Why Francis Joined Explo

Francis spent significant time researching Explo before making the decision to join. What stood out most to him was our unique approach to embedded analytics—focusing on making data accessible to end-users rather than just internal teams. The analytics space is competitive, but Francis saw the product-market fit in Explo’s approach and was eager to be part of a company that is redefining how organizations deliver customer-facing insights.

The Explo Culture

Francis describes Explo’s culture as fast-paced, highly collaborative, and customer-obsessed. With daily check-ins, cross-functional alignment, and a shared commitment to innovation, the team is always ready to roll up their sleeves and support each other. As Explo continues to grow, Francis is eager to help scale the sales organization while maintaining the energetic and customer-first mentality that defines the company.

Fun Fact: Favorite Ice Cream?

We had to ask! Francis’ go-to flavor is Honey Lavender from Salt & Straw, though he’s always happy with a classic Rocky Road when it’s available.

Looking Ahead

With nearly two months at Explo under his belt, Francis is most excited about delivering on our vision of making data more accessible. While he can’t reveal too much about the roadmap just yet, he’s deeply focused on how Explo can empower both technical and non-technical users to access and understand data without relying on complex infrastructure. The future of embedded analytics lies in low-code/no-code solutions, and Francis is determined to help drive that evolution.

We’re beyond excited to have Francis on board as we continue to push the boundaries of embedded analytics. Welcome to the team, Francis! 🚀

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