In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Todd McElhatton, CFO of Zuora, for a deep cut on pricing, packaging, and value in the age of AI. They dig into how companies are figuring out whether to charge for AI at all, why token-based budgets are starting to sit alongside headcount budgets, and why AI may be increasing — not decreasing — the value of deep expertise.

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LINKS:

Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN

Guest: linkedin.com/in/todd-mcelhatton-2140761

Company: www.zuora.com

CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/

Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com

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TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Intro

1:15 Meet Todd

2:24 Debating Price

7:33 Is Software "Going Headless"?

9:18 Is AI Increasing the Value of Experts

9:58 Hiring Specialists vs. Generalists

16:49 Rethinking the Budget Envelope

26:56 Time to Value

31:20 Forward-Deployed Engineers

35:20 Parallels Between On-Prem-to-Cloud

36:10 Rethinking Strategy

37:07 Avoiding the Sunk Cost Trap

38:58 The Art of Pivoting

40:12 VMware

41:31 Experimenting With AI

42:33 What Private Boards Bring

43:13 Short-Term Pain

43:45 One-Way Doors vs. Two-Way Doors

44:57Long-Ass Lightning Round

45:04 Biggest Career Mistake

45:36 Advice45:56 Finance Tech Stack

46:43 The Craziest Thing Expense

#RunTheNumbersPodcast #AIforCFOs #FinanceLeadership #Zuora #GoingPrivate

Zuora’s COFO On Going Private and Pricing AI | Todd McElhatton

Run the Numbers

Zuora’s COFO On Going Private and Pricing AI | Todd McElhatton