TECHtonic: Trends in Technology and Services

Net revenue retention is under pressure. SaaS growth has slowed. Sales and marketing budgets are shrinking. And AI is forcing companies to rethink everything, from seat-based pricing models to how they engage, retain, and grow customers.
In this episode of TECHtonic, host Thomas Lah welcomes back Brent Grimes, CEO of Reef.ai, for a direct and timely conversation about what’s actually happening in the AI revenue landscape.
Since their last discussion, AI capabilities have advanced rapidly, but the bigger shift isn’t just better models. It’s how companies are using those models to survive and win in a far more demanding market. With declining net revenue retention across public SaaS companies and mounting pressure to “do more with less,” leaders can no longer rely on intuition, last-call sentiment, or broad segmentation strategies. The era of guessing is ending.
Thomas and Brent explore the rise of model-driven revenue management, where predictive AI doesn’t just improve forecasting accuracy but identifies churn risk months in advance, pinpoints expansion opportunities with statistical precision, and helps teams prioritize their time where it matters most. They discuss how upsell intelligence may actually unlock more upside than churn reduction alone, and how organizations are beginning to move from dashboards and insights toward autonomous workflows powered by renewal and expansion agents.
The conversation also dives into the practical realities of making this shift—from solving data quality challenges to building trust with revenue teams who must learn to work alongside models and agents rather than rely solely on instinct. As AI adoption compounds quarter over quarter, the gap between early adopters and laggards is widening, and 2026 may mark the moment when that divide becomes unmistakable.
If you own revenue, lead customer success, or sit in the CRO seat, this episode will challenge how you think about forecasting, expansion, resource allocation, and the future of go-to-market execution.

AI is no longer a distant promise, it’s actively reshaping how work gets done. But the biggest differentiator between companies that thrive and those that fall behind isn’t the technology itself. It’s how leaders guide people through the change.
In this episode of TECHtonic, TSIA’s Thomas Lah sits down with 2x best selling author and strategist Alison McCauley to explore what it really takes to move a workforce from fear of replacement to mastery of augmentation. They unpack why early AI gains compound so quickly, how invention, not just efficiency, drives long-term advantage, and why subject matter expertise is more critical than ever in an AI-powered world.
The conversation dives into practical realities leaders face today: managing shadow AI, balancing centralized governance with decentralized experimentation, measuring progress beyond ROI, and creating habits that make AI a natural part of daily work. Alison also shares a powerful framework for helping teams break out of “paralysis by possibility” and reimagine what’s newly possible for their business.
If you’re a leader wondering how to turn AI from a source of anxiety into a catalyst for growth, this episode offers both clarity and a roadmap.

In the AI era, enterprise technology companies face a hard truth: generic platforms no longer win. Profitable growth now depends on delivering specific business outcomes, and that requires going deeper than ever before.
In this episode of TECHtonic, TSIA Executive Director Thomas Lah speaks with Mari Cross, Chief Customer Officer at Infor, to explore how micro-vertical strategies, AI-driven services, and outcome-based solutions are reshaping enterprise software.
Mari breaks down what micro verticals really are, and why speaking the customer’s exact language is now table stakes. She shares how Infor invested billions to rebuild its platforms around industry-specific processes, how AI enables faster value realization through packaged use cases, and why “secret sauce” often turns out to be best practice in disguise.
The conversation goes deep on:
Why AI is forcing a shift from platforms to outcome-based solutions
How micro vertical expertise transforms sales, implementation, and customer success
The rise of AI-powered service models, and why services are becoming more strategic, not less
How Infor uses AI to drive adoption, customer health, and proactive engagement
What enterprise leaders must do to govern AI, scale ROI, and prepare their teams for what’s next
If you’re navigating AI disruption, rethinking your services model, or wondering how to actually deliver value, not just promise it, this episode is a must-listen.

AI is no longer a technology conversation, it’s an economic reckoning.
In this episode of TECHtonic, TSIA’s Thomas Lah is joined by J.B. Wood and George Humphrey to unpack the real-world implications of AI Economics through the headlines shaping enterprise tech right now. From Salesforce’s AI-driven job cuts to Adobe’s competitive pressure, Palantir’s services-led growth, and the collapse of traditional SaaS pricing models, this conversation makes one thing clear: the old rules of technology business models are breaking fast.
This isn’t academic theory. It’s a frontline analysis of how AI is reshaping profitability, pricing, org design, customer success, and competitive advantage, right now. The group challenges assumptions around per-user pricing, sales-led growth, and “free” professional services, arguing that outcome-based models, forward-deployed engineers, and value-centric customer engagement are becoming mandatory for survival.
If you’re a technology executive wondering how to grow profitably in an AI-first world, or whether your current model will survive the next 24 months, this episode lays out the uncomfortable truths and the strategic shifts you can’t afford to ignore.

B2B enterprises are overwhelmed by complexity, and AI is finally promising the breakthrough they’ve been chasing for years. On this episode of TECHtonic, TSIA Executive Director Thomas Lah sits down with AptEdge CEO Kusal De Silva and co-founder Aakrit Prasad for a direct, no-nonsense look at how AI is transforming the most ignored and most mission-critical function in technology: enterprise support.
This conversation doesn’t live in the hype. It goes straight to the real last-mile problem every enterprise faces: AI only works when it understands your environment, your data, and your intent. Raw automation isn’t enough. Context + action is what moves the needle. And when you get that right, AI isn’t just assisting support teams, it’s multiplying engineer productivity, collapsing resolution times, and turning support from a cost obligation into a strategic lever.
You’ll hear what’s actually happening inside hyperscale product environments, why “data quality is no longer the excuse”, why deflection metrics are the wrong scoreboard, and how AI-driven pricing and services models are evolving faster than the industry is ready for.
If you’re a support leader, a product exec, or anyone trying to stay ahead in the AI era, this episode gives you the language, the insights, and the urgency you need to stay relevant, and stay in the race.