AI-Native CPQ, PQA & the Future of Quote Automation | Roadrunner.ai
Release Date: 07/05/2026
CPQ Podcast
In this episode of the CPQ Podcast, Frank speaks with Antonio Brkic, Chief Product Officer at Helioz Technologies, about the evolution of zipCPQ into HeliozOne and the company’s broader vision for configurable product sales. Antonio explains why Helioz is moving from a CPQ-focused solution toward a modular platform that can support product configuration, pricing, quoting, e-commerce, spare parts, document generation, production quoting, and integrations. He also discusses what this transition means for existing zipCPQ customers, noting that current solutions and support remain in place and...
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Copilot, assistant, agent — the terms get thrown around interchangeably, but they describe three very different levels of AI autonomy. So where does agentic AI actually belong in the configure-price-quote process, and where should humans stay firmly in control? In this episode, Frank sits down with Sourabh Kukar, Director of Technical Consulting at Salesforce, where he leads a team of enterprise architects working across Revenue Cloud, Agentforce Revenue Management, CPQ, and H&A solutions for large enterprise customers. Sourabh was named Salesforce's FY24 CMT Technical Architect of...
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Renewals are becoming a strategic revenue priority — but why do so many companies still manage them through disconnected systems, spreadsheets, emails, and partner portals? In this episode, Frank talks with Ram Rai, founder & CEO of Yagna iQ, and Manish Agrawal, Co-Founder & CTO, about how recurring revenue and renewal management are changing as companies move toward subscription and lifecycle-based business models. They discuss why renewals become particularly challenging in indirect sales channels, where OEMs, distributors, resellers, and end customers may all participate...
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Where does traditional CPQ stop—and where does engineering automation need to take over? In this episode, Frank sits down with Scott Heide, CEO of Engineering Intent, to explore how CPQ can support products that require far more than standard configuration, pricing, and quoting. Scott brings more than 30 years of experience working with engineer-to-order companies, knowledge-based engineering, and sales engineering automation. Returning to the CPQ Podcast for the first time since 2023, Scott explains why customers typically approach Engineering Intent when their products involve complex...
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Salesforce CPQ is officially end of sale — but what does that actually mean for your business, and where do you go from here? In this episode, host Frank sits down with Jamie Trigg and Timo Taipale from ShiftLogic.io to unpack the shift from Salesforce CPQ to Agentforce Revenue Management (ARM), and why this transition is a full revenue transformation, not just a platform swap. Jamie brings nearly 20 years of CPQ experience, from the early days at Big Machines and Steelbrick through a long run in Salesforce Revenue Cloud. Timo shares his journey as a self-described "accidental admin" who...
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With Javed Jafar, CPQ and Billing Expert with 20+ years of experience across enterprise implementations, advisory work, and customer-side transformation programs. How will AI change CPQ for customers, vendors, system integrators, and CPQ professionals? In this episode, Javed shares his perspective on why AI is not replacing CPQ expertise, but changing what good CPQ expertise looks like. Routine configuration work, documentation, testing, and delivery tasks are becoming easier to accelerate with AI tools. At the same time, deep domain knowledge is becoming more important, since customers...
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Can AI actually replace the sales engineer in complex product configuration — without sacrificing accuracy? In this episode of the CPQ Podcast, host Frank sits down with Stanislav "Stan" Chirk, founder of R[ai]sing Sun, an EU-based AI solutions company building custom AI agents for B2B companies. Stan walks us through his journey from engineering and entrepreneurship into the world of Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ), and how that combination led him to found R[ai]sing Sun just over a year ago. We dig into the company's "AI-native" philosophy — building AI-first rather than retrofitting AI...
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Can you trust an AI agent to configure your products, apply your pricing rules, and generate an accurate quote — every single time? According to Dr. Sanjay Mittal, founder of and one of the original pioneers of constraint-based product configuration, the answer right now is: not without guardrails. In this episode of the CPQ Podcast, Sanjay breaks down one of the most underappreciated risks in enterprise AI adoption — logic hallucinations. Unlike factual hallucinations, where an AI simply makes up information it doesn't have, logic hallucinations happen when an AI has all the right facts...
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In this episode of the CPQ Podcast, Frank Sohn speaks with Tiffany Devlin-Drye, Head of Solution Architecture at , about Roadrunner’s view of the CPQ market and its AI-native approach to quoting, approvals, and revenue operations. Tiffany shares her background as a Salesforce CPQ developer, solution architect, and former system integrator before joining . She explains why Roadrunner describes its platform as PQA — Prompt, Quote, Approve — and why the company believes traditional CPQ is being challenged by a new generation of AI-native quote automation platforms. The conversation covers...
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In this episode of the CPQ Podcast, Frank Sohn speaks with Jagadish Bandhole, CEO and Founder of , about how CPQ is changing as AI, no-code administration, mobile workforces, and broader revenue operations requirements reshape the market. Jagadish describes himself as an engineer turned entrepreneur and shares how MobileForce has evolved since his last appearance on the CPQ Podcast in 2023. The discussion covers the company’s move from Mobile Force Software to , why the shift is more than a rebrand, and how the company’s approach has moved from AI-enabled toward AI-first while still...
info_outlineIn this episode of the CPQ Podcast, Frank Sohn speaks with Tiffany Devlin-Drye, Head of Solution Architecture at Roadrunner.ai, about Roadrunner’s view of the CPQ market and its AI-native approach to quoting, approvals, and revenue operations. Tiffany shares her background as a Salesforce CPQ developer, solution architect, and former system integrator before joining Roadrunner.ai. She explains why Roadrunner describes its platform as PQA — Prompt, Quote, Approve — and why the company believes traditional CPQ is being challenged by a new generation of AI-native quote automation platforms. The conversation covers Roadrunner’s standalone platform, its Salesforce managed package, and its out-of-the-box connectors for systems such as Ironclad, DocuSign, NetSuite, Zuora, and Slack. Tiffany also discusses how prompt-based quoting can support complex scenarios, usage-based pricing, multi-year deal structures, real-time calculations, and approval workflows. A key topic is Roadrunner’s implementation model. Tiffany explains why the company currently does not rely on system integrator partners and instead provides implementation teams directly as part of the first-year license. She also describes how Roadrunner uses AI to analyze existing CPQ implementations, requirements documents, and configuration logic to accelerate project delivery. This episode also explores the difference between AI-native and AI bolt-on approaches, the role of deterministic rules in preventing hallucinations in quoting, and why early Roadrunner customers include large SaaS and AI companies with complex pricing and approval requirements. For anyone evaluating the future of CPQ, Salesforce CPQ alternatives, AI-native quoting, quote-to-cash automation, or usage-based pricing, this episode provides a timely look at one of the newer entrants trying to redefine the category.