Agentic AI in CPQ and Quote-to-Cash: Where Autonomy Belongs | Sourabh Kukar, Salesforce
Release Date: 09/27/2026
From zipCPQ to HeliozOne: Modular CPQ, AI & Visualization with Antonio Brkic
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...
info_outline
Agentic AI in CPQ and Quote-to-Cash: Where Autonomy Belongs | Sourabh Kukar, Salesforce
CPQ Podcast
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...
info_outline
From Renewal Reminders to Revenue Automation: Channel CPQ, Agentic AI & the Long Tail | Yagna iQ
CPQ Podcast
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...
info_outline
Visual CPQ, Engineering Automation, and AI with Scott Heide of Engineering Intent
CPQ Podcast
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...
info_outline
From Salesforce CPQ to Agentforce Revenue Management | ShiftLogic.io
CPQ Podcast
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...
info_outline
AI and CPQ: Revenue Cloud, System Integrators, and the Future of Configure Price Quote
CPQ Podcast
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...
info_outline
AI-Powered CPQ Explained: Stan Chirk on Building Talkulate AI CPQ
CPQ Podcast
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...
info_outline
Why AI Agents Fail at CPQ — and How to Fix It with Dr. Sanjay Mittal
CPQ Podcast
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...
info_outline
AI-Native CPQ, PQA & the Future of Quote Automation | Roadrunner.ai
CPQ Podcast
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...
info_outline
AI, No-Code CPQ & Quote-to-Service-to-Cash with MobileForce.ai
CPQ Podcast
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_outlineCopilot, 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 the Year, holds 23 industry certifications, and is an IEEE Senior Member. Sourabh brings a rare mix of backgrounds to the conversation — starting as a Java developer, spending a decade as an integration architect, then moving deep into the Salesforce platform in 2019. That combination of coding roots, systems breadth, and platform depth shapes how he thinks about which parts of quote-to-cash are ready for real AI autonomy and which still need deterministic guardrails and human sign-off. Frank and Sourabh also dig into how to architect multiple specialized agents so one agent's bad output doesn't become another agent's bad input, why fixing your data and simplifying your processes matters more than the AI layer itself, and what changes for revenue operations teams as quoting and approvals move into conversational tools like Slack.
In this conversation we cover:
- The real difference between a copilot, an assistant, and an agent — and where Salesforce's Agentforce quoting agent fits
- Which parts of configure-price-quote are ready for high AI autonomy, and where humans need to stay in the loop
- How to architect multiple specialized agents so errors don't cascade downstream
- Why fixing your data and simplifying your processes matters more than the AI layer on top
- What changes architecturally when quoting and approvals move into Slack
- A practical framework for choosing phased coexistence over a full CPQ-to-Revenue-Cloud migration
If you're a Salesforce CPQ customer evaluating a move to Revenue Cloud, an enterprise architect thinking through agentic AI governance, or a revenue operations leader trying to separate real AI capability from hype, this episode offers grounded, practitioner-level insight from someone building these systems for enterprise customers every day.
Learn more: Sourabh Kukar on LinkedIn
Don't forget to subscribe on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform.
More CPQ research and resources at https://novuscpq.com