RevOpsAF The Podcast

Matt Volm

RevOpsAF is the podcast for people who are RevOpsAF and want to learn about everything RevOpsAF! Powered by the RevOps Co-op, the number one community for operations professionals.

  1. The Mid-Funnel Problem Nobody Talks About

    Jun 5

    The Mid-Funnel Problem Nobody Talks About

    Most revenue teams know their top 20% of reps are driving 80% of results. What they don't know is why, and without the why, every intervention is a guess.   In this episode, Roope Heinilä (Co-Founder & CEO of Optivian) joins co-host Camela Thompson to unpack the mid-funnel execution gap: why deals stall, why champion enablement fails, and why AI is finally able to solve problems that training, headcount, and tool investments couldn't touch. Roope brings a rare perspective: two companies scaled, one to $10M+ ARR and another past $40M ARR, selling complex enterprise deals. and a very direct view of what RevOps should own in the AI era.   Key Topics Covered: → The 80/20 problem and why mid-funnel is where pipeline dies → Why sample-based analysis (human or AI) fails → The most common mid-funnel failure modes: multithreading, champion enablement, competitive response → From tool to coworker: the framing shift that changes adoption → Who should own AI tools in the revenue org (hint: RevOps) → How to train and prompt AI for deal analysis → Using win-loss analysis to find enablement gaps → What this means for RevOps careers   🎙️ Speakers: - Roope Heinilä, Co-Founder & CEO at Optivian — https://www.linkedin.com/in/rheinila/ - Camela Thompson, Co-Host at RevOps Co-op — https://www.linkedin.com/in/camela-thompson/   🔗 Resources: - Optivian: https://optivian.ai - RevOps Co-op podcast library: https://www.revopscoop.com/podcast - Episode 83: Why You Should Stop "Doing AI" and Start Solving Problems: https://revopscoop.com/podcast/ai-problem-solving-not-doing   👉 Join the RevOps Co-op community: https://www.revopscoop.com/membership/membership-options 📺 Subscribe for more RevOps content 🌐 Visit us: https://www.revopscoop.com 💼 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/revops-co-op   #RevOps #RevenueOperations #SalesOps #AI #GTM #SalesEnablement #B2BSales #RevenueGrowth

    28 min
  2. The Boring Work Behind Great AI

    May 29

    The Boring Work Behind Great AI

    Your AI initiative isn't underperforming because of the AI. It's underperforming because of what you built it on.   Spencer Hardey, VP of Business Operations at HG Insights, joins RevOpsAF co-host Matthew Volm to break down why the boring foundational work — ICP documentation, segmentation, clean data infrastructure, cross-functional alignment — is the actual prerequisite for AI that delivers results. Plus: how to communicate the value of that foundational work to executives and boards who just want to "use more AI."   Spencer brings a rare double perspective: he's a working RevOps operator, but he's operating inside a revenue intelligence platform. Ten years at HG Insights means he's watched how both the RevOps function and the AI conversation have evolved — and he has pointed observations about where most teams get it wrong.   Key topics covered: → Why cross-functional alignment is the #1 job of RevOps (and how to actually own it) → The foundational checklist: marketing funnel, opportunity stages, post-sale tracking, ICP, and segmentation → Win-loss classification: human judgment vs. AI transcript analysis (and why you need both) → How to communicate foundational investments to executives in revenue impact terms → Why AI has no context without documented ICP, segmentation, and process definitions → How to use AI to build the foundation itself — with a human in the loop 🎙️   Speakers: - Spencer Hardey, VP of Business Operations at HG Insights — https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-hardey/ - Matthew Volm, CEO & Co-Founder of RevOps Co-op — https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewvolm/    🔗 Resources: - HG Insights: https://hginsights.com/ - Episode 50: Thinking of AI? Think Data First: https://revopscoop.com/podcast/ai-revops-data-strategy - Episode 83: Why You Should Stop "Doing AI" and Start Solving Problems: https://revopscoop.com/podcast/ai-problem-solving-not-doing - Full podcast library: https://www.revopscoop.com/podcast   👉 Join the RevOps Co-op community: https://www.revopscoop.com/membership/membership-options 📺 Subscribe for more RevOps content 🌐 Visit us: https://www.revopscoop.com 💼 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/revops-co-op   #RevOps #RevenueOperations #SalesOps #MarketingOps #AI #GoToMarket #GTM #B2B #RevenueIntelligence

    44 min
  3. The AI Strategy Nobody Actually Has

    May 22

    The AI Strategy Nobody Actually Has

    Most companies have a board-level AI mandate. Almost none of them have an actual AI strategy. That gap is where RevOps practitioners are living right now, and it's one of the more exhausting places to be. In this episode, Taft Love (founder of Iceberg RevOps) and co-host Camela Thompson get into what's actually happening on the ground: vague executive mandates, the build-vs-buy trap, why data quality matters more with AI (not less), and what organizational discipline really determines whether AI transformation succeeds or stalls.   This is a refreshingly grounded conversation for operators who are tired of the hype and need practical frameworks they can actually use.   Key topics covered: → Why "AI replaces headcount" is the wrong frame — and what to use instead → The jobs-to-do framework for identifying real AI use cases → What Taft's multi-agent project management system actually looks like (and why it wasn't easy to build) → Build vs. buy: what you're actually purchasing from a vendor (hint: it's stability) → The four organizational blockers that kill AI transformation at small companies → What a real AI strategy looks like: outcomes, frameworks, and wide latitude with iron boundaries → A free AI-powered RevOps audit tool Taft built with a former Microsoft/Amazon RevOps leader   🎙️ Speakers: - Taft Love, Founder, Iceberg RevOps — https://www.linkedin.com/in/taft-love/ - Camela Thompson, Co-Host, RevOps Co-op — https://www.linkedin.com/in/camela-thompson/   🔗 Resources: - Iceberg RevOps: https://icebergrevops.com - RevOps Co-op community: https://www.revopscoop.com/membership/membership-options - More podcast episodes: https://www.revopscoop.com/podcast   👉 Join the RevOps Co-op community: https://www.revopscoop.com/membership/membership-options 📺 Subscribe for more RevOps content 🌐 Visit us: https://www.revopscoop.com 💼 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/revops-co-op   #RevOps #RevenueOperations #SalesOps #MarketingOps #AI #GTM #RevenueOps #B2B #AIStrategy

    33 min
  4. Why AI Agents Need RevOps

    May 15

    Why AI Agents Need RevOps

    Your AI agent says revenue is on track. Your CRO is about to find out you're missing the number by 21%.   Sound familiar?   In this episode, Guillaume Jacquet (CEO & Co-Founder of Vasco) joins Matt Volm to break down why AI agents fail on revenue data, and why the fix belongs to RevOps. The problem isn't hallucination. It's grounding. And there's a four-part framework to solve it.   Guillaume walks through real examples of AI-generated reports that looked great but were built on broken data foundations, the four requirements that move AI accuracy from ~11-30% to ~98%, and why operators should think of agents as hires; not tools.   🎙️ Speakers: - Guillaume Jacquet, CEO & Co-Founder at Vasco — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacquet-guillaume/ - Matthew Volm, CEO & Co-Founder at RevOps Co-op — https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewvolm/   🔗 Resources: - Vasco (revenue data layer for AI agents): https://www.getvasco.com - RevOps Co-op podcast library: https://www.revopscoop.com/podcast - Episode 50: Thinking of AI? Think Data First: https://revopscoop.com/podcast/ai-revops-data-strategy - Episode 75: How To Go From AI Experiments to Revenue Machines: https://revopscoop.com/podcast/ai-experiments-revenue-machines   👉 Join the RevOps Co-op community: https://www.revopscoop.com/membership/membership-options 📺 Subscribe for more RevOps content 🌐 Visit us: https://www.revopscoop.com 💼 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/revops-co-op   #RevOps #RevenueOperations #SalesOps #MarketingOps #AI #GTM #B2B #AIAgents #RevenueData

    39 min
  5. Your Next Hire Isn't Human

    May 1

    Your Next Hire Isn't Human

    What if your next RevOps hire isn't human? Zach West of PatchOps is building AI agents that function like senior consultants, and the playbook applies to any in-house RevOps team.   In this episode, Zach breaks down why domain expertise is still the differentiator in an AI-powered world, how to build a knowledge base that turns a generic LLM into a senior operator, and where resource-strapped RevOps teams should start today. Plus: the real difference between leveraging AI and relying on it, and why it matters more than the tools themselves.   🎙️ Speakers: - Zach West, Founder at PatchOps — https://www.linkedin.com/in/zach-west-06ab6222/ zach@patchops.io - Camela Thompson, Co-Host at RevOps Co-op — https://www.linkedin.com/in/camela-thompson/   🔗 Resources: - PatchOps: https://patchops.io - Why Most Revenue Stacks Aren't Ready for AI: https://revopscoop.com/post/revenue-stack-ai-readiness - Episode 75: How To Go From AI Experiments to Revenue Machines: https://revopscoop.com/podcast/ai-experiments-revenue-machines - Episode 83: Why You Should Stop "Doing AI" and Start Solving Problems: https://revopscoop.com/podcast/ai-problem-solving-not-doing   👉 Join the RevOps Co-op community: https://www.revopscoop.com/membership/membership-options   📺 Subscribe for more RevOps content 🌐 Visit us: https://www.revopscoop.com 💼 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/revops-co-op   #RevOps #RevenueOperations #SalesOps #MarketingOps #AI #GTM #B2B #ArtificialIntelligence #RevOpsAF

    28 min
  6. RevOps Isn't a Service Desk: The Curse of Yes

    Apr 24

    RevOps Isn't a Service Desk: The Curse of Yes

    What separates a senior RevOps leader from a technically skilled order-taker? It's not the dashboards. It's not the systems. It's the ability to say no strategically, run change management at scale, and resist becoming a high-functioning service desk.   In this episode of RevOpsAF, James Jackson — VP of RevOps at Snowflake, DocuSign, and Canva — shares two vivid stories: a full comp plan overhaul across a 2,700-person sales org, and the "curse of yes" doom loop that quietly breaks ops teams everywhere. The technical work is the easy part. The hard part is everything else.   Key topics covered: → Why total consumption comp plans hide top performers — and how incremental consumption fixes it → The three stakeholders (ELT, GTM, Finance) that every comp design must serve simultaneously → How to run a listening tour and use it to defuse a politically charged comp rollout → What "flexibility where it matters, policy where you need scale" actually looks like in practice → Why holdovers are largely theater — and how to limit them without triggering a mutiny → The "doom loop" that turns ops into a reactive service desk and how to break it → Above-the-line prioritization: how to stay focused when everything feels urgent   🎙️ Speakers: - James Jackson, VP of RevOps (Snowflake, DocuSign, Canva) — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesrjacksoniii/ - Matthew Volm, CEO + Founder, RevOps Co-op — https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewvolm/   🔗 Resources: - RevOps Co-op community: https://www.revopscoop.com/membership/membership-options - Related episode — Comp Plan Lessons Learned: https://revopscoop.com/podcast/compensation-plan-lessons-revops - Related episode — Change Management: From Pushback to Buy-In: https://revopscoop.com/podcast/change-management-revops-enablement - More podcast episodes: https://www.revopscoop.com/podcast   👉 Join the RevOps Co-op community: https://www.revopscoop.com/membership/membership-options 📺 Subscribe for more RevOps content 🌐 Visit us: https://www.revopscoop.com 💼 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/revops-co-op   #RevOps #RevenueOperations #SalesOps #CompensationPlanning #ChangeManagement #B2B #GTM #SalesOperations #RevenueLeadership

    35 min
  7. RevOps Isn't a Support Function. It's Product Dev.

    Apr 19

    RevOps Isn't a Support Function. It's Product Dev.

    What if RevOps stopped thinking of itself as a support function and started operating like a platform product team? That's the core argument Amani Phipps, Senior Revenue Architect at Bonusly, makes in this episode. And he backs it up with real AI systems his team has built: a Gong-to-HubSpot integration that auto-updates deal properties, a deal desk bot that cut tickets by 60%, and a multi-agent analytics system called Signal Forge that's poised to automate most of his team's reporting entirely.   In this conversation, Amani walks through the evolution of RevOps at Bonusly, from no RevOps function at all to an AI-first, product-minded revenue architecture team. He and Matt dig into how to start an AI journey from zero, why data hygiene is the unsexy prerequisite for everything, and what it actually means to keep a human in the loop without bottlenecking the whole system. If you're thinking about how to evolve your RevOps team for an AI-driven world, this episode is the playbook.   🎙️ Speakers: - Amani Phipps, Senior Revenue Architect at Bonusly — https://www.linkedin.com/in/amani-phipps-115302117/ - Matthew Volm, CEO + Founder of RevOps Co-op — https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewvolm/   🔗 Resources: - RevOps Co-op Community: https://www.revopscoop.com/membership/membership-options - Episode 75: How To Go From AI Experiments to Revenue Machines: https://revopscoop.com/podcast/ai-experiments-revenue-machines - Episode 83: Why You Should Stop "Doing AI" and Start Solving Problems: https://revopscoop.com/podcast/ai-problem-solving-not-doing   👉 Join the RevOps Co-op community: https://www.revopscoop.com/membership/membership-options 📺 Subscribe for more RevOps content 🌐 Visit us: https://www.revopscoop.com 💼 Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/revops-co-op   #RevOps #RevenueOperations #SalesOps #MarketingOps #B2B #AI #GTM #ProductManagement #RevenueArchitecture

    40 min

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RevOpsAF is the podcast for people who are RevOpsAF and want to learn about everything RevOpsAF! Powered by the RevOps Co-op, the number one community for operations professionals.

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