Inside the SaaS AI Shift

Kristi Perdue
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Inside the SaaS AI Shift is the executive decision-making podcast for SaaS leaders navigating how AI is reshaping products, business models, buyer trust, and growth. Host Kristi Perdue, a 30-plus-year SaaS operator and certified CAIO and CIGO/AI, gets past the demos with executives making the consequential choices behind AI strategy, governance, and execution.

Episodes

  1. 1d ago

    SE01 E07 AI Governance: The SaaS Shift CEOs Can’t Ignore I Randolph Kahn

    AI governance is no longer something SaaS companies can push down the road. As AI transforms how businesses operate, it also creates new questions around data ownership, privacy, intellectual property, compliance, liability, and accountability. In this episode of Inside the SaaS AI Shift, Kristi Perdue sits down with Randolph Kahn, President of Kahn Consulting Inc., to explore what SaaS leaders need to understand about AI governance before problems turn into lawsuits, regulatory scrutiny, or costly business disruptions. Randolph Kahn brings decades of experience at the intersection of law, technology, information governance, and enterprise risk. He shares why traditional information governance frameworks do not always translate cleanly to AI, where liability can land when AI-generated content creates compliance issues, and why proactive AI governance can be a major business advantage. In this conversation, Kristi and Randy discuss: * Why AI governance needs to be treated as an accountability issue, not just a policy exercise* The growing legal and business risks surrounding AI-generated content* Data ownership, intellectual property, trade secrets, and privacy concerns* Why SaaS companies need to rethink governance when adding AI features* How AI can create massive amounts of new business content and data* The real cost of reactive governance and poor information management* Why proactive AI governance can save companies significant money and disruption* How companies can demonstrate that they acted reasonably when AI-related issues arise* The difference between AI governance approaches in the US and Europe* Why AI governance should evolve alongside rapidly changing AI technology* The importance of data stickiness and ownership for SaaS companies* What leading SaaS companies should be doing with AI over the next 24 months Randy's message is clear: AI governance is a process. Every business process that utilizes AI needs an appropriate governance process behind it. If your company is adding AI faster than it is adding ownership, accountability, and governance, this conversation is worth watching. About Kristi Perdue:Kristi Perdue is a 30-plus-year SaaS operator, founder of Alterbridge Strategies, and creator of PowerMoves AI. She works at the intersection of AI adoption, organizational change, and the trust infrastructure needed to make AI executable and governable. About Randolph Kahn:Randolph Kahn is the President of Kahn Consulting Inc. and a leading voice in information governance, AI governance, privacy, technology, and enterprise risk. He has advised governments, Fortune 500 companies, and global regulators on complex information governance decisions. Connect with Randolph Kahn on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/randolph-kahn-9aaa272/ Learn more about Kahn Consulting Inc. and Randolph Kahn's work in AI governance, information governance, and enterprise risk. #AI #AIGovernance #SaaS #ArtificialIntelligence #InformationGovernance #DataGovernance #AICompliance #TechLaw #EnterpriseAI #SaaSAI #AILeadership #DataPrivacy #AIGovernanceRisk #KristiPerdue #RandolphKahn I hope you enjoyed this episode!If you did, please like, share, and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.- Kristi and the Inside the SaaS AI Shift podcast team Kristi's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristiperdue/AlterBridge Strategies website: https://alterbridgestrategies.com/ #saasaigovernance #aigovernance #aistrategy #saasleadership #aiexecution #ciso #airoi #aiforsaas #executiveleadership #aicompliance #saasgrowth #aitransformation #boardgovernance #ai #saas AI is changing the SaaS business itself - from what companies build and monetize to what  enterprise buyers are willing to trust. Inside the SaaS AI Shift is the executive decision making podcast for leaders responsible for what comes next.  Host Kristi Perdue brings more than 30 years of SaaS experience and credentials as a  Certified Chief AI Officer (CAIO) and Certified Information Governance Officer for AI (CIGO/ AI). As founder of AlterBridge Strategies and creator of Power Moves AI™, she gets past  the demos and into the decisions reshaping enterprise software.  Each episode examines the consequential choices behind the shift: how AI changes product  strategy and the SaaS business model, where anticipated ROI breaks down, when  governance must become operational, and what enterprise buyers will require before they  trust AI at scale.  Through candid conversations with executives doing the work, the show surfaces the  tradeoffs and hard-earned lessons behind those decisions. It is built for SaaS founders,  CEOs, product leaders, and executive teams preparing to lead through a fundamental  transformation of the SaaS business.

  2. 6d ago

    SE01 E06 He Deleted Every Manager Then Watched What Surfaced I Alden Do Rosario

    Alden Do Rosario runs CustomGPT.ai, and a few months ago he made a decision most CEOs only talk about: he removed every management layer in his 30 person company. In this episode of PowerMoves AI, he tells Kristi Perdue what happened next, including a highly paid employee whose underperformance had been invisible for years and a low paid employee whose work turned out to be exceptional once there was nothing left to hide behind. Alden calls this legibility, and he argues AI is what makes it possible to see an organisation clearly for the first time. The conversation moves into what CustomGPT.ai actually solves, why hallucination has to be treated like a security bug in a business context, and why he thinks most SaaS companies are still measuring the wrong things. He is blunt about organic search being gutted, about the AI cost debates he thinks will disappear within a year, and about why coding assistants gave his team a two percent velocity gain instead of the 100x everyone expected. Underneath all of it is the same idea: the technical problem is usually the easy part, and the human one is what actually determines whether any of this works. Why removing management layers exposed both underperformance and hidden talentWhat legibility means and why AI makes it unavoidableWhy hallucination has to be treated as a security bug, not a quirkWhy his engineering velocity barely moved despite using Claude Code, and where the real bottleneck wasWhy he thinks the AI cost debate will be gone within twelve months If you're thinking about what a flatter, AI native organisation actually looks like in practice, this one is worth the full listen. I hope you enjoyed this episode!If you did, please like, share, and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.- Kristi and the Inside the SaaS AI Shift podcast team Kristi's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristiperdue/AlterBridge Strategies website: https://alterbridgestrategies.com/ #saasaigovernance #aigovernance #aistrategy #saasleadership #aiexecution #ciso #airoi #aiforsaas #executiveleadership #aicompliance #saasgrowth #aitransformation #boardgovernance #ai #saas AI is changing the SaaS business itself - from what companies build and monetize to what  enterprise buyers are willing to trust. Inside the SaaS AI Shift is the executive decision making podcast for leaders responsible for what comes next.  Host Kristi Perdue brings more than 30 years of SaaS experience and credentials as a  Certified Chief AI Officer (CAIO) and Certified Information Governance Officer for AI (CIGO/ AI). As founder of AlterBridge Strategies and creator of Power Moves AI™, she gets past  the demos and into the decisions reshaping enterprise software.  Each episode examines the consequential choices behind the shift: how AI changes product  strategy and the SaaS business model, where anticipated ROI breaks down, when  governance must become operational, and what enterprise buyers will require before they  trust AI at scale.  Through candid conversations with executives doing the work, the show surfaces the  tradeoffs and hard-earned lessons behind those decisions. It is built for SaaS founders,  CEOs, product leaders, and executive teams preparing to lead through a fundamental  transformation of the SaaS business.

  3. Aug 25

    SE01 E05 What Leaders Lose When the Title Disappears I Debra Logan

    Debra Logan spent decades at Gartner as a VP, Distinguished Analyst and Fellow before retiring and starting Logan Advisory Services. In this episode of PowerMoves AI, she and Kristi Perdue talk about what actually happens in the moment a senior leader's calendar stops being full, using what Debra calls her tale of two retirements to show why some people glide into that transition and others go off a cliff. Her advice is simple and blunt: if you're retiring on Monday, have a plan for Tuesday. From there the conversation turns to AI and leadership. Debra argues that AI hasn't made governance different, it has just made the cost of skipping it higher, and that the leaders who struggle most are the ones who were trained to always have the answer. She talks about the loneliness that comes with senior roles, why she believes legacy only happens through other people, and why she still doesn't believe you should lay off your newest hires just because AI can do their tasks faster. Why some executives thrive in retirement and others struggle, and what separates themWhy AI hasn't changed the fundamentals of governance, only exposed who skipped itThe leadership habit Debra sees as most damaging: surrounding yourself with people who only tell you what you want to hearWhy she keeps her newest hires on the team even as AI takes over their old tasksHer advice for organisations governing AI across US and EU jurisdictions If you're thinking about what leadership and relevance look like in the AI era, this one is worth the full listen. I hope you enjoyed this episode!If you did, please like, share, and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.- Kristi and the Inside the SaaS AI Shift podcast team Kristi's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristiperdue/AlterBridge Strategies website: https://alterbridgestrategies.com/ #saasaigovernance #aigovernance #aistrategy #saasleadership #aiexecution #ciso #airoi #aiforsaas #executiveleadership #aicompliance #saasgrowth #aitransformation #boardgovernance #ai #saas AI is changing the SaaS business itself - from what companies build and monetize to what  enterprise buyers are willing to trust. Inside the SaaS AI Shift is the executive decision making podcast for leaders responsible for what comes next.  Host Kristi Perdue brings more than 30 years of SaaS experience and credentials as a  Certified Chief AI Officer (CAIO) and Certified Information Governance Officer for AI (CIGO/ AI). As founder of AlterBridge Strategies and creator of Power Moves AI™, she gets past  the demos and into the decisions reshaping enterprise software.  Each episode examines the consequential choices behind the shift: how AI changes product  strategy and the SaaS business model, where anticipated ROI breaks down, when  governance must become operational, and what enterprise buyers will require before they  trust AI at scale.  Through candid conversations with executives doing the work, the show surfaces the  tradeoffs and hard-earned lessons behind those decisions. It is built for SaaS founders,  CEOs, product leaders, and executive teams preparing to lead through a fundamental  transformation of the SaaS business.

  4. Aug 20

    SE01 E04 Why Trusted Data Is the Foundation of Enterprise AI I Mike Quinn

    What happens when AI meets decades of digital records, legacy systems, and the need for trusted, verifiable data? In this episode of Inside the SaaS AI Shift, Kristi Perdue sits down with Mike Quinn, Chief Executive Officer of Preservica, to explore how AI is reshaping digital preservation, enterprise data management, and the future of SaaS. Mike shares how organizations can protect critical digital information from technology obsolescence, make historical records searchable and AI-ready, and use AI to unlock value from decades of previously inaccessible data. The conversation covers the difference between storage, archiving, and active digital preservation, why trusted data is essential for AI, and how organizations can balance AI automation with human judgment. Kristi and Mike also discuss Preservica's approach to AI defensibility, AI-powered metadata enrichment, automated transcription, image description, PII classification, semantic search, and preserving digital records at the point of creation. They also explore the human side of AI adoption, including employee fears, experimentation, AI leadership, and how Preservica built an internal culture focused on learning rather than fear. In this episode, you'll learn about: • Why storing digital records is not the same as preserving them• How technology obsolescence can make critical records unreadable• Why trusted, deterministic data matters in an AI-powered world• How AI can unlock decades of historical and enterprise data• AI-powered transcription, image description, metadata enrichment, and PII classification• The role of semantic search in making enterprise archives AI-ready• How SaaS companies can pressure test their AI defensibility• Why human judgment still matters in AI-powered workflows• How Preservica approached AI adoption internally• What AI transformation looks like from the CEO's perspective• Why SaaS companies need to make AI coherent with their strategy and domain expertise• How organizations can turn legacy data into a valuable asset for AI Mike Quinn is the Chief Executive Officer of Preservica, a company focused on active digital preservation and keeping digital information readable, findable, authentic, and usable over the long term. He brings more than 30 years of commercial leadership experience across software and technology companies. Kristi Perdue is the host of Inside the SaaS AI Shift and a 30-plus-year SaaS operator, founder of Alter Bridge Strategies, and creator of PowerMoves AI. If you're interested in SaaS, artificial intelligence, enterprise AI, digital transformation, data governance, digital preservation, AI strategy, AI adoption, and the future of enterprise software, this conversation is worth watching. Learn more about Preservica and its approach to AI-powered digital preservation. Connect with Mike Quinn on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-quinn-358844 #SaaS #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #EnterpriseAI #DigitalPreservation #DataGovernance #AITransformation #DigitalTransformation #SaaSLeadership #AIAdoption #Preservica #MikeQuinn #KristiPerdue #InsideTheSaaSAIShift I hope you enjoyed this episode!If you did, please like, share, and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.- Kristi and the Inside the SaaS AI Shift podcast team Kristi's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristiperdue/AlterBridge Strategies website: https://alterbridgestrategies.com/ #saasaigovernance #aigovernance #aistrategy #saasleadership #aiexecution #ciso #airoi #aiforsaas #executiveleadership #aicompliance #saasgrowth #aitransformation #boardgovernance #ai #saas AI is changing the SaaS business itself - from what companies build and monetize to what  enterprise buyers are willing to trust. Inside the SaaS AI Shift is the executive decision making podcast for leaders responsible for what comes next.  Host Kristi Perdue brings more than 30 years of SaaS experience and credentials as a  Certified Chief AI Officer (CAIO) and Certified Information Governance Officer for AI (CIGO/ AI). As founder of AlterBridge Strategies and creator of Power Moves AI™, she gets past  the demos and into the decisions reshaping enterprise software.  Each episode examines the consequential choices behind the shift: how AI changes product  strategy and the SaaS business model, where anticipated ROI breaks down, when  governance must become operational, and what enterprise buyers will require before they  trust AI at scale.  Through candid conversations with executives doing the work, the show surfaces the  tradeoffs and hard-earned lessons behind those decisions. It is built for SaaS founders,  CEOs, product leaders, and executive teams preparing to lead through a fundamental  transformation of the SaaS business.

  5. Aug 18

    SE01 E03 AI Can Tell When Someone Is Lying I Chandra de Keyser

    Humans detect deception at roughly the rate of a coin flip. That uncomfortable finding sits at the heart of this conversation with the CEO and co-founder of Voicera.io, whose embedded AI reads over 130 facial, vocal and physical signals to score how sincere a speaker really is. He explains how the technology analysed an early Elizabeth Holmes pitch and flagged her as insincere, why investors relying on gut feel are flying blind, and how a sales coach's expert judgement matched the AI's scores on 14 out of 15 pitches. The discussion also covers the strategic decision to go to market as an API rather than another SaaS tool, why police forces are embedding sincerity data into bodycam reporting, the informed consent and regulation questions that come with analysing faces, and a candid take on whether SaaSmageddon is real or just noise. Along the way he shares why his CTO asked for a Cursor plan instead of a new hire, and what that signals about where hiring is heading. Key points from the episode: Humans identify deception at around 55 percent accuracy, while the AI currently sits at 70 to 80 percentSincerity scoring combines a computer vision model with four specialised audio modelsAPI and on-prem container distribution keeps customer acquisition cost near zeroFast AI adopters are currently hiring the most, though that trend may reverseInformed consent and shifting regulation shape every deployment decision Find Voicera:Website: voicera.io If you enjoyed this episode, follow Inside the SaaS AI Shift, share it with a colleague who is thinking about trust and AI, and join us again next week. I hope you enjoyed this episode!If you did, please like, share, and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.- Kristi and the Inside the SaaS AI Shift podcast team Kristi's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristiperdue/AlterBridge Strategies website: https://alterbridgestrategies.com/ #saasaigovernance #aigovernance #aistrategy #saasleadership #aiexecution #ciso #airoi #aiforsaas #executiveleadership #aicompliance #saasgrowth #aitransformation #boardgovernance #ai #saas AI is changing the SaaS business itself - from what companies build and monetize to what  enterprise buyers are willing to trust. Inside the SaaS AI Shift is the executive decision making podcast for leaders responsible for what comes next.  Host Kristi Perdue brings more than 30 years of SaaS experience and credentials as a  Certified Chief AI Officer (CAIO) and Certified Information Governance Officer for AI (CIGO/ AI). As founder of AlterBridge Strategies and creator of Power Moves AI™, she gets past  the demos and into the decisions reshaping enterprise software.  Each episode examines the consequential choices behind the shift: how AI changes product  strategy and the SaaS business model, where anticipated ROI breaks down, when  governance must become operational, and what enterprise buyers will require before they  trust AI at scale.  Through candid conversations with executives doing the work, the show surfaces the  tradeoffs and hard-earned lessons behind those decisions. It is built for SaaS founders,  CEOs, product leaders, and executive teams preparing to lead through a fundamental  transformation of the SaaS business.

  6. Aug 13

    SE01 E01 Building Trust Into AI-Powered Communities | Denise Hayman-Loa

    Denise Hayman-Loa, CEO of CARII and the Connective Network, joins Kristi Perdue to unpack what thirteen years of building community infrastructure has taught her about trust, data ownership, and staying ahead of the AI shift. Denise walks through the origin story behind CARII's ecosystem model, why the platform pivoted from a shared community structure to standalone branded sites, and how a microservices architecture let her team rebuild the platform for AI in a matter of months rather than years. The conversation covers what most competitors get wrong about community, why data ownership has been a differentiator from day one, and the practical realities of rolling out an AI version alongside a classic one without disrupting existing clients. Denise also shares her take on designing for very different levels of AI comfort within the same user base, and where she sees SaaS heading over the next two years. Key takeaways:Community platforms succeed when they let organisations own their data and control their branding rather than sharing a common space.An ecosystem structure that connects multiple communities while keeping each one distinct is rare in the market and hard to replicate.Microservices architecture makes it possible to update one feature without risking the whole platform.Giving users the choice between AI-guided and manual workflows removes the barrier for those less comfortable with prompting.Token and infrastructure costs remain one of the open challenges in scaling AI features sustainably. Connect with Denise Hayman-Loa on LinkedIn or reach her directly to talk community strategy, AI implementation, or to request a platform demo. Follow Inside SaaS AI Shift for more conversations on where enterprise software is heading. I hope you enjoyed this episode!If you did, please like, share, and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.- Kristi and the Inside the SaaS AI Shift podcast team Kristi's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristiperdue/AlterBridge Strategies website: https://alterbridgestrategies.com/ #saasaigovernance #aigovernance #aistrategy #saasleadership #aiexecution #ciso #airoi #aiforsaas #executiveleadership #aicompliance #saasgrowth #aitransformation #boardgovernance #ai #saas AI is changing the SaaS business itself - from what companies build and monetize to what  enterprise buyers are willing to trust. Inside the SaaS AI Shift is the executive decision making podcast for leaders responsible for what comes next.  Host Kristi Perdue brings more than 30 years of SaaS experience and credentials as a  Certified Chief AI Officer (CAIO) and Certified Information Governance Officer for AI (CIGO/ AI). As founder of AlterBridge Strategies and creator of Power Moves AI™, she gets past  the demos and into the decisions reshaping enterprise software.  Each episode examines the consequential choices behind the shift: how AI changes product  strategy and the SaaS business model, where anticipated ROI breaks down, when  governance must become operational, and what enterprise buyers will require before they  trust AI at scale.  Through candid conversations with executives doing the work, the show surfaces the  tradeoffs and hard-earned lessons behind those decisions. It is built for SaaS founders,  CEOs, product leaders, and executive teams preparing to lead through a fundamental  transformation of the SaaS business.

  7. Aug 11

    SE01 E01 When AI Governance Becomes a Boardroom Problem | Galina Datskovsky

    Every company wants AI speed, but far fewer can say who owns the risk when something goes wrong. In this episode of PowerMoves AI, Kristi Perdue sits down with Galina Datskovsky, a computer scientist who has spent decades in information governance, to work through what actually breaks when accountability structures are missing. Galina lays out a five gate framework for AI adoption, starting with the business workflow rather than the model, and explains why the biggest failures come from connecting AI to poorly governed data rather than from the AI itself. The conversation moves into the boardroom, where Galina flags the phrase "we need an AI strategy" as one of the clearest signs a board is performing understanding rather than practising it. She and Kristi also cover why resistance to AI is often a communication failure rather than a technology one, using a healthcare example to show how framing changes adoption outcomes, before wrapping with a round of quick pulse questions on budget, leverage, and the most expensive mistakes leaders are still making. A five gate framework for AI adoption: business workflow, compliance, security, defensibility, ethicsWhy AI does not create governance problems, it exposes and amplifies the ones already thereThe board level phrase that signals performed understanding rather than real AI literacyWhy resistance to AI is usually a communication problem, not a workforce oneThe most expensive AI mistake Galina still sees smart leaders making If you're weighing AI adoption against the risk of poor data governance, this episode is worth the full listen. I hope you enjoyed this episode!If you did, please like, share, and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.- Kristi and the Inside the SaaS AI Shift podcast team Kristi's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristiperdue/AlterBridge Strategies website: https://alterbridgestrategies.com/ #saasaigovernance #aigovernance #aistrategy #saasleadership #aiexecution #ciso #airoi #aiforsaas #executiveleadership #aicompliance #saasgrowth #aitransformation #boardgovernance #ai #saas AI is changing the SaaS business itself - from what companies build and monetize to what  enterprise buyers are willing to trust. Inside the SaaS AI Shift is the executive decision making podcast for leaders responsible for what comes next.  Host Kristi Perdue brings more than 30 years of SaaS experience and credentials as a  Certified Chief AI Officer (CAIO) and Certified Information Governance Officer for AI (CIGO/ AI). As founder of AlterBridge Strategies and creator of Power Moves AI™, she gets past  the demos and into the decisions reshaping enterprise software.  Each episode examines the consequential choices behind the shift: how AI changes product  strategy and the SaaS business model, where anticipated ROI breaks down, when  governance must become operational, and what enterprise buyers will require before they  trust AI at scale.  Through candid conversations with executives doing the work, the show surfaces the  tradeoffs and hard-earned lessons behind those decisions. It is built for SaaS founders,  CEOs, product leaders, and executive teams preparing to lead through a fundamental  transformation of the SaaS business.

  • 7 Episodes

About

Inside the SaaS AI Shift is the executive decision-making podcast for SaaS leaders navigating how AI is reshaping products, business models, buyer trust, and growth. Host Kristi Perdue, a 30-plus-year SaaS operator and certified CAIO and CIGO/AI, gets past the demos with executives making the consequential choices behind AI strategy, governance, and execution.

Information

  • Creator
    Kristi Perdue
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    7
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Kristi Perdue