TECHtonic: Trends in Technology and Services

Technology & Services Industry Association
  • 4.8 (31)
  • MANAGEMENT
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Join host Thomas Lah as he discusses shifts in the ever-changing technology industry with tech executives, researchers, and thought leaders who share their experience and provide their perspective and data on what companies should do to stay relevant, be profitable, and succeed.

  1. 120. AI vs. Renewal vs. Churn: Who Wins in 2026?

    5H AGO

    120. AI vs. Renewal vs. Churn: Who Wins in 2026?

    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.

    46 min
  2. 119. How Leaders Turn AI Into Compounding Business Value

    FEB 6

    119. How Leaders Turn AI Into Compounding Business Value

    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.

    44 min
  3. 118. Are Micro Verticals the Key to AI Profitability?

    JAN 23

    118. Are Micro Verticals the Key to AI Profitability?

    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 solutionsHow micro vertical expertise transforms sales, implementation, and customer successThe rise of AI-powered service models, and why services are becoming more strategic, not lessHow Infor uses AI to drive adoption, customer health, and proactive engagementWhat enterprise leaders must do to govern AI, scale ROI, and prepare their teams for what’s nextIf 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.

    41 min
  4. 117. The AI Economics™ Experts React to What Enterprise Tech Isn’t Saying Out Loud

    JAN 9

    117. The AI Economics™ Experts React to What Enterprise Tech Isn’t Saying Out Loud

    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.

    42 min
  5. 116. The AI Last Mile: How AptEdge Is Redefining Enterprise Support

    12/05/2025

    116. The AI Last Mile: How AptEdge Is Redefining Enterprise Support

    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.

    46 min

  6. 11/21/2025

    115. Accomplishing Field Service Excellence with Trust, Transparency, and Delivery

    In this power-packed episode of TECHtonic, TSIA Executive Director Thomas Lah speaks to Rajat Shah, Vice President of Services at Tetra Pak, for a rare inside look at one of the world’s most sophisticated industrial service organizations. From delivering 5+ million service hours annually to supporting more than 100,000 pieces of equipment across nearly 200 countries, Tetra Pak is transforming its global service operations with remarkable speed and scale. Rajat shares how Tetra Pak is unlocking ROI through remote support, AI-powered virtual assistants, IoT-driven predictive maintenance, and robotic process automation, all while upskilling a 3,000-person field workforce through modern digital learning models. He reveals what it takes to build customer trust, how AI is capturing tribal knowledge from an aging workforce, and why tomorrow’s service engineers will be more account-integrated and digitally empowered than ever. If you want to understand where service models are heading, and how fast you need to evolve, this episode is your blueprint.

    36 min

  7. 11/07/2025

    114. When AI Becomes the Strategy, Not the Tool

    TSIA Executive Director Thomas Lah sits down with Satya Gunampalli, Founder & CEO of G5 InfoTech, to explore how AI is not just enhancing workflows, but fundamentally reshaping the business models of technology companies. From why leadership culture is the #1 factor in successful AI adoption, to how AI agents are transforming software development and customer support, Satya explains where value is being created right now. Together, they unpack the rapid rise of AI-native startups, the future of enterprise services, and what companies must do today to build an AI-first operating model. This is a must-listen for tech executives, service leaders, and innovators navigating the next phase of digital transformation.

    44 min

  8. 10/24/2025

    113. What AI-Native Startups Teach Us About Enterprise Evolution

    In this episode of TECHtonic, host Thomas Lah, Executive Director of TSIA, speaks to Doug Duker, Global Leader of Customer Success at You.com, to unpack what truly sets AI-native startups apart from traditional SaaS companies. Doug shares how You.com evolved from a consumer search product into an enterprise-focused AI platform—emphasizing data security, multi-model agility, hallucination control, and personalized AI training for knowledge workers. Together, they dive into the massive transformation facing today’s businesses: how to close the “last mile” of AI adoption, re-skill workforces, measure ROI, and redefine the role of customer success in an AI-first world. It’s a candid look at how AI-native startups are reshaping what enterprise success means in the digital era.

    46 min
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Join host Thomas Lah as he discusses shifts in the ever-changing technology industry with tech executives, researchers, and thought leaders who share their experience and provide their perspective and data on what companies should do to stay relevant, be profitable, and succeed.

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