Guest: Josh Bardell, Principal of Global Industries, Conga

Many pricing organizations have historically optimized around one objective: winning the deal. But as technology, buying behavior, and data capabilities evolve, leading companies are beginning to rethink what pricing success actually looks like.

In this episode of Let’s Talk Pricing, Josh Bardell joins Kevin Mitchell to explore how AI-powered pricing and decision intelligence are helping B2B organizations move beyond transactional thinking toward maximizing customer lifetime value.

The conversation examines how advances in neural networks and AI agents are enabling pricing teams to generate more dynamic, real-time offers while aligning pricing decisions with long-term customer engagement. Along the way, Josh shares practical perspectives from industries including airlines, retail, distribution, and manufacturing.

Topics discussed include:

• Why focusing only on “winning the deal” can limit long-term profitability

• How pricing teams can shift toward a customer lifetime value mindset

• What neural networks have changed about AI-driven pricing models

• How AI agents enable real-time, optimized offers for digital-native buyers

• The evolving role of rebates, subscriptions, and engagement-based pricing tactics

• Where pricing leaders should start when adopting AI-driven decision intelligence

• What capabilities will define high-performing pricing teams in the coming years

This episode offers a practical look at how pricing strategy is evolving as AI capabilities mature and customer expectations change.

Many pricing professionals don’t struggle because their analysis is wrong — they struggle because their insights don’t travel.

In the first new episode of 2026, Kevin Mitchell sits down with Claire Wang, pricing strategist and influence expert, to explore the shift from technical excellence to strategic influence.

Pricing teams are often analytically strong. They build rigorous models, validate assumptions, and produce sound recommendations. Yet too often, those recommendations stall — not because they lack logic, but because they fail to gain buy-in across functions and decision-makers.

Claire shares why influence is not persuasion or authority — but a skill rooted in relevance, translation, clarity, and consistency. Drawing from her upcoming book The Price of Influence, she explains:

• Why technically correct recommendations often fail to land

• What separates an analyst from a strategic advisor

• How pricing professionals can influence decisions without formal authority

• Why influence, like pricing, depends on perceived value

• What high-performing pricing leaders will need in increasingly complex organizations

If you’ve ever felt that your pricing insights deserved more traction than they received, this episode will challenge how you think about influence — and show you that it’s a learnable capability, not a personality trait.

In this special episode of Let’s Talk Pricing, PPS President Kevin Mitchell reflects on a year of profound change across the pricing profession. From shifting market dynamics and rising complexity to the growing influence of AI, data, and cross-functional leadership, Kevin explores how pricing roles, expectations, and capabilities are evolving in real time.

Looking ahead, he shares his perspective on what pricing professionals must focus on next—where opportunities are emerging, where risks remain, and how the discipline is positioning itself as a critical driver of enterprise value. Whether you’re early in your pricing career or shaping strategy at the leadership level, this episode offers timely insights into where pricing has been—and where it’s headed.

In this episode of Let’s Talk Pricing, PPS President Kevin Mitchell sits down with Kiran Gange, Founder and CEO of RapidPricer, to explore how AI and analytics are transforming retail pricing across Europe and beyond.

With nearly two decades of experience in retail, Kiran shares his perspective on how automation, data, and ethical AI are reshaping the way pricing teams forecast demand, manage promotions, and stay compliant in a rapidly evolving environment.

They discuss practical strategies for integrating AI into pricing workflows, balancing human intuition with algorithmic precision, and ensuring innovation doesn’t come at the expense of compliance.

• How AI and analytics are changing retail pricing and promotions

• Balancing automation with human judgment in pricing decisions

• Practical approaches to improve demand forecasting

• Real-world examples of AI-driven pricing success

• Navigating VAT, GDPR, and ethical AI in European markets

• Building compliance-ready pricing frameworks

• How non-technical professionals can start with AI and analytics

• What’s next for retail pricing innovation

Kiran Gange is the Founder and CEO of RapidPricer, headquartered in Amsterdam. With nearly 20 years of experience in retail pricing and analytics, Kiran has helped retailers across Europe and beyond use data and AI to optimize decisions, improve margins, and create smarter pricing systems. He’ll also be leading the workshop AI & Analytics in Retail Pricing at PPS profitABLE: Barcelona, this December.

What happens when the pricing playbook you’ve relied on no longer works? In this episode of Let’s Talk Pricing, PPS President Kevin Mitchell sits down with Christina Wirth, CPP, Managing Director and Head of Pricing & Commercial Enablement at KPMG US, to explore what it really means to “forget what you knew about pricing.”

With over 20 years of experience driving pricing transformation across global professional services firms, Christina shares:

• The legacy pricing habits holding companies back—and why they persist

• How leaders can dismantle outdated models to unlock new value

• The disruptive role of Generative AI and the rise of Outcome-Based Pricing at Scale

• Where human judgment still matters in an algorithmic world

• Her roadmap for leading successful pricing transformations

Christina also gives a sneak peek into her upcoming profitABLE25 Las Vegas keynote, where she’ll challenge pricing leaders to rethink what’s possible.

In this episode of Let’s Talk Pricing, host Kevin Mitchell (President of PPS) sits down with Patience Mutiso, MBA, CPP, Partner in Strategy, Pricing, and Revenue Growth Management at Elladon Consulting Services and a member of the PPS Board of Advisors. With over 30 years of experience helping businesses “get value right,” Patience shares her insights on building sustainable pricing capabilities that drive transformation and growth.

🎙️ Key topics include:

• What it means to “get value right” and why it matters today

• The concept of Pricing (Revenue) Centers of Excellence and how they anchor profitable growth

• Practical steps and building blocks for establishing a PCoE

• The human side of pricing leadership: critical skills beyond analytics

• Lessons learned from guiding organizations through transformation

• How the discipline of pricing has evolved—and where it’s headed next

Patience will also be a keynote speaker at PPS profitABLE25 in Las Vegas, October 21–24, where she’ll present “Pricing (Revenue) Centers of Excellence: Building Growth and Profitability Cornerstones.”

👉 Don’t miss her keynote—register now at pricingsociety.com/ppslv25

In this episode of Let’s Talk Pricing, host Kevin Mitchell (President of PPS) is joined by Jeet Mukherjee, who will be speaking at this year’s Fall Conference. Jeet shares his vision for the “bionic pricing team”—where human judgment and AI-driven insights combine to unlock stronger performance, protect margins, and transform the way pricing teams partner across the business.

🎙️ Key topics include:

• What a “bionic” pricing team looks like in practice

• Where companies should start on their AI journey without overwhelming teams

• Practical examples of using AI agents to uncover insights and plug margin leaks

• How AI changes collaboration between pricing and sales

• The evolving skills every pricing professional needs to thrive in the next 5–10 years

• Steps leaders can take today to start building their own bionic teams

Don’t miss Jeet’s session at PPS profitABLE25 in Las Vegas, October 21–24, where he’ll go even deeper on these ideas and help you chart the path toward building the pricing team of the future.

👉 Learn more and register: pricingsociety.com/ppslv25

In this episode of Let’s Talk Pricing, host Kevin Mitchell (President of PPS) sits down with Dr. Michael Wu, Chief AI Strategist at PROS and one of the most respected voices in AI and pricing.

Together, they explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping pricing strategy, from the rise of intelligent agents to the human skills that will matter most in an AI-driven world. Dr. Wu explains what’s changed with Generative AI, predictive models, and intelligent pricing agents—and how pricers can prepare for the next wave of transformation.

🎤 Key topics include:

• Why Dr. Wu calls this moment a true (R)Evolution in pricing

• How to prepare for the limitations of Generative AI

• The future of human + machine collaboration in pricing

• The mindset shift needed to move from dashboards to predictive and generative insights

👉 Don’t miss your chance to learn directly from Dr. Wu this fall! He’ll be live at PPS profitABLE in Las Vegas, October 21–24, 2025, leading a hands-on workshop on AI-powered pricing strategy (worth 1 CPP credit) and delivering a keynote on the rise of intelligent agents.

Reserve your spot at PricingSociety.com/ppslv25

Artificial Intelligence is no longer just hype—it’s here, reshaping how companies think about pricing. In this episode of Let’s Talk Pricing, George Boretos, CEO of FutureUP and recognized Top 50 Thought Leader in AI, joins us to explore how predictive AI is already transforming pricing decisions and why now is the time for first movers to act.

We cover:

• The “AI in Pricing Paradox” and why timing matters

• Where predictive AI is making the biggest impact today

• Quick wins to start your AI-powered pricing journey

• How pricing professionals can stay relevant and confident as AI becomes more integrated

If you’re curious about how to put AI into practice—not someday, but today—this episode is for you.

As a preview of his upcoming live workshop Pricing & Sales Leadership: Bridging the Gap, Ebrahim Elebiary, CPP, joins PPS Director of Marketing & Key Accounts Angie Jackson for a candid conversation on what it takes to lead beyond the numbers. Hear how pricing professionals can align with sales, communicate value, and build the influence needed to drive measurable impact.