Kunal Pathak, Director of Deal Strategy & Operations at ServiceNow, joins Philipp to unpack what it really takes to run a world-class Deal Desk. With experience building deal operations at Salesforce, DocuSign, and now ServiceNow, Kunal shares how the function evolved from a transactional back office into a strategic control tower for revenue execution.

We cover:

- What a Deal Desk is and how it’s evolved into a strategic function

- When it’s time to introduce Deal Desk (hint: when your CEO reviews every deal)

- Balancing governance and deal velocity: the CFO vs. CRO charter

- Why a bad policy is one that creates constant exceptions

- The 70/30 rule: when to automate vs. when to go high-touch

- The ideal team setup and where Deal Desk should sit (Finance vs. Sales)

- How to collaborate with Legal, Finance, and Pricing Strategy

- Building commercial constructs that make it easy to buy

- Using AI and automation to move from reactive to proactive deal strategy

- How to start a Deal Desk from scratch—and what to prioritize first

Kunal Pathak on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kunal-pathak-66b27317/

Weflow: ⁠getweflow.com

⁠RevOps Chat Community: ⁠getweflow.com/community⁠

RevOps resources: ⁠getweflow.com/revops⁠ Janis on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiszech⁠ Philipp on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippstelzer

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Intro & Meet Kunal

(00:02:29) What Is a Deal Desk and Why It Matters

(00:06:58) When to Introduce Deal Desk

(00:09:15) Top Challenges When Setting Up the Function

(00:11:21) Balancing Governance and Deal Velocity

(00:14:27) Policies, Exceptions & the 70/30 Rule

(00:16:06) Where Deal Desk Should Sit (RevOps vs. Finance)

(00:18:38) Building the Right Team & Hiring Profiles

(00:21:20) Legal Collaboration & Ownership Boundaries

(00:24:48) Partnering with Pricing Strategy

(00:27:59) Value Engineering and Deal Economics

(00:30:12) The Future of Deal Desk – AI & Automation

(00:35:30) How to Start a Deal Desk From Scratch

(00:37:01) The First Hire & Key Priorities

(00:40:01) Resources, Books & Final Thoughts

Tessa Whittaker, VP of Revenue Operations at ZoomInfo, joins Janis Zech to discuss the critical challenge of shifting to an AI-First mindset within the RevOps function. Many leaders feel pressure due to the AI hype, but how do you ensure your teams implement the technology effectively? Tessa shares her proprietary RevOps Maturity Scale, a framework that identifies the operational foundation (systematization and process discipline) required before AI can be successfully deployed to boost upstream RevOps team efficiency.    

She reveals how her team at ZoomInfo—a multi-billion-dollar valuation company with over a billion in ARR—transformed their roadmap prioritization and requirements gathering process using AI agents. This strategy helps them eliminate "human behavior" and resource fights, leading to maximum execution speed.   

We discuss:

• Why manual processes and poor data are the biggest roadblocks to successful AI implementation (Garbage In, Garbage Out).    

• Tessa's RevOps Maturity Scale (0 to 5), and why AI-Augmented Workflows only begin at Step 3.    

• How to build Operational Excellence as the foundation for AI (Ad Hoc → Manual but Defined → Systematized Rigor → Agentic Assistance).    

• The RevOps team structure at ZoomInfo: How Sales Operations, Business Process (Product Managers), and Revenue Technology collaborate.    

• The transformation of the RevOps Roadmap process: Moving from firefighting to data-driven stack ranking of strategic initiatives.    

• The use of an AI Agent for Requirements Gathering and generating Prioritization Scores to end subjective resource battles with stakeholders.    

• How to coach Internal Stakeholders to bring problems instead of prescribed solutions, and how AI facilitates this shift.    

• Tessa’s Hackathon strategy to mandate an AI-First mindset across the RevOps team and build internal efficiency agents.    

Mallory Lee on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessa-whittaker-44903940/ 

Weflow: ⁠getweflow.com⁠

RevOps Chat Community: ⁠getweflow.com/community⁠

RevOps resources: ⁠getweflow.com/revops⁠

Janis on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiszech⁠

Philipp on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippstelzer

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Introduction and Welcoming Tessa

(00:01:52) Tessa's Career Path: From Executive Assistant to VP of RevOps 

(00:03:16) The RevOps Team Structure at ZoomInfo (Sales Ops, Business Process, RevTech) 

(00:06:19) Introducing the RevOps AI Maturity Scale 

(00:08:43) Steps 0 through 5: From Ad Hoc to Autonomous Operations 

(00:10:45) The necessity of Operational Excellence as an AI prerequisite 

(00:16:03) The RevOps reality before systematization (Chaos and Firefighting) 

(00:21:44) Building Systematized Rigor: Central intake, JIRA, and capacity measurement 

(00:26:40) Dealing with noise and Fire Drills: How centralized stack ranking eliminates resource fights 

(00:35:17) The AI-First Leap: Transforming the RevOps Roadmap process with AI 

(00:37:50) The AI Agent for Requirements Gathering: Eliminating time-consuming meetings 

(00:40:24) How the AI agent calculates Prioritization Scores for dynamic sprint planning 

(00:43:39) Additional AI Use Cases: Process documentation, slide generation, and monitoring 

(00:44:40) The Hackathon Strategy to instill an AI-First mindset in the team 

(00:46:10) Community Recommendations: The value of a tight-knit expert network

Mallory Lee, VP of RevOps at PhoneBurner, returns to the show to talk about one of the most painful but critical topics in sales: CRM hygiene. From missed updates and bloated pipelines to forecasting gaps and trust issues, Mallory shares how automation and AI can remove manual work for reps and bring accuracy back to the pipeline.

We cover:

• The ripple effects of poor deal hygiene on pipeline councils & forecast calls
• Why manual CRM updates erode trust in data and dashboards
• How to automate activity capture across emails, meetings, and contacts
• Using AI to extract insights from calls and transcripts (SPICE, “why now / why not”)
• Automating opportunity stages, forecast categories, and contact statuses
• Why separating process (stage) from judgment (forecast category) matters
• How automation accelerates pipeline conversations and improves trust

Links & Resources

• Mallory Lee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorylee/
• Weflow: getweflow.com
• RevOps Chat Community: getweflow.com/community
• RevOps resources: getweflow.com/revops
• Janis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiszech
• Philipp on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippstelzer

Chapters

• (00:00:00) Intro & Catching Up with Mallory
• (00:02:42) The Ripple Effects of Poor Deal Hygiene
• (00:07:00) Forecasting Challenges & Finance vs. Sales Models
• (00:10:45) Automating CRM Updates at PhoneBurner
• (00:15:30) AI Insights: From SPICE to “Why Now / Why Not”
• (00:21:00) The Black Box of SMS, WhatsApp & Slack
• (00:24:50) Automating Contact Status & Pipeline Generation
• (00:29:00) Expansion, Renewals & Onboarding Automation
• (00:32:10) How Automation Changes Pipeline Councils
• (00:34:45) Book Recs, Community & Closing

Laura Cross, VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester, joins Janis and Philipp to unpack the shift from annual to continuous planning. Laura shares why static, one-and-done plans don’t work in today’s fast-changing environment and how RevOps can take the lead in building adaptive, customer-centric planning processes.

• Why annual planning often creates misalignment and mistrust
• The rise of continuous, “always-on” planning cycles
• How to balance board-level compliance with GTM agility
• Common pitfalls: siloed planning, unrealistic timelines, political dynamics
• Why putting the customer at the center fixes more than process
• RevOps as the facilitator of sync & sequence across functions
• Practical steps to operationalize strategy through revenue cadences

• Laura Cross on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauracross
• Weflow: getweflow.com
• RevOps Chat Community: getweflow.com/community
• RevOps resources: getweflow.com/revops
• Janis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiszech
• Philipp on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippstelzer

• (00:00:00) Intro & Meet Laura
• (00:02:10) Annual vs. Continuous Planning – The Shift
• (00:05:30) Why Annual Planning Fails in Practice
• (00:09:20) Misalignment, Finger-Pointing & Trust Issues
• (00:14:15) The Role of RevOps in Sync & Sequence
• (00:19:00) Overhead, Culture & Mindset Shifts
• (00:24:30) From Strategy to Execution: Revenue Cadences
• (00:29:40) Final Thoughts & Forrester Resources

In this quick special episode (under 3 minutes!), Janis and Philipp announce something big:👉 Together with 50 RevOps leaders from around the world, we’re launching a free Slack community exclusively for Revenue Operations professionals.Here’s what you need to know: • 💬 No pitches, just real conversations • ✅ Strictly RevOps-only (every application is reviewed) • 🤝 Share challenges, get support, and learn faster • 🌍 Local chapters for real-life meetups (yes, IRL!)🚀 Request early access now: getweflow.com/community

Andy Mowat, Founder of Whisperd and longtime RevOps leader at companies like Upwork, Box, CultureAmp, and Carta, joins Janis and Philipp to share how to build a successful career in RevOps. Andy breaks down the six “superpowers” of RevOps, what separates a VP from a Director, and how to pick the right company to accelerate your growth. He also shares his perspective on how AI will reshape the future of RevOps and the GTM tech stack.

We cover:

• The six “superpowers” of RevOps every operator should master

• Director vs. VP: the real differences in scope and leadership

• Why choosing the right company and boss matters more than comp

• Head of RevOps at a startup vs. #2 at a breakout scale-up
  

• How to identify breakout companies—and avoid toxic ones
  

• Future trends: AI, data architecture, and the reinvention of Salesforce

• Resources for career growth from Whisperd
  

Andy Mowat on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andymowat/

Pipeline Visibility Cheat Sheet: ⁠⁠https://www.getweflow.com/content/pipeline-visibility-cheat-sheet⁠⁠⁠ 

Janis on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiszech⁠ ⁠ ⁠⁠  ⁠ 

Phillip on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippstelzer⁠⁠ 

Chapters:

(00:29:48) Whisperd Playbooks & Final Takeaways

Lauren Hughes, VP of Revenue Effectiveness at Justworks and former Global Head of RevOps at InMobi, joins Janis and Philipp to share how RevOps can become the connective tissue between product and go-to-market. Lauren walks through her experience scaling RevOps during hypergrowth, driving alignment with product, and building operating cadences that keep leadership on the same page.

We cover:

• Lessons from scaling InMobi from $300M to $600M+ revenue

• How to build RevOps from 2 people “tinkering in Salesforce” to a 25+ person team

• Driving interlock between product and revenue teams under pressure

• Why operating cadences matter more than tools

• Balancing short-term firefighting with long-term roadmap planning

• How RevOps can translate customer needs into product strategy

Lauren Hughes on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenehughes10023/

Pipeline Visibility Cheat Sheet: ⁠https://www.getweflow.com/content/pipeline-visibility-cheat-sheet⁠⁠ 

Janis on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiszech ⁠ ⁠⁠  ⁠ 

Phillip on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippstelzer⁠ 

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Intro & Meet Lauren

(00:02:00) Scaling RevOps at InMobi During Hypergrowth

(00:07:15) First Hires & Building Business Planning Into RevOps

(00:12:40) Driving Product <> Revenue Interlock

(00:18:20) Operating Cadences & Leadership Alignment

(00:23:30) Balancing Fix-It Mode With Future Planning

(00:29:10) Lessons Learned & Applying Them at Justworks

(00:34:30) Podcasts & Resources Lauren Recommends

In this episode, Janis and Philipp sit down with 5x CRO John McMahon, the Author of “The Qualified Sales Leader”, board member at Snowflake and MongoDB, and co-host of the Revenue Builders Podcast. John shares how revenue operations can play a critical role in preparing CROs and CEOs for board meetings, what metrics truly matter, and why scaling go-to-market teams is often harder than building products.

From avoiding common pitfalls in hiring and territory planning to designing repeatable frameworks for growth, this conversation is packed with insights from someone who has guided companies through hypergrowth at the highest levels.

What You’ll Learn:

• How RevOps leaders can equip CROs for successful board meetings

• Why headcount, productivity, and churn are the only real levers in scaling sales

• The cost of hiring too late and under-investing in frontline management

• Why territory fairness is critical to rep success and retention

• Key frameworks for reporting to the board (5-quarter model, productivity per rep, new logos vs. existing growth)

• The importance of evolving your ICP, sales process, and common language as you scale

John McMahon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmcmahon1/

Pipeline Visibility Cheat Sheet: ⁠https://www.getweflow.com/content/pipeline-visibility-cheat-sheet⁠⁠ 

Janis on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiszech ⁠ ⁠⁠  ⁠ 

Phillip on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippstelzer⁠ 

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Meet John McMayhem

(00:03:45) Board Meeting Dynamics

(00:08:20) Preparation Strategies

(00:12:30) Sales Team Scaling Pitfalls

(00:16:50) Proactive Hiring Importance

(00:21:15) Territory Management

(00:25:45) Reducing Ramp Time Through Training

(00:30:00) Key Performance Metrics

(00:34:40) RevOps as Strategic Eyes and Ears

(00:38:10) Closing Thoughts & Book Recommendation

Kristina Kardell, Director of RevOps & Strategy at Leapsome, joins Janis to explore how revenue cadences can move RevOps from execution to strategy. Kristina shares how she structures cadences that align leaders, drive accountability, and unlock real business impact.We cover: • What revenue cadences actually are—and why they matter • How to set up cadences that align GTM leadership • Turning recurring meetings into drivers of accountability • Balancing operational detail with strategic oversight • Lessons learned from scaling RevOps at Leapsome • How cadences unlock cross-functional alignment

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinakardell/

Pipeline Visibility Cheat Sheet: ⁠https://www.getweflow.com/content/pipeline-visibility-cheat-sheet⁠⁠

Janis on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiszech⁠ ⁠⁠ ⁠

Phillip on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippstelzer⁠

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Intro & Meet Kristina

(00:02:05) Why Cadences Are a Strategic Lever

(00:06:20) Designing Cadences That Stick

(00:10:45) Leadership Alignment Through Revenue Cadences

(00:15:00) From Operations to Strategy

(00:18:25) Lessons Learned at Leapsome

(00:21:40) Final Thoughts & Key Takeaways

Dana Therrien, VP of Sales Performance Management and Revenue Operations Advisory at Anaplan, joins Janis and Philipp to unpack what it really takes to build a RevOps team that drives measurable impact. With deep expertise in GTM strategy, comp design, and performance management, Dana shares how to align revenue teams, structure for scale, and turn RevOps into a strategic growth driver—not just an operational support function.

We cover:

• How to design a RevOps org that accelerates GTM execution

• The link between sales performance management and RevOps success

• Common comp plan pitfalls and how to avoid them

• Partnering effectively with CROs, CFOs, and sales leadership

• Which skills turn good operators into strategic leaders

• Why RevOps needs a seat at the executive table

Dana Therrien on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/danatherrien/

Pipeline Visibility Cheat Sheet: ⁠https://www.getweflow.com/content/pipeline-visibility-cheat-sheet⁠⁠

Janis on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiszech⁠

⁠Phillip on LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippstelzer⁠

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Intro & Meet Dana

(00:02:20) From Sales Performance to RevOps Leadership

(00:06:05) What Great RevOps Teams Do Differently

(00:10:45) Comp Plan Design – Common Pitfalls & Fixes

(00:15:30) Partnering with CROs and CFOs

(00:20:40) Leadership Skills That Scale

(00:26:10) Structuring RevOps for Speed & Alignment

(00:31:25) Final Takeaways & Book Recommendation