In this episode of If Prices Could Talk, Tracy Dent is joined by Greg James and Jeet Mukherjee to break down the economic, strategic, and emotional factors shaping the autonomous vehicle industry. 

What’s the difference between Tesla’s feature-based pricing and Waymo’s per-mile approach? How does trust impact pricing power? What happens when legacy companies are forced to compete in platform economics?

This episode explores the economic and emotional levers driving how we think about value, and what they mean for leaders facing disruption from AI.

Key Themes:

• Trust as a critical lever in emerging markets
• Subscription vs. CapEx vs. outcome-based pricing
• The role of entropy in complex commercial models
• What B2B leaders can learn from the AV transformation

ABOUT GREG

Granted with 14 patents, Greg is a 30-year industry veteran who has led engineering teams at companies like Intel, Verizon, and Google. Throughout his career, he has led mechanical design teams, enabled customers to manufacture with Intel's advanced SMT and socketed chips, and developed and delivered thermal and mechanical solutions for mobile PCs.  

Connect with Greg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregoryajames/ 

Connect with Jeet: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeet-mukherjee-58462a1/

Connect with Tracy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyleighdent/

CHAPTERS

00:00 Introductions

01:01 The rise of Waymo

08:02 Understanding the value drivers

17:23 What is entropy in auto pricing? Complexity, confusion, and value erosion

33:40 Platform economics and labor disruption; pricing the unknown

38:13 Cost per mile and what customers actually pay for

43:10 Final takeaways and B2B learnings from AV innovation

Research referenced:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15389588.2025.2499887#abstract

https://www.moneygeek.com/resources/costs-of-car-ownership/

https://waymo.com/safety/