Why Pricing a Platform Is Harder Than Pricing a Product — Lessons from Google Cloud with Deovrat Kajwadkar

Deovrat Kajwadkar is the Director of Strategic Deal Pricing and Monetization at Google Cloud, where he sits at the center of some of the most complex commercial decisions in modern tech. With a background in management consulting at McKinsey and deep experience in cloud and AI monetization, Deovrat brings a rare inside view of how pricing actually works when products are platforms, costs are dynamic, and value is constantly evolving. In this conversation, Deovrat and Mark Stiving unpack why pricing is not just a "number-setting" function but the grade of how well everything else in the business is working. They explore the difference between platforms and solutions, why value-based pricing becomes harder as offerings become more flexible, and how AI is changing both how pricing is done and what pricing even means.   Why You Have to Check Out Today's Podcast: Learn why pricing sits at the heart of cloud and AI economics, touching product, strategy, sales, and profitability all at once. Understand how platforms, solutions, and AI fundamentally change value-based pricing, and why cost, competition, and outcomes all matter—at different layers of the stack. Discover why "pulling the dollar lever" is the most expensive move, and what smarter pricing leaders focus on first.   "Pulling the dollar lever is easy—but it's also very expensive. I'd rather pull every other lever first." — Deovrat Kajwadkar   Topics Covered: 01:40 – Cloud Pricing as a Central Role. Deovrat explains why pricing sits at the center of Google Cloud's commercial decisions—connecting product strategy, growth, profitability, and customer value. 05:09 – Cloud Computing for Enterprises. A clear, non-technical explanation of cloud computing for enterprise customers, from infrastructure and platforms to software and AI—and why pricing each layer is different. 08:48 – Value-Based Pricing Challenges. Mark and Deovrat discuss why value-based pricing is especially difficult for platforms, where customers use the same products in very different ways. 13:04 – Value-Based Pricing Strategies. A practical framework for pricing across the cloud stack: cost- and competition-based pricing at the lower layers, and outcome-driven pricing as offerings move closer to customer solutions. 18:10 – AI's Impact on Pricing Strategies. How AI is changing pricing on multiple fronts—what gets priced, how costs behave, and how quickly products and value propositions evolve. 22:34 – AI in Pricing Strategies. Deovrat breaks down how AI can support pricing decisions, from customer analysis and renewals to analytics and decision support—while stressing the importance of clean data foundations. 24:12 – AI Value Delivery Challenges. Why delivering real AI value is harder than building the technology itself, and how change management and business adoption affect pricing and monetization. 27:30 – Pricing Advice for Business Impact. Deovrat's closing advice: great pricing leaders expand their skill set beyond pricing fundamentals—and pull every lever before resorting to raising prices.   Key Takeaways: "Pricing touches almost everything—it's the heart of a company's economics." — Deovrat Kajwadkar "The more commoditized the offering, the more cost and competition matter." — Deovrat Kajwadkar "As you move closer to business outcomes, value-based pricing becomes possible—but harder." — Deovrat Kajwadkar "AI changes pricing, but it doesn't eliminate the fundamentals." — Deovrat Kajwadkar   People / Resources Mentioned: Google Cloud – Cloud platform spanning infrastructure, AI models, developer tools, and industry solutions. McKinsey & Company – Deovrat's consulting background, shaping his strategic view of pricing and technology. AI Models & Agentic Workflows – Referenced in the context of pricing analytics, automation, and decision support.   Connect with Deovrat Kajwadkar: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deovrat-kajwadkar   Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: [email protected]  

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on October 6, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/pricing-ai-the-compass-spectrum-of-pricing-metrics/ If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at [email protected].  Now, go make an impact.   Connect with Mark Stiving: Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Etinosa Agbonlahor is the CEO of Decision Alpha and former Director of Behavioral Research at Fidelity Investments. A behavioral economist by training, she helps companies understand how customers actually make decisions—and how that should shape pricing. In this episode, Etinosa and Mark Stiving unpack the tension between real value and perceived value, why customers don't react to prices rationally, and how behavioral economics can strengthen pricing strategies. They explore value drivers, ethical nudging, the fear of raising prices, and why most buyers don't remember prices as clearly as business owners think. If you want clearer, psychology-backed ways to price, communicate value, and make better pricing decisions, this episode gives you practical insights you can use right away.   Why You Have to Check Out Today's Podcast: Why customers forget your prices—and how that myth makes business owners afraid to raise them. How behavioral economics expands value beyond profit into perception, context, and emotion. How to raise prices ethically using segmentation, glide paths, and clear communication.   "Understand your customer. Do the pricing research with customers—not just with quant models. Go talk to customers. It's important." — Etinosa Agbonlahor   Topics Covered: 02:08 – Pricing and Behavioral Economics. Mark and Etinosa debate where behavioral economics fits in pricing—Mark sees it as the final touch, while Etinosa argues it shapes value perception from the start. 05:20 – Defining Real vs. Perceived Value. A foundational question: is value measured strictly in outcomes, or also in emotion, context, and comparison? Their contrasting definitions reveal why pricing teams often misread customers. 09:05 – Value Beyond Monetary Price. Etinosa expands value to include convenience, safety, time saved, emotional comfort, and opportunity cost—benefits customers feel but rarely articulate. 10:37 – Value Drivers in Pricing Strategies. Behavioral research uncovers the real outcomes customers care about. Mark connects this to pricing strategy: quantify value drivers to justify stronger pricing. 15:32 – Manipulation in Behavioral Economics. Mark asks whether nudging is manipulation. Etinosa explains that behavioral tools aren't coercive—intent determines whether they help or harm the customer. 18:02 – Ethics of Choice Architecture. Every pricing page is a designed choice. Etinosa contrasts ethical nudges with dark patterns, while Mark questions how businesses balance their goals with customer wellbeing. 22:22 – Behavioral Economics in Business. Real-world examples show how behavioral insights improve retention, financial outcomes, and long-term customer relationships—not just revenue. 24:20 – Pricing Fears and Customer Perception. The Spotlight Effect is a myth: customers don't track your prices as closely as you think. The two discuss how clearer communication and segmentation reduce backlash when raising prices. 28:48 – Understand Your Customer. Etinosa's closing advice: real pricing power comes from customer conversations—not spreadsheets. Behavioral economics begins with understanding actual human behavior.   Key Takeaways: "Value is all about perception. Once you step into perception, you're in behavioral economics." — Etinosa Agbonlahor "There is no such thing as a neutral choice. Every pricing page is designed—intentionally or unintentionally." — Etinosa Agbonlahor "People are not rational. Once you accept that as fact, you can design pricing that fits how people actually behave."  — Etinosa Agbonlahor "Business owners think customers remember prices more than they actually do." — Etinosa Agbonlahor   People / Resources Mentioned: Richard Thaler – Nobel laureate; originator of transaction utility and foundational behavioral economics concepts. Dan Ariely – Author of Predictably Irrational, referenced in discussing irrational decision patterns. Weber-Fechner Law – Psychological principle used to design perceptually smoother price increases.   Connect with Etinosa Agbonlahor: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/etinosasere Email: [email protected]   Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: [email protected]

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on September 29, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/nobody-wants-to-buy-ai/ If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at [email protected].  Now, go make an impact.   Connect with Mark Stiving: Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Danilo Zatta is the author of The Pricing Model Revolution, The 10 Rules of Highly Effective Pricing, and the new book Revenue Growth Management. He is recognized as one of LinkedIn's Top 5 Pricing Thought Leaders and brings decades of consulting experience from Accenture, Simon-Kucher, and BCG. His work is anchored in one simple insight: pricing is the "sunny side" of consulting. He shares real examples of companies that increased profit by cutting ineffective promotions and by detecting thousands of spare-part pricing outliers with AI. This episode explores pricing leadership, the CEO's role, the difference between pricing truth and framework preference, and why democratized pricing knowledge makes talent the true competitive advantage.   Why You Have to Check Out This Episode: Learn how AI spots hidden pricing outliers across hundreds of thousands of SKUs and turns them into instant profit. Discover why FMCG companies burn cash on promotions and how smart RGM frameworks finally fix it. Understand the real "truth" behind pricing frameworks and why people, not methodology, drive pricing success.   "Start the AI pricing journey—not by boiling the ocean—but by finding a use case that works, proves value, and then expand it." – Danilo Zatta   Topics Covered: 01:27 - How Dan Got Into Pricing. His shift from cost-cutting to pricing and why he calls it the "sunny side" of consulting. 06:57 - Freedom in Consulting Choices. Comparing Accenture, Simon-Kucher, and BCG—and why team chemistry matters most. 09:11 - Revenue Growth Management. How FMCG brands optimize trade terms, promos, and price architecture for profit. 11:55 - FMCG as B2B. Why FMCG selling to retailers is a pure B2B relationship with limited price control. 17:22 - Implicit Collusion in Airlines. How industries use public price signaling to influence competitor behavior. 19:13 - AI in Spare Parts Pricing. How AI identified major pricing outliers and delivered over €1M in quick wins. 24:42 - Why AI Beats Excel. AI's advantage in scale, complexity, and instant alerts across massive SKU sets. 27:15 - Starting Your AI Pricing Journey. Begin with one use case, prove it works, then expand—no perfect data needed.   Key Takeaways: "Pricing used to be specialized knowledge. Today it's democratized—so what differentiates you is the team, not the tools." – Danilo Zatta "If you're the market leader, you must act first. Smaller players can't reduce promotions until you do." – Danilo Zatta "Pricing is never boring because every industry has its own logic, levers, and constraints." – Danilo Zatta   Books by Danilo Zatta: The Pricing Model Revolution: https://www.amazon.it/Pricing-revolution-pricing-cambier%C3%A0-comprare/dp/8836010547/ The 10 Rules of Highly Effective Pricing: https://www.amazon.com/Rules-Highly-Effective-Pricing-Management/dp/1394195761 Revenue Growth Management: https://www.amazon.it/Revenue-Management-Manufacturing-Application-Industry/dp/3319807595/   Connect with Danilo Zatta: Website: https://www.danilozatta.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danilo-zatta  Books: https://www.danilozatta.com/books/    Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving Email: [email protected]  

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on September 22, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/pricing-ai-pricing-metrics/ If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at [email protected].  Now, go make an impact.   Connect with Mark Stiving: Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Ed Arnold, founder and managing partner at The Valorizer, brings decades of hands-on experience building customer value models, teaching value conversations, and guiding companies toward value-based pricing. After working directly with Tom Nagle at Monitor Group and leading value initiatives at LeveragePoint, Forrester, and Ibbaka, Ed has become one of the most respected practitioners of Economic Value Estimation (EVE) in B2B. In this episode, Ed and Mark dive deep into what "value" actually means, why B2B buyers define it differently than sellers, and how to quantify economic outcomes in a way that withstands scrutiny. They debate value vs. willingness to pay, unpack why value stories outperform case studies, and explore how real conversations—not spreadsheets—unlock premium pricing.   Why You Have to Check Out Today's Episode: Master the real meaning of "value" in B2B—and why most companies still get it wrong. Discover how to run a value conversation that reveals economic impact and customer priorities. Learn how to turn EVE models into persuasive value stories your buyers can resell internally.   "You need to quantify the value of the product you're selling—and you need to talk to customers about that to understand it and write their value story."  — Ed Arnold   Topics Covered: 05:09 – Value Perception in B2B: Why Customers Decide with Both Logic and Emotion 08:34 – Value vs. Willingness to Pay: The Debate Begins 12:06 – Why Willingness to Pay Is Not Value (And What It Actually Measures) 19:04 – Value Perception in B2B Sales: Influence, Trust, and Risk 20:41 – Value Is Always Relative (And Why Alternative Choices Change Everything) 24:26 – Value-Based vs. Competitor Pricing: Why They Aren't the Same Thing 28:03 – Value Story vs. Case Study: What Buyers Actually Need to Make Decisions 32:47– Quantifying Product Value: How to Build a Story Buyers Can Take to Their Executives   Key Takeaways: "Value comes from use, not purchase." — Ed Arnold "Willingness to pay is not value, if it were, we'd never talk about leaving money on the table." — Ed Arnold "In B2B, value is 80% logic, 20% emotion." — Ed Arnold "A value story is customized. A case study is generic." — Ed Arnold "You can't build a value story without having a value conversation first." — Ed Arnold "Sometimes the value model reveals there simply isn't a differentiated advantage—and you have to accept that." — Ed Arnold    People and Resources Mentioned: Tom Nagle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-tom-nagle LeveragePoint: https://www.leveragepoint.com/  Reed Holden: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reed-holden-913ab69/    Connect with Ed Arnold: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edarnold1/  Newsletter: https://edarnold1.substack.com/    Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/ Email: [email protected]  

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on September 15, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/why-buyers-really-buy/ If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at [email protected].  Now, go make an impact.   Connect with Mark Stiving: Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/

Matt Knaggs, Senior Business Value Lead at Zilliant, brings a decade of pricing insight shaped by an unexpected leap from industrial safety into commercial excellence. Known for blending analytics, AI, and practical sales enablement, he now helps B2B companies make smarter, more confident pricing decisions by pairing data science with human judgment. In this episode, Matt and Mark dive straight into the real-world intersection of pricing and AI, where deterministic models still set prices, GenAI fills in missing context, and messy CRM data finally becomes usable.  Matt shares how he built a custom GPT that builds other GPTs, why "pricer in the loop" is essential, and how AI can elevate pricing teams without replacing them. They unpack the future of pricing, the danger of outsourcing expertise, and why curiosity beats perfection in an AI-driven world.   Why You Have to Check Out Today's Episode: Learn how AI can enhance pricing (without setting prices for you) - including specific use cases where GenAI adds context, fills data gaps, and boosts pricer effectiveness. Discover the "Pricer in the Loop" model and why Matt believes humans will remain essential for trust, validation, nuance, and internal adoption. See how to use AI as a thought partner - to generate buyer problems, value drivers, competitive alternatives, and messaging frameworks that accelerate value-based pricing.   "Don't hide from all of the advancements in AI. It can be scary and intimidating, but try what you can. AI won't tattle on you for asking dumb questions." - Matt Knaggs   Topics Covered: 03:30 – How Matt Went From Safety to Pricing—and Why the Discipline Hooked Him 04:22 – The Reality of AI in Pricing: What Matt Sees Working (and Failing) Inside Companies 11:58 – Matt Reacts to Mark's Approach: Using AI to Map Buyer Context 15:34 – When a Pricing Expert Builds AI That Builds AI: Matt's Custom GPT Story 19:01– The Messy Data Problem Every Pricer Knows… and How Matt Uses AI to Fix It 24:09– Matt's Honest Take on the Future: Why AI Won't Replace Pricers Anytime Soon 27:34 – The Threat to Expertise: Matt and Mark Explore What Happens When People Outsource Thinking 31:53 – What AI Can Do for Pricing Strategy (If You Use It Intelligently) 33:15 – Matt's Final Challenge to Pricers   Key Takeaways: "AI is probabilistic, not deterministic. You can give it the same inputs and get different outputs. That's why I'm not ready for GenAI to set prices." - Matt Knaggs "You don't need to learn AI to protect your job. But if you ignore it, the person who learns how to use AI might take your job." - Matt Knaggs "The future pricer isn't replaced—it's the translator. The one who explains the 'why' behind what AI suggests." - Matt Knaggs "You can't outsource judgment. You need the pricer in the loop to validate hallucinations, nuance, and context." - Matt Knaggs "AI can scan markets, pull competitor moves, and hand-wave at things you should consider—things deterministic models miss." - Matt Knaggs   People & Resources Mentioned: Zilliant: Pricing optimization & management platform where Matt leads value initiatives Stephan Liozu: Pricing author referenced for value-based pricing frameworks Salesforce + OpenAI / Claude Connectors: For CRM automation   Connect with Matt Knaggs: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewknaggs/   Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/stiving Email: [email protected]  

This is an Impact Pricing Blog published on September 8, 2025, turned into an audio podcast so you can listen on the go. Read Full Article Here: https://impactpricing.com/blog/pricing-ai-the-value-of-packaging/ If you have any feedback, definitely send it. You can reach us at [email protected].  Now, go make an impact.   Connect with Mark Stiving: Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/