This episode is sponsored by TestBox. Please visit www.testbox.com to learn more!

Join host James Kaikis for an in-depth conversation with Zach Lawryk, Solutions Engineering Leader at OpenAI, who brings 25 years of experience from Salesforce, Box, and Rippling. Zach shares why AI represents a fundamentally different technological shift and how OpenAI operates as “AI-native sellers.”

This episode explores the evolution of go-to-market in the AI era, from deep research automation to agent-powered workflows. Zach provides tactical insights on consumption-based pricing models, the changing role of Solutions Engineers, and why intelligence has become a commodity while information remains valuable.

We dig into:

• Why AI represents a fundamentally different shift and how it's replacing human functions, not just improving productivity

• Why consumption-based pricing works for APIs but struggles in enterprise software applications

• The challenges of outcome-based pricing beyond customer support use cases

• How solutions professionals are becoming "AI-native sellers" and customer-centric problem solvers

• Why the traditional pre-sales/post-sales divide is dissolving into full lifecycle ownership

• How software development cycles have accelerated from quarterly to weekly releases

If you're ready to understand how AI is reshaping not just what we do, but how we think about solving problems, this episode is essential listening for anyone in solutions, sales, or go-to-market roles.

Key Takeaways:

• Why AI requires a complete mental model shift, not just productivity improvements

• How OpenAI uses deep research to gain executive-level credibility with prospects

• Consumption vs. outcome-based pricing: what works and what doesn’t