Presenting: The State of the Agentic Financial Stack

When I helped price our first AI feature, we defaulted to credits. They’re fast to launch, simple to explain internally, and easy on finance. But it didn’t take long to see the cracks. Customers were confused, and margins were tight. We realized credits were a bridge, not a strategy. Metronome’s article, The Rise of AI Credits, breaks down why cost-plus credit models work—until they don’t. It’s the most practical explanation I’ve read for how SaaS companies can use credits to start fast, then evolve toward true value-based pricing.

If you’re figuring out how to price and package AI features sustainably, this is the playbook to start with.

GEe wiz you guys. Well that almost killed me.

I’ve emerged from the wilderness with a 59 page report, a herniated disc, and a better understanding of AI's impact on finance.

Alas, I’m proud to present to you our most comprehensive report yet. What follows is a deep dive into the state of finance software, in the age of AI.

Every vendor now brags to be "AI-powered."

Every renewal conversation includes “…and here's our new AI module" (with a 30% price hike).

Your inbox has 47 companies claiming they'll "revolutionize finance operations.“

So how do you know what you're actually buying?

The goal of this report is two-fold:

It’s time to slice through the agent-washing.

My observation is that most tools calling themselves “agentic" are just thinly AI-Enabled. And that's totally fine… if it matches what you need.

So together, we’re going to do some soul searching:

This new report breaks down:

Here’s a sneak peak at the new entrants:

And here’s a glimpse of two sectors experiencing rapid change…

Shoutout to the fine folks at Tabs, Numeric, Oracle NetSuite, RightRev, and Tropic for making this possible.

OK, I gotta go take a tiger snooze and maybe think about hiring some AI to write this damn thing next year.

What separates a ‘good’ vp of sales from a ‘great’ vp of sales?

Is building a business tied to your personal identity a moat, or a weakness?

And is it ever worth it to work for a crappy company if they give you lots of money and a great title?

I discuss all this, as well as some tips for negotiating better comp at startups, with Sam Jacobs of Pavilion, the top community for GTM leaders.

We play a fun game called “startup founder, or popstar.” Hint: I do better than Kyle and Ben thought.

But also, who’s Sabrina Carpenter?

We also discuss the merits to being a “platform company”, Snowflake’s CRO’s forward guidance business blunder, and I learned what the term “embargo” actually means (woops).

You’ve probably seen the headlines:

From the surface, it sounds like good news for anyone running a PE-backed business: more lenders, more capital, more optionality.

But if you’re an operator, especially a CFO, the rise of private credit isn’t a blank check. It’s a structural shift in who’s holding the risk, how deals get papered, and what they expect from you once the money lands.

Let’s break down what’s actually changed, and what it means if you’re operating under one of these capital structures.

Hoping you read my damn report,

CJ