In this episode of TECHtonic, Thomas Lah welcomes Deb Ashton, Founder of Certinia, for a conversation about the transformation of professional services in the age of AI. They explore why traditional utilization-based business models are giving way to outcome-driven engagements, how AI is changing pricing, delivery, and workforce strategies, and why customer value must become the foundation of every services organization.<br>Deb shares practical insights from working with technology companies that are embracing AI to streamline delivery while empowering consultants to focus on strategic guidance, governance, and customer relationships. Together, they discuss the rise of Professional Services 2.0, the importance of measuring time-to-value and business outcomes, and what leaders must do today to build more scalable, profitable, and customer-centric services organizations.

130. Beyond Billable Hours in Professional Services with Certinia

TECHtonic: Trends in Technology and Services

I'm Thomas Lah, the Executive Director of TSIA. Welcome to TECHtonic, the podcast where we explore what makes technology business models successful in today's world. For years at TSIA, we've been pounding the table on one idea. Professional services can't keep running the way it always has. The old model was simple. Book the project, staff the consultants, bill the hours, burn down the backlog, move on to the next project.

At TSIA, we call this Professional Services 1.0. The model is breaking. In a world of subscriptions and now AI, the job of services isn't to deliver a project and disappear. It is to drive adoption, prove the outcome, and protect the recurring revenue the whole business model rides on. Services is going from a cost of doing software to the engine that makes the software worth paying for.

At TSIA, we call that Professional Services 2.0. Today, I'm going to be joined by Deb Ashton, who co-founded Certinia back in 2009, when it was still called Financial Force. She now leads the strategic customer experience there. Certinia is one of the largest partners in the Salesforce ecosystem. Its whole pitch is something Deb calls the services as a business, running professional services, customer success, and the financials behind that.

And one connected system instead of a dozen disconnected systems. She talks about giving service leaders a single source of certainty and the data to actually prove the value they deliver. And lately, she's been driving that platform straight into generative AI and the convergence of PS and customer success. So we're going to be talking about all that and how the business models are changing. Let's get the insight engine humming. Deb, welcome to TECHtonic. It's great to have you here. It's good to see you again.

130. Beyond Billable Hours in Professional Services with Certinia

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

130. Beyond Billable Hours in Professional Services with Certinia

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.