CPQ Podcast

What if the biggest challenge in CPQ isn't the configuration engine itself, but getting the right product knowledge into it? In this episode of the CPQ Podcast, Frank Sohn welcomes back Kiana Mostajabian, Senior Director of Product Management at Configure One, to explore how artificial intelligence is changing product configuration, quoting, and sales processes for manufacturers of complex products. Kiana explains why product modeling and the dependence on a small number of technical experts remain major barriers to scaling CPQ. She introduces the Configure One Intelligence Platform and its two connected applications: AI Model Builder, which transforms product specifications, drawings, and bills of materials into draft configuration models, and AI Seller, which interprets customer requirements and RFQs to help generate accurate quotes. They discuss how these capabilities could help manufacturers expand their configurable product catalogs, reduce their reliance on sales engineering, and enable dealers and distributors to quote complex products more independently. Kiana also shares early customer experiences with AI-assisted modeling and explains why buyers increasingly expect measurable business value from AI rather than additional features. The conversation also covers several other important CPQ developments, including: CRM and ERP integration and implementation timelines Intelliquip Select for fluid handling manufacturers Headless CPQ and future PLM integration capabilities AI-assisted quoting and pricing optimization Kiana also provides an update on product availability: AI Model Builder is already available, while AI Seller is currently in beta, with general availability planned for January 2027. Whether you're evaluating CPQ software, implementing configure-price-quote solutions, or exploring AI in manufacturing, this episode offers practical insights into how CPQ technology is evolving and what these developments could mean for your business. Learn more: ConfigureOne | Kiana on LinkedIn Don't forget to subscribe on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform. To stay up to date with the CPQ Podcast and the latest Novus CPQ research and insights, visit novuscpq.com.

What does AI-native CPQ actually mean, and how is it different from adding AI capabilities to traditional CPQ software? In this episode of the CPQ Podcast, Frank Sohn speaks with Marc Uible, VP of AI at Threekit, about the company's evolution from 3D product visualization to AI-native Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) software and AI-powered sales agents. Marc explains how Threekit is addressing the challenges manufacturers face when selling complex, configurable products through direct sales teams and channel partners. He discusses how AI agents can simplify product selection, configuration, pricing, and quoting while working with existing product data and business rules. The conversation explores several topics, including: What distinguishes AI-native CPQ from traditional CPQ with added AI capabilities How dealers can generate proposals using photos, voice commands, or competitor quotes How AI-powered website agents can improve product discovery and guided selling How Threekit combines AI with rule-based validation to check product information and reduce inaccurate recommendations Implementation timelines for AI-powered web agents and complete CPQ solutions How Threekit integrates with enterprise platforms such as Salesforce, Oracle, SAP, and Infor Marc also discusses practical implementation challenges, including managing complex product information, defining business processes, and balancing manufacturers' requirements with the flexibility sales teams and dealers need. We also explore how Threekit uses AI internally and Marc's perspective on how AI agents could evolve to support more of the sales process, from initial product discovery to completed quotes. If you're evaluating CPQ software, exploring AI agents for manufacturing, or interested in how artificial intelligence is changing product configuration and B2B sales, this episode provides insights into Threekit's approach to AI-native CPQ and some of the practical considerations involved. Learn more: Threekit | Threekit Live Demo | Marc Uible on LinkedIn Don't forget to subscribe on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform. To stay up to date with the CPQ Podcast and the latest Novus CPQ research and insights, visit novuscpq.com.

How much should you know about CPQ before relying on software vendors, consultants or implementation partners to guide your next steps? In this episode, Frank Sohn discusses why CPQ buyers should first learn enough to ask good questions, challenge assumptions and look at the market from more than one perspective. He also introduces the new Novus CPQ Advisor, an independent starting point for exploring CPQ vendors, solutions, research and next steps. The Advisor can help people who are new to CPQ as well as experienced CPQ stakeholders who want another perspective, information on a vendor, or help finding relevant Novus resources. The Advisor is not intended to provide the final answer to every CPQ question. Instead, it gives users a place to start, learn and explore before deciding where deeper research, technical expertise or direct advisory support may be useful. Try the Novus CPQ Advisor: novuscpq.com/#cpq-advisor Don't forget to subscribe on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform. To stay up to date with the CPQ Podcast and the latest Novus CPQ research and insights, visit novuscpq.com.

In this episode of the CPQ Podcast, Frank speaks with Antonio Brkic, Chief Product Officer at Helioz Technologies, about the evolution of zipCPQ into HeliozOne and the company's broader vision for configurable product sales. Antonio explains why Helioz is moving from a CPQ-focused solution toward a modular platform that can support product configuration, pricing, quoting, e-commerce, spare parts, document generation, production quoting, and integrations. He also discusses what this transition means for existing zipCPQ customers, noting that current solutions and support remain in place and that adoption of additional HeliozOne capabilities is customer-driven rather than mandatory. The conversation explores several areas that are becoming increasingly important for manufacturers and other companies selling configurable products, including: AI-assisted product configuration and PDF-to-configurator workflows 2D and 3D product visualization CAD integration, including Onshape CRM, ERP, accounting, and e-commerce integrations API-based data exchange and modular architecture Production quoting and cost calculation Self-service CPQ for small and midsize businesses Antonio also shares Helioz' approach to AI: using artificial intelligence to suggest, extract, and accelerate work while keeping people involved in reviewing and validating the results. He discusses growing customer interest in AI-driven configuration, sales guidance, and converting information from PDFs into structured configurator data. Frank and Antonio also look at where 2D and 3D visualization add the most value, how Helioz integrates with systems such as Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, and accounting platforms, and what types of organizations are the best fit for HeliozOne. If you are evaluating CPQ software, working with complex or configurable products, or interested in how AI, visualization, CAD, and integrations are changing Configure-Price-Quote processes, this episode provides a practical look at the evolution of a modern CPQ platform. Learn more: Antonio Brkic on LinkedIn | HeliozOne | Helioz Technologies Don't forget to subscribe on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform. To stay up to date with the CPQ Podcast and the latest Novus CPQ research and insights, visit novuscpq.com.

Copilot, assistant, agent — the terms get thrown around interchangeably, but they describe three very different levels of AI autonomy. So where does agentic AI actually belong in the configure-price-quote process, and where should humans stay firmly in control? In this episode, Frank sits down with Sourabh Kukar, Director of Technical Consulting at Salesforce, where he leads a team of enterprise architects working across Revenue Cloud, Agentforce Revenue Management, CPQ, and H&A solutions for large enterprise customers. Sourabh was named Salesforce's FY24 CMT Technical Architect of the Year, holds 23 industry certifications, and is an IEEE Senior Member. Sourabh brings a rare mix of backgrounds to the conversation — starting as a Java developer, spending a decade as an integration architect, then moving deep into the Salesforce platform in 2019. That combination of coding roots, systems breadth, and platform depth shapes how he thinks about which parts of quote-to-cash are ready for real AI autonomy and which still need deterministic guardrails and human sign-off. Frank and Sourabh also dig into how to architect multiple specialized agents so one agent's bad output doesn't become another agent's bad input, why fixing your data and simplifying your processes matters more than the AI layer itself, and what changes for revenue operations teams as quoting and approvals move into conversational tools like Slack. In this conversation we cover:  The real difference between a copilot, an assistant, and an agent — and where Salesforce's Agentforce quoting agent fits Which parts of configure-price-quote are ready for high AI autonomy, and where humans need to stay in the loop How to architect multiple specialized agents so errors don't cascade downstream Why fixing your data and simplifying your processes matters more than the AI layer on top What changes architecturally when quoting and approvals move into Slack A practical framework for choosing phased coexistence over a full CPQ-to-Revenue-Cloud migration If you're a Salesforce CPQ customer evaluating a move to Revenue Cloud, an enterprise architect thinking through agentic AI governance, or a revenue operations leader trying to separate real AI capability from hype, this episode offers grounded, practitioner-level insight from someone building these systems for enterprise customers every day. Learn more: Sourabh Kukar on LinkedIn Don't forget to subscribe on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform.  More CPQ research and resources at https://novuscpq.com