Navigating AI and Enterprise Sales With Ryan Austin

Welcome to The SaaS CFO Podcast! In this episode, host Ben sits down with Ryan Austin, founder and CEO of Cognota. Ryan shares his journey from being an entrepreneur with a self-described unconventional academic background to building Cognota, a company pioneering the "LearnOps" category for enterprise learning and development teams.   Together, they dive into the challenges of scaling in today’s market, discuss creative approaches to enterprise sales and pricing, and explore how AI is reshaping internal operations and competitive strategy. Whether you’re interested in SaaS growth, fundraising, or the evolving landscape of learning technology, this episode offers unique insights from Ryan's experience leading an agile team and navigating the fast-changing world of enterprise software.  Show Notes:  00:00 Integrating tech for better outcomes  04:53 Managing Longer Sales Cycles  07:20 Investing in leadership team  11:26 Exploring outcome-based pricing models  15:47 Discussing ARR and AI efficiencies  18:32 Making tough business decisions  20:19 Connecting on LinkedIn and LearnOps  Links:  SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/cognota-raises-5-75-million-series-b  Ryan Austin’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanaustin3/  Cognota’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cognotahq/  Cognota’s Website: https://cognota.com/  To learn more about Ben check out the links below:  Subscribe to Ben’s daily metrics newsletter: https://saasmetricsschool.beehiiv.com/subscribe  Subscribe to Ben’s SaaS newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/df1db6bf8bca/the-saas-cfo-sign-up-landing-page  SaaS Metrics courses here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/  Join Ben’s SaaS community here: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/offers/ivNjwYDx/checkout  Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benrmurray