Is GenAI A Ponzi Scheme?
OBP – Outcome Based Pricing
Keynote Address by Sashi Narahari, Founder & CEO, HighRadius
- The AI “Ponzi” Debate – Whether Gen AI is a Ponzi scheme depends entirely on the specific “AI bet” you make and how you manage it.
- Future of Work – Just as you use EQ (Emotional Quotient) for people, you must develop “AQ” i.e. “Algo Quotient” which is the skill of choosing and managing the right AI solutions for a finance process
- AI Colleagues Management– Hiring an AI agent should be treated exactly like recruiting a human employee; you need the right skills to vet their “talent.” AI Managers of the future will need AQ to manage AI Colleagues similar to EQ for Human Colleagues.
- You Will Be AI Managers – Professional roles will evolve into AI Managers who oversee hybrid teams managing both Human Colleagues and AI Colleagues (e.g., 12 human specialists and 6 AI Colleagues). Future leaders (VPs, Directors) must measure the performance of both human and AI Colleagues against business outcomes. Your ability to hire, fire and manage AI Colleagues based on Agent Performance Metrics will be a key skill to evolve.
- Most HighRadius Customers are AI Managers – Many are already “AI Managers” unknowingly; HighRadius software alone uses 600+ algorithms and 192 agents across 21 products.
- Understanding Algo Types – To troubleshoot effectively, managers must distinguish between RPA, Machine Learning, LLMs, and proprietary algorithms.
- The Problem with IT Services-Traditional implementations suffer from “IT fatigue”, They are too long, over budget, and require high internal effort.
- Launching Outcome-Based Pricing– HighRadius is disrupting the market with $0 implementation and $0 subscription fees until go-live, charging only a percentage of the value gained after going live. Traditional software pricing has evolved from On-Prem One Time Licenses to SaaS Annual Subscription to now AI Agents Outcome Based Pricing
- Problem With Traditional Implementations -Most traditional implementation friction occurs during UAT (User Acceptance Testing) when human design meets reality; AI can bridge this gap.
- Speed to Value – In 2025, 97% of HighRadius projects with agreed success criteria met their goals, and 63% of total projects had those criteria defined.
- Autonomous Speed to Value– The 2026 goal is to cut implementation time in half by automating the “blueprint and realization” phases.
- Single Day Setup End State Goal– A finance function AI Manager can implement HighRadius software by themselves in 1 day! The human role will shift to reviewing AI outputs, using judgment to re-prompt or override, and then accepting the final result.
- Bet on Value Creation -HighRadius is moving to Outcome-Based Pricing because we believe if projects don’t deliver speed and value, customers will “fire” their AI Colleagues.
