In this episode CJ is joined by Fred Havemeyer, a leading sell-side equity analyst from Macquarie specializing in AI and software research within the US. They delve deep into AI’s impact on the near term role of a CFO. Fred offers an unparalleled analysis of how to quantify productivity gains with AI, the difference between the metrics the sell side uses versus operators and their day to day models. They also cover why company valuations are both an art and a science, and the difference in metrics that operators vs bankers use to make decisions. — SPONSORS: Maxio is the only billing and financial operations platform that was purpose built for B2B SaaS. They're helping SaaS finance teams automate billing and revenue recognition, manage collections and payments, and put together investor grade reporting packages. 🚀 Request a demo at www.maxio.com/runthenumbers for 10% off your first year. NetSuite provides financial software for all your business needs. More than 37,000 thousand companies have already upgraded to NetSuite, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you're looking for an ERP platform ✅ Now through April 15th NetSuite is offering a one-of-a-kind flexible financing program https://netsuite.com/metrics  Attio is the next generation of CRM. It’s powerful, flexible and easily configures to the unique way your startup runs, whatever your go-to-market motion. The next era deserves a better CRM. Join OpenAI, Replicate, ElevenLabs and more at https://bit.ly/AttioRTNThoropass provides complete compliance management, continuous monitoring, and security audits through intuitive software and expert guidance – allowing you to do business with confidence. Learn more: https://bit.ly/Thoropass 🔒 Tropic is the next-generation Procurement Platform that’s helping modern CFOs take control of their budgets and bottom line. By combining approval workflows, supplier management, and pricing benchmarks all in one place, Tropic makes savings opportunities easy to find and act on. 🌴 Visit www.tropicapp.io/metrics to learn how. — FOLLOW US ON X: @cjgustafson222 (CJ) @Montaukmagic (Fred) @turpentinemedia — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Preview (01:03) Episode Summary and Intro on Fred (03:10) Sponsor - Maxio | Netsuite  (05:46) 2021: High-Profile Breaches (08:19) CFO Metrics and Managing Expectations (11:05)  The Beauty Of The Software Space (12:16) Carefully Playing the Game of Metrics (15:40) Does Everything End Up in a DCF Model? (18:06) The AI Revolution: Adoption, Impact, and Future Prospects (22:42) AI's Productivity Paradox: Boosting the Bottom Line (27:10) Sponsor - Attio | Thoropass (29:25) CFOs on AI Pricing Models (32:56) Cost Management and Avoiding Misconfiguration Mistakes (37:39) Margin Profile of Generative AI (42:50) Sponsor - Tropic (44:00) Optimizing Hardware Usage and Mapping the Right Hardware to the Right Problem (46:09) On Snowflake and Optimization, Infrastructure, and Negotiation (50:36) Exploring AI's Capabilities and Limitations on Working with Numbers (58:02) The Future of AI in Business and Risk Management (1:00:09) Wrap Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe