In episode 26 of ABX & Cocktails, Kfir Pravda sits down with Tracy Shirtcliff, CEO of Scope Better, a SaaS platform for professional service businesses. The platform helps bring together scattered data from manual methods like Excel spreadsheets, and optimizes pricing for profitability by aligning the work being sold with its costs and deliverables. The pair discusses the way AI is disrupting the world of professional services businesses. How will it change the way pricing, service delivery and organizational delivery is conducted?
The Problem with Current Pricing Models
While many industries have already embraced advanced tools for pricing, the professional services space has lagged behind. Companies in the field have traditionally relied on three primary pricing models:
- Billable hours and time-and-materials contracts (70% of current approaches)
- Cost-plus pricing
- Fixed fee arrangements
Tracy notes that with AI and automation poised to disrupt repetitive tasks, these traditional models will only become more obsolete. For example, businesses must prepare for scenarios where roles are replaced by AI, which reduces billable hours. This begs the question: How can professional services adapt their pricing to reflect value instead of time?
Moving Toward Value-Based Pricing
Tracy and Kfir discuss the shift from time-based billing to value-based pricing as essential for survival. “If you’re no longer selling time, you’re selling outcomes,” she explains. However, defining and measuring outcomes consistently across clients and geographies remains a challenge.
Value-based pricing focuses on deliverables, outputs, and results rather than the number of hours worked. This approach ensures pricing reflects the business impact created, not just the effort expended.
The Role of AI Shaping the Future
Both Tracy and Kfir highlight how AI enables smaller firms to compete with larger agencies by optimizing processes, analyzing data, and delivering sophisticated solutions without massive overhead.
Kfir describes how his team leveraged AI tools to:
- Analyze client needs from discovery calls using platforms like Gong.
- Generate landing pages, ad copy, and content assets in minutes using AI-powered platforms.
- Identify prospective clients with detailed intent data through tools like HubSpot and KeyPlay.
While AI provides companies with the ability to streamline operations and reduce costs, it also poses challenges. Clients can now access tools that make it easier to perform tasks in-house, reducing their reliance on agencies. Tracy and Kfir agree that agencies must offer something beyond commoditized services—whether that’s strategic expertise, specialized skills, or innovative thinking.
Conclusion – What Lies Ahead
Tracy emphasizes that the next few years will bring rapid, significant changes to professional services. AI will reshape not only operations but also client expectations, forcing firms to innovate or risk becoming irrelevant.
To stay competitive, agencies and consultancies must embrace the opportunity to rethink everything—from pricing models to how they define their value. As Tracy puts it, “The traditional ways of working are being challenged every day. We must start thinking differently.”
Kfir agrees, highlighting the importance of focusing on unique expertise and tangible business impact. “The companies that succeed will be those that position themselves not just as service providers but as strategic partners delivering measurable outcomes.”
Listen to the Full Conversation
To hear Tracy and Kfir’s full discussion, including their predictions for how AI will reshape the headcount of major agencies and what innovative companies are doing to stay ahead, tune in now.
The Future of Pricing and Work with AI
January 28, 2025
Tali Fierer
In episode 26 of ABX & Cocktails, Kfir Pravda sits down with Tracy Shirtcliff, CEO of Scope Better, a SaaS platform for professional service businesses. The platform helps bring together scattered data from manual methods like Excel spreadsheets, and optimizes pricing for profitability by aligning the work being sold with its costs and deliverables. The pair discusses the way AI is disrupting the world of professional services businesses. How will it change the way pricing, service delivery and organizational delivery is conducted?
The Problem with Current Pricing Models
While many industries have already embraced advanced tools for pricing, the professional services space has lagged behind. Companies in the field have traditionally relied on three primary pricing models:
Tracy notes that with AI and automation poised to disrupt repetitive tasks, these traditional models will only become more obsolete. For example, businesses must prepare for scenarios where roles are replaced by AI, which reduces billable hours. This begs the question: How can professional services adapt their pricing to reflect value instead of time?
Moving Toward Value-Based Pricing
Tracy and Kfir discuss the shift from time-based billing to value-based pricing as essential for survival. “If you’re no longer selling time, you’re selling outcomes,” she explains. However, defining and measuring outcomes consistently across clients and geographies remains a challenge.
Value-based pricing focuses on deliverables, outputs, and results rather than the number of hours worked. This approach ensures pricing reflects the business impact created, not just the effort expended.
The Role of AI Shaping the Future
Both Tracy and Kfir highlight how AI enables smaller firms to compete with larger agencies by optimizing processes, analyzing data, and delivering sophisticated solutions without massive overhead.
Kfir describes how his team leveraged AI tools to:
While AI provides companies with the ability to streamline operations and reduce costs, it also poses challenges. Clients can now access tools that make it easier to perform tasks in-house, reducing their reliance on agencies. Tracy and Kfir agree that agencies must offer something beyond commoditized services—whether that’s strategic expertise, specialized skills, or innovative thinking.
Conclusion – What Lies Ahead
Tracy emphasizes that the next few years will bring rapid, significant changes to professional services. AI will reshape not only operations but also client expectations, forcing firms to innovate or risk becoming irrelevant.
To stay competitive, agencies and consultancies must embrace the opportunity to rethink everything—from pricing models to how they define their value. As Tracy puts it, “The traditional ways of working are being challenged every day. We must start thinking differently.”
Kfir agrees, highlighting the importance of focusing on unique expertise and tangible business impact. “The companies that succeed will be those that position themselves not just as service providers but as strategic partners delivering measurable outcomes.”
Listen to the Full Conversation
To hear Tracy and Kfir’s full discussion, including their predictions for how AI will reshape the headcount of major agencies and what innovative companies are doing to stay ahead, tune in now.