INTERVIEW Organisations across industries are turning to AI to improve their commercial operations and deliver a meaningful return on investment (ROI). “Companies want AI embedded in the workflows they already use for pricing, quoting and contracting,” says Celia Fleischaker, chief marketing officer at Conga. “They believe AI can help them better forecast sales and revenues, understand pricing or billing anomalies and recognise risks, especially in their contracts.” But Conga’s 2026 commercial operations maturity report reveals there is often a gap between AI vision and reality. “Our research shows that 34 per cent of leaders are confident their data is consistent, accurate and ready to support AI at scale – leaving almost two-thirds that are not,” explains Fleischaker. “In fact, 93 per cent of leaders said fragmented systems across their commercial operations prevent them achieving the ROI they expected from AI.” Friction caused by fragmentation is costing businesses, just when they most need consistent visibility across commercial operations. “In today’s volatile market, companies need to quote faster than ever and move forward quickly when customers are ready to purchase,” says Fleischaker. “Instead, 72 per cent of leaders told us slow contracting processes are increasing their risk and compliance exposure; 45 per cent have lost a deal because it took too long to produce an accurate quote; and 38 per cent are losing revenue because of hand-offs and complexity between systems.” Conga designed its configure, price, quote and contract lifecycle management solutions to resolve these issues. “We embed the workflows and intelligence businesses need in the systems people are already using,” says Fleischaker. “Our solutions are available directly in Microsoft Dynamics, from the Azure Marketplace, so Microsoft customers can align their entire commerce chain – pricing, quoting, contracting and billing – with Conga inside Dynamics. This means companies can align their teams and their technology systems, improve decision-making and reduce any friction inside their organisation and with customers. It empowers them to keep buyers moving forward and protect profitability and growth.” Achieving this alignment is the key to optimising AI’s ROI, now and in the future. “Companies that decrease complexity and friction by aligning the commerce chain will have faster deal cycles, make better decisions and reduce their corporate risk,” says Fleischaker. “They will better compete in today’s market – and set themselves up to be more competitive in the long term.” Conga’s Celia Fleischaker says aligned teams and technology are the foundation for intelligent commerce Connecting the commerce chain BY JACQUI GRIFFITHS “In today’s volatile market, companies need to quote faster than ever” 47
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