The Outperformance is Just the Beginning
My Very First Outperform
Most of you probably don’t know that I attended the first Outperform conference in May 2018, before I joined PROS. It was a memorable and interesting experience, as it was the first time I’ve heard Andres’ Outperform keynote. I must say that I didn’t fully grasp all of it, because I was nearly clueless about every aspect of PROS’ business back then. But I did enjoy the Evening of Comedy with Martin Short, though.
Subsequent Outperform Conferences
After I started at PROS a few months later that year, I participated in and contributed to every Outperform since then. These include the in-person conferences as well as the virtual ones during the pandemic (which seems so long ago). A repeated theme over the year is that I am always super-busy at Outperform, especially the in-person ones. I would be presenting at multiple sessions (sometimes 3 or 4), including the keynote. Not counting the customer and prospect meetings, these sessions range from industry-specific keynotes, customer or executive advisory board meetings, investor meetings, technical breakout sessions, to the typically lengthy AI workshops (3 to 4 hours long) and AI certification programs (8 hours long).
Looking back at some of my previous Outperform keynotes, I realized that quite a few of my assertions have either already materialized or are becoming a reality as we speak. And you can rewatch some of these past keynotes below.
2019 May 21st: Las Vegas, NV
This was my very first Outperform keynote. Back then, no one believed me when I said (at ~47 min) that we could just give our email to an AI, then this AI could learn the way we write and be able to draft the email for us. But today, with LLMs, people are seeing that possibility now.
2020 Oct 8th: Virtual
Due to the COVID Pandemic, this Outperform keynote was delivered virtually, where I described a 6-stage AI adoption maturity model. Back then, I said most companies were at stage 2. But today, LLMs have gone through stage 3 where AI are “Learning from Humans” with reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF). And we are at the verge of moving into stage 4: “Full Automation and Job Shift,” where companies are reducing entry-level hires, as many of their jobs can be automated by AI.
2021 May 11th: Virtual
This is another virtual Outperform, because most of the world is still locked down in 2021. I delivered this keynote with our stellar scientists from the AI research team, where we described many of the innovations we developed during the pandemic. These innovations include our neural-network-based Gen IV pricing optimization and capacity-aware optimization, and also research results on leveraging flight search and events data to augment airline demand forecasting.
2023 May 23rd: Denver, CO
This was the first in-person Outperform post-COVID. It’s also the year when my arch nemesis (i.e. the clicker) started to haunt me. Although this year’s clicker malfunction was frustrating, the video production team was able to edit out all the hiccups with post-processing.
2024 May 21st: Orlando, FL
Due to the significant clicker malfunction this year, I was not satisfied with my delivery of the keynote. Even though many have told me that the content was insightful, I did not outperform! So I’d rather not share that video here. If you were there in person, or if you have seen the video, you know what I meant.
Outperform with PROS 2025: Las Vegas, NV
That brings us to 2025, which happens to be the 40th anniversary of PROS. Coincidentally, we are back in Las Vegas again, where I began this annual ritual way back in 2019. Yet, this is the first time I was able to enjoy the Outperform since joining PROS (not counting the one before I joined PROS).
On day 1, I have to participate in 2 executive advisory board meetings and a 3-hour AI workshop on the enterprise use of GenAI internally within the company. Then I have a full day to recoup before delivering the closing keynote on the last day. If you missed that, you can watch the recording here.
Due to all the precautionary backup systems that the production team has put in place to guard against my arch nemesis, this year’s keynote was delivered without hiccups. It’s also rehearsed with the production team, so the timing of everything (from lighting to music) was nearly perfect. It’s definitely one of my better Outperform deliveries. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.
Conclusion
Of the nearly 7 years I’ve been with PROS, I’ve attended many Outperform events, and I’ve heard many keynotes from Andres. I am sad to say that this is probably the last year that I will hear him delivering an Outperform keynote. As Andres will be retiring, he’s handing off the baton to our new CEO, Jeff Cotten.
Andres, thank you for believing in me and trusting me, an outsider from the Silicon Valley with absolutely zero knowledge and experience in RM, pricing, or any of the industries we serve. Thank you for your foresight and the opportunity for me to pursue my passion in AI before the rest of the world caught on. Finally, thank you for your unwavering leadership that is both supportive and inspirational. It’s truly an honor to know you and work with you.
Jeff, I am excited to work with you, and I’m looking forward to a new chapter of PROS and growth under your leadership. I will remember Outperform 2025 as one of my best, and it certainly is one of the most enjoyable for me. And as we lean into this AI revolution, I believe this is just the beginning of many years of outperformances to come.