Scaling B2B Software
in the AI Era

I have spent more than 20 years building and leading B2B software companies as a founder with an exit, CEO, COO and CCO. I write about how AI changes business models, software economics and enterprise value. I work with business owners, boards and investors on specific growth, financing and integration situations.

CEO · COO · CCOBoard & Advisory

Operational analysis and implementation through Convios.

Dr. Oliver Gausmann – CEO and COO for B2B software
01Exitas founder, after four years
024 integrationspost-merger, as CEO and COO
0320+ yearsoperational leadership in B2B software
01Exitas founder, after four years
024post-merger integrations
0320+years of operational leadership

Profile

Scaling B2B software, from code to board.

Technology
200+ engineers
€50M budget across seven locations on three continents
Deep technical understanding down to the latest AI architectures.
  • 5Mactive users, 43 languages
  • 150IT staff, 30 systems integrated
  • 250+people trained in AI scaling, last 12 months
Operator
Founder to COO
P&L from Series A to exit, most recently around 300 staff
Years of hands-on work in pricing, sales, marketing and scaling, in the engine room.
  • €1Mrevenue 6 months after founding
  • 2.5×revenue through pricing
  • +40%MQL in 60 days
Board
Four funding rounds
with VC, PE and Fortune 500 as investors
Deal logic from both sides of the table, speed and a reliable network.
  • 18 yearslongest client relationship
  • 4 dealsbuy and sell side, as lead or in the team
  • 8 industriesnetwork across Big Four, PE and industry

Insights

What's on my mind

Perspectives from 20 years of B2B software, PE and fundraising.

AI pricing models as a stair diagram: the AI price ladder in five steps from price per token to price per outcome
Market & StrategyAI & Technology

AI Pricing Models in 2026: The AI Price Ladder from Tokens to Outcomes

Token prices keep falling while AI bills keep growing, and vendors keep swapping their counting units. The AI price ladder sorts today's AI pricing models in five steps.

August 202616 Min. read
Exposed mechanical watch movement without a dial, symbolizing headless software run by AI agents
Market & StrategySoftware & Delivery

Headless Software: Why Value Moves into the Permission Layer When AI Agents Skip the Interface

AI agents run software through APIs and MCP while the screen stays dark. Why headless software shifts value into permissions, audit trails and codified business rules.

August 20267 Min. read
Hourglass with black sand nearly run out, symbolizing time-based fees giving way to outcome-based pricing
Market & Strategy

Outcome-Based Pricing Comes for the Day Rate: Consulting Fees in the AI Era

Most consultancies say AI hasn't touched their prices. The largest firms are already tying fees to results. When outcome-based pricing beats the day rate, and when it doesn't.

August 20268 Min. read
An older man in a work apron leans over a potter's wheel in a workshop, watching a boy shape the clay
PE Operations

More German SMEs Now Plan to Close Than to Hand Over

By 2029 some 114,000 German SMEs plan to wind down each year, against 109,000 looking for a successor. The IfM points to earnings, not to ageing owners.

August 202610 Min. read
Steel structure seen from below, an image for AI due diligence in software deals
PE OperationsMarket & Strategy

AI Due Diligence: How Investors Re-Underwrite Software Deals in 2026

Tech deal value fell 70% in a single quarter because investors stopped trusting software valuations under AI pressure. A four-field AI due diligence playbook for boards, buyers and sellers.

July 20268 Min. read
Large truck on a narrow winding road, an image for cutting AI costs through the right model choice
AI & Technology

A Forty-Ton Truck for a Loaf of Bread: Cutting AI Costs Without Cutting Quality

A factor of ten separates the strongest model from the smallest. Cutting AI costs starts with sorting your tasks.

July 20269 Min. read

Standpoints

Three principles, one thesis

For me, AI, regulation and growth belong together. Companies that think them together grow faster and safer. That holds for software companies as much as for established businesses that are making AI part of their core. From that follow three guiding principles: growth, speed, and defensibility.

Growth

Scaling mechanics

Growth comes from the right mechanics. I start in the engine room.

Go-to-market, pricing, sales motion, and the economics behind them.

Articles on this

Speed

AI across the company

Build the guardrails, then drive fast. In exactly that order.

Governance as a speed lever. AI as a company-wide tool in engineering, service, and sales.

Articles on this

Defensibility

Defensible Scale

Scale only counts when it is defensible: workflow, data, distribution.

Moats, workflow lock-in, and the investor lens on B2B software.

Articles on this

Track record

Concrete roles, concrete companies.

  • COOCREATEQ AG
  • Managing Consultant (via E&P Consulting)Munich Re Group
  • Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)enmacc GmbH
Full track record

TALKS & TEACHING

Stage, Lecture Hall, Boardroom

COMPLETED
Eigenbau I · August 29, 2026 · LechLoft, Landsberg am Lech

The first EIGENBAU building day: a resounding success

Twelve building stations, two trainers, one day of focused building on each participant's own case. The second edition follows on October 24, 2026.

The photo retrospective on eigenbau.app
Trainer and participant align at the building stationParticipants work at their laptops at the LechLoft

SELECTED TALKS

EIGENBAU: Build Your Own AI Tool in a Day
Convios GmbH · LechLoft, Landsberg am Lech · Workshop · 2026
AI Agents, Vibe Coding and the EU AI Act
BVMW Bayern · Online · Online Talk · 2026
The Metals Trading and Price Reporting Marketplace of the Future
SEAISI · Online · Online Talk · 2020
Digitalization in Logistics: People, Processes, Technology
SVG Saar · Saarbrücken · Keynote · 2019
Banking Challenges in a Digital, Connected World
Crealogix · Zürich · Keynote · 2019
Digital Transformation in Logistics: More Success through Collaboration
gwSaar / Saarl. Wirtschaftsministerium · Paris · Keynote · 2019
Digitalization between Service and Sales
Sparkassenakademie NRW · Dortmund · Keynote · 2018

References

Selected clients

ABOUT ME

Just do it. Now.

Dr. Oliver GausmannOliver Gausmann in the cockpit, headset on

I'm an entrepreneur. That's what I've been in every mandate and every role, in startups, scale-ups, and corporates. The title changes. The mindset stays.

Getting on top of new topics fast, finding the screw in the gearbox and loosening it. That's what drives me. Growth gets less of a head start today than it did five years ago. Less room, more discipline, faster decisions. That's exactly when I get the call.

In the gliding club, the bricklayer flew with the professor, and they sat at the same table that evening. That's where I learned early that substance beats hierarchy. Today I fly actively, PPL(A) with night and seaplane ratings. When the horizon disappears, you rely on your instruments, structure, and training. That's how I run companies.

I've kept that technical depth through every phase and pass it on today at the University of Zurich.

Doctorate in information systems from the University of Augsburg, summa cum laude. Lecturer at the University of Zurich.

THESES

Nine pointed theses. Disagreement welcome.

From practice, sharpened in articles and conversations. Every thesis comes with a resolution, many with an article behind it. If you disagree, that's exactly what the button is for.

01

Everyone wants to go fast with AI. Building the road is somebody else's job, apparently.

Resolution

Productive AI use takes more than ambition and investor pressure: processes, data, guardrails. First the road, then the speed.

02

More sales pressure is the most expensive answer to a mechanics problem. The world doesn't need more sales slop.

Resolution

When positioning, pricing, and sales motion are off, more hunting only makes the damage faster. I start in the engine room.

03

Hiring three more hunters is the 2019 answer. The cheapest sales rep in 2026 is your product.

Resolution

Partners, product, and price beat direct sales more often than most plans admit. Three levers, tested in three mandates.

04

AI without context is like skiing in summer. You can, but you really don't have to.

Resolution

Without your own data and workflows, every model stays a party trick. Context is the slope.

05

AI is a tool, not a product. Your painter doesn't sell you the brush either.

Resolution

What gets paid for is the painted house. If all you sell is the brush, you're a commodity within six months.

06

Software that's just a pretty window onto someone else's data has an expiry date. MCP just moved it up.

Resolution

Open protocols talk to the data directly. The moat moves into workflow and data ownership, and valuations follow.

07

Go ahead, keep banning AI. Do you really think the kids don't know where the sweets are?

Resolution

Your team is using AI already, with or without approval. The only question is whether anyone is watching.

08

Nobody ever got fit from a gym membership alone. The ChatGPT license works the same way.

Resolution

70 percent of the value sits in reworking how people work. The license is the membership card. The training starts after.

09

No AI is going to steal your deal. The competitor who uses it more consistently will.

Resolution

It's a Red Queen race: standing still means falling behind. For software vendors, twice over.

Which thesis is missing? Send me yours.·Or book 30 minutes directly.

Convios & Ventures

The thinking lives here. The execution is called Convios.

Both happen at the same desk: operational leadership roles and board work, AI adoption and software governance for B2B companies and their investors.

CONVIOS

My company · since 2006

Operational leadership roles as CEO, COO and CCO, board work, value creation and governance. For established B2B companies, software scale-ups, and their investors.

convios.com →

ETHENIOS

Own B2B SaaS Venture

B2B SaaS platform for AI-powered compliance management. EU AI Act, DORA, ISO 27001 modeled as structured data. Built with own engineering team in India. Currently in development.

ethenios.ai →

Teaching

University of Zurich · Augsburg

Lectureships on growth strategy and applied AI systems. Executive sparring via Convios.

convios.com →

Contact

The shortest path is a conversation.

Feedback on an article, sparring, a concrete situation in your company: write to me, or book 30 minutes directly in my calendar.

Convios GmbH · Bischof-Riegg-Str. 19a · 86899 Landsberg am Lech · Germany