AI Agents: Your CFO’s Secret Weapon The AI-First Business podcast

3d ago 54:43

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AI Agents Are Quietly Turning Your Back Office Into a Growth Engine

Most companies still treat finance and operations as cost centers. Sumant Shringari thinks that’s outdated — and dangerous.

In this episode, Sumant explains how his company Pontus uses AI agents, automation, and machine learning to turn back-office chaos into serious business value. Finance isn’t just about reporting anymore — it’s becoming a core growth engine. By eliminating inefficiencies and unlocking operational leverage, companies are converting bloat into scalable revenue. Forget “support functions” — this is where your next margin expansion lives. If you're not deploying AI to turn operational chaos into value, you’re already falling behind.
Sumant Shringari is the founder of PONTUS, where he helps the world’s largest enterprises eliminate inefficiency through outcome based automation. Before launching PONTUS, he led product at Gordian Software, powering revenue gains for travel giants like Booking.com and Priceline. A former AI researcher, Sumant has published several papers at the intersection of artificial intelligence and biology. He holds five degrees from the University of Pennsylvania—which, in hindsight, may have been excessive.

#AI #AIagents #Automation #Finance #OperationalEfficiency #CostCenters #ValueDrivers #BusinessTransformation #TechnologyAdoption #MachineLearning

Connect with Sumant Shringari

Published Academic Work from Sumant Shringari

Connect with PONTUS

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🎙️ The AI-First Business Podcast
AI isn’t coming—it’s already built. This is the podcast where you meet the ones who did it first. No panel chatter, no posturing—just sharp strategy, fast builds, and the people reshaping products, ops, and industries with AI.

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Chapters

1. From physicist to AI founder: Sumant’s origin story (00:00:00)

2. Why finance is the perfect entry point for AI automation (00:05:44)

3. From tweets to enterprise contracts: How Pontis found its wedge (00:10:26)

4. Outcome-based pricing: Why they only charge after delivery (00:14:03)

5. FP&A case study: Replacing surveys with systems (00:17:23)

6. How Pontis integrates AI without breaking enterprise infra (00:22:29)

7. Overcoming procurement hurdles as a startup (00:25:59)

8. The hidden ripple effects of “cost center” inefficiencies (00:31:03)

9. AI fears on the ground: Handling resistance with empathy (00:35:28)

10. AI isn’t magic—how Pontis scopes real, production-ready value (00:42:18)

11. Final resources: Decisioning, product podcasts, and clarity over hype (00:45:50)

15 episodes