Pricing the AI assistant

A product strategy question from a product manager interview, set at Kestrel Desk, a fictional b2b saas / crm and helpdesk company.

The question

Skills this case tests

A starting structure

AI gross margin = price per seat − actions per seat × cost per action; compare per seat, usage, bundle and hybrid on margin, adoption and predictability

How to approach this case

Clarify the objective first. Is the goal adoption, profit, or both, and is there a margin floor? Ask who buys, since a small business admin thinks differently from a mid-market team. Then lay out the options, per seat, per usage, bundled and hybrid, and name the criteria you will judge them on: margin, adoption, bill predictability, competition and simplicity. Do the unit economics. AI has a real cost for every action, so ask how usage is spread across seats and what happens to margin if the feature becomes very popular. Think about which seats a buyer would choose to pay for. A strong close recommends one model, shows its margin at more than one adoption level, sizes the upside, and plans a pricing test that does not surprise existing customers with a new bill.

The full method for strategy, pricing and growth questions

After the mock interview you get scores on five skills, what to fix with quotes from your answers, and the ideal path for this case.