Ketan Karkhanis

Executive at ThoughtSpot, an AI-first business intelligence company.

Claims

As speaker

Mentioned in

Key positions and views

AI represents a fundamental platform shift that will disrupt the SaaS industry just as cloud computing disrupted on-premise software, creating a multi-year "upgrade super cycle."

AI enables asymmetric business scaling, allowing companies to double revenue and customer count without doubling headcount, thereby creating massive operational leverage.

In the age of AI, curiosity has become the single most important skill for new hires, as it fosters adaptability and a willingness to leverage new tools.

Business intelligence is moving away from static dashboards and charts towards conversational, question-and-answer interfaces powered by AI agents.

Pricing models for AI software must evolve beyond per-token charges, which he views as unsustainable reselling, towards models that encourage broad adoption, such as flat fees.

Podcast consensus on Karkhanis

Points of consensus

▶Ketan Karkhanis consistently argues that an AI-first approach provides a significant (10x) competitive advantage, enabling ThoughtSpot to actively take market share from legacy BI vendors like Tableau and Looker.May 2026

▶Across both appearances, Karkhanis emphasizes that AI facilitates asymmetric growth, allowing ThoughtSpot to double its revenue and customer base without a corresponding doubling of its headcount, particularly in departments like HR and finance.May 2026

▶He repeatedly frames the current technological shift as a major disruption on par with the cloud's impact on on-premise software, predicting AI will fundamentally reshape the SaaS industry.Apr 2026

▶Karkhanis provides specific and escalating financial metrics, consistently highlighting ThoughtSpot's rapid growth trajectory, from surpassing $140M ARR to projecting $180M ARR and future acceleration.

Points of debate

▶Karkhanis presents multiple growth forecasts: 48% year-over-year to reach $180M ARR by July, an expectation to double ARR in the next year, and an acceleration to 60-70% growth the year after. While all are bullish, these varying figures present a complex picture of the company's growth rate.Apr–May 2026

▶He champions AI as an equalizer that empowers non-technical employees, yet notes that within his own company, adoption was slower among mid-level engineers compared to the most junior and senior ones, suggesting the transition may not be uniformly smooth across all employee segments.

▶There is a tension between the stated goal of doubling the business without doubling headcount and the claim that the company is actively hiring across all departments. This suggests strategic, targeted hiring rather than broad scaling, but the two claims could be perceived as contradictory.May 2026

▶Karkhanis criticizes per-token pricing models and states ThoughtSpot is experimenting with flat-fee options, yet also reveals that approximately 90% of the company's customers are currently on a consumption-based model, indicating a strategic transition that is still in its early stages.Apr 2026

Key themes

▶AI as a Generational Platform ShiftApr–May 2026

Karkhanis posits that AI is not an incremental improvement but a fundamental disruption akin to the cloud's displacement of on-premise software. He predicts this will trigger a 3-5 year "upgrade super cycle" in enterprise software and may even render the term "SaaS" obsolete.

This framing positions ThoughtSpot as a bellwether for the emerging AI-native software category, suggesting its performance could be a leading indicator for the success of similar AI-first challengers across the enterprise landscape.

▶The Asymmetric Growth BlueprintMay 2026

A core tenet of Karkhanis's strategy is leveraging AI to achieve asymmetric scaling—doubling revenue and customers without doubling headcount. He points to AI adoption in internal functions like HR and finance as proof of this model's viability, creating significant operational leverage.

For investors, this focus on hyper-efficient scaling signals a potential for high-margin growth, but it also introduces a key risk: an over-reliance on technology to manage complexity, which could strain customer success and innovation if not managed perfectly.

▶Operationalizing an AI-First CultureMay 2026

Karkhanis details a comprehensive internal transformation to become an AI-first company. This includes prioritizing curiosity in hiring, reorganizing engineering into autonomous teams, and using their own AI agent, Spotter, to run leadership meetings, thereby turning the company into its own best case study.

This theme demonstrates that for Karkhanis, successful AI implementation is as much a cultural and organizational challenge as a technical one, suggesting that companies that fail to adapt their operating models will be left behind regardless of their tech stack.

▶Aggressive Go-to-Market and Business Model Innovation

ThoughtSpot's commercial strategy is characterized by direct confrontation with legacy vendors and a confident, product-led sales process that uses a prospect's own data for live demos. Concurrently, the company is experimenting with pricing models, moving away from token-based consumption towards flat-fee structures to encourage widespread adoption.

The company's willingness to experiment with pricing models highlights a critical uncertainty in the AI software space: how to best capture and monetize the value created by AI. ThoughtSpot's journey from consumption to potential flat-fee models could offer a roadmap for others in the industry.

Source episodes

Sentiment over time

Apr 2026

5 bullish, 2 bearish, 1 neutral(8 claims)

Nearly 100% of ThoughtSpot's current revenue is derived from its AI products.

May 2026

9 bullish, 3 neutral(12 claims)

At ThoughtSpots, curiosity is now the single most important skill the company lo...

Changes over time

Strategic Pivot

Karkhanis describes shutting down business units that were not aligned with an AI-first strategy, marking a fundamental shift in the company's direction.

Internal Adoption

He details the internal operationalization of AI, with HR and finance teams leading adoption and the leadership team using its own AI agent, Spotter, in weekly meetings.

Growth Milestone

Karkhanis announces that ThoughtSpot has surpassed $140 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and has 33 customers paying over $1 million in ARR.

Near-Term Projection

He projects the company will reach $180 million in ARR by July, representing 48% year-over-year growth, with nearly 100% of revenue coming from AI products.

Future Outlook

Karkhanis forecasts an acceleration of growth, expecting to double ARR in the next year and increase year-over-year growth to between 60% and 70% in the following fiscal year.

Suggested prompts

How does Karkhanis's prediction of an "upgrade super cycle" align with or contradict the investment theses of ThoughtSpot's backers like Lightspeed and Khosla Ventures? &nearr;What are the primary risks to ThoughtSpot's strategy of doubling revenue without doubling headcount, particularly concerning customer support and engineering innovation at scale? &nearr;How sustainable is ThoughtSpot's competitive advantage if its core technology relies on third-party LLMs, and how does its proprietary SQL generation layer create a durable moat? &nearr;Karkhanis criticizes "token resellers," yet 90% of his customers are on consumption models. What does this transition path to flat-fee or unlimited models look like, and what are the financial implications? &nearr;

Key concepts

Company Growth / ARR 2 ep AI Disruption 2 ep Business Operations & Efficiency 2 ep Competitive Landscape (Tableau, Looker) 2 ep SaaS Industry 2 ep Company Culture & Hiring 2 ep Pricing Models 1 ep ThoughtSpot Technology 1 ep Go-to-Market Strategy 1 ep Venture Capital Backing 1 ep

Notable quotes

“[0:05:31 -> 0:05:37] And what cloud did to on-prem in 2000, AI is going to do to SaaS now.”

Ketan Karkhanis · Turning Your SaaS Company Into an AI Winner | A Fireside Chat with ThoughtSpot

“[0:10:53 -> 0:11:03] I think so it's going to be an incredible run of three to five years. We are entering what I think is, I call it the upgrade super cycle.”

Ketan Karkhanis · ThoughtSpot CEO Ketan Karkhanis & Udemy CEO Hugo Sarrazin at Semafor World Economy

“[0:16:16 -> 0:16:24] I don't think so we'll double in headcount, that asymmetry is now set in. but we'll definitely double in the customer counts and revenue.”

Ketan Karkhanis · ThoughtSpot CEO Ketan Karkhanis & Udemy CEO Hugo Sarrazin at Semafor World Economy

“[0:03:00 -> 0:03:09] Look, we are, we can compete with the tableaus of the world and take market share away from them because I'm building an AI first company and I can be 10x.”

Ketan Karkhanis · ThoughtSpot CEO Ketan Karkhanis & Udemy CEO Hugo Sarrazin at Semafor World Economy

Report last updated: May 10, 2026

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