In this episode of If Prices Could Talk, Tracy Dent is joined by Greg James and Jeet Mukherjee to break down the economic, strategic, and emotional factors shaping the autonomous vehicle industry.
What’s the difference between Tesla’s feature-based pricing and Waymo’s per-mile approach? How does trust impact pricing power? What happens when legacy companies are forced to compete in platform economics?
This episode explores the economic and emotional levers driving how we think about value, and what they mean for leaders facing disruption from AI.
Key Themes:
ABOUT GREG
Granted with 14 patents, Greg is a 30-year industry veteran who has led engineering teams at companies like Intel, Verizon, and Google. Throughout his career, he has led mechanical design teams, enabled customers to manufacture with Intel's advanced SMT and socketed chips, and developed and delivered thermal and mechanical solutions for mobile PCs.
Connect with Greg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregoryajames/
Connect with Jeet: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeet-mukherjee-58462a1/
Connect with Tracy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyleighdent/
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introductions
01:01 The rise of Waymo
08:02 Understanding the value drivers
17:23 What is entropy in auto pricing? Complexity, confusion, and value erosion
33:40 Platform economics and labor disruption; pricing the unknown
38:13 Cost per mile and what customers actually pay for
43:10 Final takeaways and B2B learnings from AV innovation
Research referenced:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15389588.2025.2499887#abstract
https://www.moneygeek.com/resources/costs-of-car-ownership/