FY26 SHARK TANK · INTUIT · ACQUISITION + RETENTION
The
Room.
One workspace where Intuit, the customer, and their team work the deal together — from the first question to long after they sign.
From
Mahdi Sahnoun + Michael Shokry
For
Sales Innovation Shark Tank · FY26
Geo
Canada · Mid-market
● The Bar
02 / 11
“
Every role at Intuit either drives acquisition or reduces churn. If you're doing neither — reconsider your role.
— Ciaran · International Town Hall
So why are we OK with tools that do neither?
The Room
02
● The two gaps
03 / 11
Buyer behaviour is changing. Our tools have room to catch up.
● Acquisition gap · Pre-sale
We're invisible to the deal.
94%
of the mid-market buying conversation happens without Intuit in the room
89%
of B2B buyers now use gen AI in procurement — usually not ours
6–10
people involved in a mid-market deal — every objection lands somewhere we can't see
Gartner Future of Sales · Forrester 2025 · Gartner B2B 2025
● Retention gap · Post-sale
No one owns the customer after they sign.
60–70%
of customers we lose, we lose in the first 90 days — onboarding and migration go sideways
0
single owners post-buy. The customer gets a welcome email with a buffet of links
∞
support tickets where the customer re-explains everything the rep already knew
Paddle / ProfitWell aggregated · QB internal observation
The Room
03
● The Idea · One room, both phases
04 / 11
One room where the customer and Intuit work the deal together — from first contact to long-term customer.
Not a portal. Not a chatbot. Not a PDF dump. A workspace that stays with the customer — closing the acquisition gap and the retention gap in one place.
● Acquisition
The customer, Intuit AI, the rep, and their team work the deal together. Intuit sees what was invisible.
● Retention
Same room. Same rep. Same advisor. No handoff. No starting over.
The Room
04
● The foundation already exists
05 / 11
Intuit's AI is already on the website. The Room is the next step.
[ Drop screenshot here ]
screens/qb-website-ai.png
Screenshot of quickbooks.intuit.ca showing the AI chat assistant already live on the website (the one that answers product questions and recommends plans today).
● Live on quickbooks.intuit.ca today
The AI chat already works.
Customers ask product questions. They get plan recommendations. They engage with Intuit's AI on our own website today.
The Room takes that one-off chat and turns it into a workspace the customer comes back to — through the deal, after they sign, and as long as they're with us. Same AI. Their team. Their history.
→ Same place. From the first question to years later.
The Room
05
● The Room · Acquisition
06 / 11
Closing the 94% gap — every conversation, in one place.
INTUIT · Room
Maple & Sons · Sarah Reynolds
SR
AI
MS
+
Live thread
Sarah · todaySection 179 across our 3 entities — does that work?
Intuit AI · escalatingTax + multi-entity. Looping in Mahdi — reply within 24h.
Mahdi (AE) · async · 18m laterConfirmed with Diana — Section 179 applies across all three. Migration walkthrough added.
● Proposed next step
Migration walkthrough · with Mahdi + Diana
Wed, May 7 · 11:00 AM ET · 30 min · video
Agenda: QBD migration plan · entity setup · Section 179 confirmation
◉
See what they're researching
The questions and comparisons that today happen on Google and ChatGPT — now we can see them too.
↻
Every conversation in one place
Calls, emails, AI chats — summarized for the customer, ready when they come back.
→
Book the next meeting in one click
A proposed time and agenda waiting in the room. They confirm or suggest changes.
★
Their trusted advisor in the room
Their bookkeeper, marketing partner, or accountant — invited from day one.
+
Their team joins as the deal needs them
Finance, IT, Solution Architect — added by the customer, with full context.
!
AI knows when to bring in a person
Plan and pricing in seconds. Tax and complex setup go to a real human, with a clear ETA.
The Room
06
● The Room · Retention
07 / 11
Closing the first-90-day gap — same room, no handoff.
INTUIT · Room
Maple & Sons · Day 47 · Activation
SR
AI
MS
DM
MX
Activation progress · 3 of 5 done
COA mapped · with DianaWeek 1
Bank feeds connectedWeek 2
First reconciled month · validatedWeek 3
Multi-entity reporting · setup with MXWeek 4
Team training · scheduledWeek 5
In-room chat
Sarah · todayHow do I set up departments for our 3 locations?
Intuit AI · grounded · with full contextFrom your intake: 3 locations in Ontario. Pre-filled department setup ready — review and confirm.
● AI suggested · cross-product
Mailchimp campaigns · ready when you are
Based on your customer file size, Mailchimp Standard would unlock segmented campaigns. Diana already uses it with her other clients.
◉
One owner from day one
Same room, same rep, same advisor — no handoff email after they sign.
↻
Every touch in one place
Migration steps, support questions, account changes — all in one history they can scroll back through.
✓
See activation progress
COA, bank feeds, first reconciled month — visible to them, not buried in tickets.
∞
The AI knows their business
Setup, multi-entity, custom reports — answered with the context they already shared.
+
Migration specialist joins the room
Not an intro email. A new person in the conversation they're already having.
↗
Expansion happens in the relationship
Mailchimp, Payments — suggested when it makes sense, never sold cold.
The Room
07
● Week 2 · The deal in the room
07 / 13
INTUITRoom
Maple & Sons Cabinetry · Sarah Reynolds
In this room
SR
AI
MS
DM
MW
+
Your deal · in progress.
Marcus joined. SOC 2 in review.
Last step Just now
Diana cleared the chart of accounts. Multi-entity reporting confirmed by David.
Marcus joined the room. SOC 2 data residency review opened.
Next step Within 24h
Invite IT for security & data-residency sign-off.
Mahdi to deliver SOC 2 report to Marcus — async, in-thread.
Roadblocks
Issues flagged in the room
2 resolved · 1 active
2 resolved · 1 in progress
Chart of accounts mapping
For accountant · Diana
Multi-entity consolidated reporting
Dealbreaker for David
Data residency & SOC 2
Dealbreaker for Marcus (IT)
Ask anything · Intuit AI
Live
Type a question for the room…
How does Advanced handle SOC 2 data residency for Canadian entities?
|
Sarah · just now
How does Advanced handle SOC 2 data residency for Canadian entities?
Intuit AI · thinking
Intuit AI · escalating · looped in Mahdi + Marcus
Data residency depends on your entity setup — I've flagged this and looped in Mahdi. Reply within 24h with a SOC 2 report tailored to your entities.
MS
Mahdi Sahnoun
Account Executive
QuickBooks Canada · EN/FR
"I'll handle your QBD migration end to end — your timeline, your accountant, your stakeholders. Ask anything."
Buy-in matrix
2 aligned · 1 reviewing
2 aligned · 1 reviewing · 1 concerns
SR
Sarah Reynolds
Operations / GM
DM
Diana McKay
Trusted advisor
DC
David Chen
Finance Director
MW
Marcus Wright
IT Director
The Room · V5 · Judge-final
07
● Who's in the room
08 / 13
Core seats. Then whoever the customer needs.
● Core seats — always in the room
SR
The customer
Self-paced · returns anytime
The room is hers. Asks anything. Keeps full history.
AI
Intuit AI
Grounded answers
Plan, pricing, feature questions. Allowed to say "I don't know."
MS
The rep
AE · Async judgment
Replies in-thread within 24h. A participant, not a chatbot supervisor.
DM
Trusted advisor
Accountant · Marketing partner · etc.
Guest seat — recommended day one. Whoever the customer already trusts.
● Invited seats — pulled in as the deal needs them
Finance Director
IT / Security
Solution Architect
Migration Specialist
Tax / Legal advisor
Cross-product team
+ whoever the customer brings to the table
The trusted advisor seat is the strategic differentiator. For QuickBooks it's the bookkeeper. For Mailchimp it's the marketing agency. For IES, the accountant. Today they're invisible to us — in the room they're visible advisors.
The Room · V5 · Judge-final
08
● How it works · Live
09 / 13
AI handles scale. Humans handle stakes. Both stay in the room.
Maple & Sons Cabinetry · The thread
Live
Sarah · just now
How do approval workflows work in Advanced?
Intuit AI · thinking
Intuit AI · grounded · answered in 3s
In Advanced, you build approval flows for any transaction — bills, expenses, POs, journal entries. Most teams set this up in under an hour.
Sarah · 12m later
Can we deduct equipment financing under Section 179 across our 3 entities?
Intuit AI · escalating to a human
This is a tax question that depends on your entity structure. Looping in Mahdi and your accountant Diana. Reply within 24h.
Mahdi · AE · replying async
Mahdi · async · replied in 18m
Confirmed with Diana — Section 179 applies across all three entities. I've added the multi-entity reporting walkthrough to your room.
Roadblocks
Section 179 · multi-entityOpen
Section 179 · multi-entityResolved
Buy-in matrix
SRSarahAligned
DMDianaAligned
MSMahdi (AE)In thread
AI handles scale
AI escalates judgment
Human resolves · stays in room
The Room · V5 · Judge-final
09
● What we'd actually build
08 / 11
Most of it exists. Here's the rest.
| Component | What it is | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| The room itself | The workspace the customer comes back to — where their team, their AI, and their rep all show up. | Build · 4–6 wks |
| Intake conversation | A short AI-led intake — business, team, must-haves — that personalizes the room. | Build · 2 wks |
| Intuit AI | The AI chat already on quickbooks.intuit.ca — the foundation we build on. | Already live |
| Conversation recap | Pulls calls, emails, and AI chats from Gong into the customer's room view. | Gong API · 1–2 wks |
| Open items + activation tracker | What's still open in the deal (before sign) and what's still to set up (after sign). | Build · 2 wks |
| Knowing when to bring in a person | Rules for what the AI handles vs. what gets a human. Plus an "ask a human" button. | The careful part · 2–3 wks |
| Inviting the customer's team | The customer adds their finance, IT, and advisor — each with the right view. | Build · 1–2 wks |
| Rep gets notified | Connects into the tools reps already use (Salesforce, Slack, email). | Build · 1–2 wks |
| Knowing when they're ready to buy | Simple signals first (came back 3+ times, all stakeholders weighed in). Smarter ones later, after we have data. | Build · 1 wk |
First version: 60–90 days. The AI is already live. The new pieces are the room itself and the rules for when to bring in a person. Everything else is connecting tools we already use.
The Room
08
● Phasing
09 / 11
One room. Three places it goes.
Phase 01 · Proving Ground
60–90 days
Mid-market QBO Advanced · Canada
Real today. 30–90 day cycles. Several stakeholders per deal. Strong advisor relationships. The right place to start.
- One segment, one team
- The first set of rules for AI vs. human
- Advisor + Finance + IT in the room
- Open items tracker, first version
Phase 02 · Cross-product
6–9 months
Mailchimp · IES Canada · Large Firms
Same room, more teams. Mailchimp's mid-market deals. IES Canada at launch. Large Firms with their mid-market clients.
- Cross-product suggestions in the room
- Customers can buy directly in the room
- Smarter "ready to buy" signals using real pilot data
- More languages and regions
Phase 03 · Long-term home
12–18 months
Activation & growth in one room
The same room is where customers activate, get support, and grow with us — for as long as they're with Intuit. No second login.
- Activation right in the room (no email buffet)
- Migration team joins the same room
- New products surface when the customer's ready
- Support and account changes — one place
The Room
09
● The Impact · Both halves of Ciaran's bar
10 / 11
One room. Wins on both sides.
● Acquisition wins
From 5–6% to 100% of the deal in our hands.
−20%
Time-to-close on mid-market QBO Advanced (target — Phase 1 group)
≥80%
of deals have everyone on board before they sign
100%
visibility into the questions, objections, and comparisons we can't see today
● Retention wins
The same room stays with the customer after they sign.
−30%
customers lost in the first 90 days (target — onboarding happens in the same room)
1
person owns the customer for the long haul — no handoff, no welcome-email buffet
+15%
cross-product attach (target) — Mailchimp + Payments suggested when it makes sense, not pushed cold
→
The Room is the only place where the customer, our AI, the rep, and their team actually work together — covering both halves of what Ciaran asked for. ChatGPT can't help with their books. Slack can't bring in their advisor. Salesforce isn't built for the customer. This is.
The Room
10
● The Bet
11 / 11
Give us 90 days. We'll come back with the results.
● What we need
For 90 days
- A small team — 1 PM, 2 engineers, 1 designer
- Access to the AI we already have — the chat live on quickbooks.intuit.ca today
- 20 mid-market QBO Advanced Canada deals to run the pilot through
- One Sales lead who can pick the reps and the deals
● What we'll deliver — both sides of the bar
By day 90 · Results in
- Acquisition · 20% faster time-to-close vs. a comparable group
- Acquisition · 80%+ of pilot deals have everyone on board before sign
- Retention · 30% fewer customers lost in their first 90 days vs. comparable
- Rep feedback +15 on whether they can actually see the deal
- Phase 2 plan — Mailchimp + IES Canada, with the person who'll own it
Day 0Team in place · 20 deals picked
→
Day 30Room is live · first 5 deals using it
→
Day 60All 20 deals running through it
→
Day 90Results in. Decide where to take it next.
From Mahdi + Michael · For Sales Innovation Shark Tank FY26