Ulf Avrin, a seasoned entrepreneur and business leader with over 30 years of experience in software and consultancy. With a strong passion for pricing and a strategic yet hands-on approach, he has helped major enterprises across industries—including industrial manufacturing, software, distribution, and retail—unlock business value. Ulf brings a holistic management perspective and firmly believes that sustainable, effective pricing isn’t just about numbers—it’s about the right mix of technology, processes, and people.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with CXO Outlook Magazine, Ulf shared his professional trajectory, insights into the most significant challenge in developing and implementing pricing strategies, the secret sauce behind his success, future plans, pearls of wisdom, and much more. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Hi Ulf. Please tell us about your background and areas of interest.
I come from a really small town in Sweden and over time I moved to bigger and bigger cities. Perhaps I needed to have more lively environments and more anonymity? The first step was to Gothenburg where I went to Chalmers University of Technology. After having obtained my MSc in Applied Physics I started a PhD at the institute of theoretical physics. Soon I realised that while I really like physics, research was not my thing. A year into the program I left and moved into the commercial world.
A couple of years down the road I joined the Ericsson Group where I became project manager for the implementation of mobile networks and for software development projects delivering the main switches in telecommunication networks of the time. During a period I was leading the sales unit for the markets in the Middle East, a great experience and incredible exposure to cultures radically different to where I come from. Eventually I moved in to the space of internet applications at the end of the 1990’s, which is where I go to know Microsoft as well, leading a joint venture between Ericsson and Microsoft. After this I got hooked on innovative and early stage businesses and I had the opportunity to be the CEO of a few of those. This period taught me to be humble of the challenges of growing companies, the difficulty of commercialising innovative offerings and how to work closely with owners and external board members.
I ended up in pricing through a friend that asked me to help with the transformation of his company’s business to cloud based pricing software solutions, and since then I am in pricing!
My career path has not been a very thought out, straight line. I am a believer in that you will never be able to predict when an opportunity will arrive, but when it does, you have to be prepared to make the decision to take the chance or not.
What do you love the most about your current role?
In my current role I have a great mix of building an organisation, meeting with prospective clients at events or in their offices and meeting with clients during the delivery of our consulting missions. Successful pricing projects involve working very closely with the client organisation, helping define improved ways of working across pricing, sales, product management, marketing and others, and to put the technology in place for more data driven decision making. All this with a team of very competent consultants that are passionate about what they are doing. This mix is fantastic! In addition, in pricing you always work directly with people that benefit from the work you provide. A large part of my professional career has been in IT and Telecom infrastructure, where the end-user is far away. Not so in pricing, and I love this!
I am also a learner. I enjoy learning from my clients, from new project and, new client challenges!
What are the most significant challenges you face in developing and implementing pricing strategies, and how do you overcome them?
The biggest challenge in pricing is to bridge the strategic level and operational level. It is very easy for large organisations to focus on the operational level, to drive operational improvements in the organisation and make pricing process more streamlined. This part is about organisational functions and domain experts, tools and processes. This is good and necessary, but it is not sufficient. Strategic pricing objectives are about identifying opportunities and risks to the overall business and this is something you talk to CxO levels about. These two worlds do not always meet but in pricing it is essential, else there will be little improvement. My team and I therefore have to able to speak to stakeholders at different levels in the organisation in the language that is most appropriate for each.
You were recently named as one of the Top 100 Pricing Leaders to Follow in 2025. Our readers would love to know the secret mantra behind your success.
Well, this is predominantly about engaging in the communities of pricing professionals and business leaders. Daring to express views, making things practical and actionable for people and to be reasonably visible at events and on LinkedIn, and so on. Over time you build a certain brand and hopefully it includes being trustworthy and relevant.
Is there a particular person you are grateful for who helped get you to where you are?
Once upon a time, when I was at the age of about 30, I had a manager at Ericsson who asked me: “Ulf, do you see yourself as a technical expert in the future or do you see yourself as a business leader?”. He made me think of my future, the choices and what it would mean to make them. In the end, after some serious thinking time, and with his support in the process, I eventually made the choice to become a business leader out of the interest in the client interaction. This lead me to complement my MSc with an Executive MBA, and move more into commercial activities, so as to establish solid foundation for business leadership.
What does the term “authentic leadership” mean to you?
This is about being yourself, to be grounded in your own core values, to recognize your strengths and weaknesses. It is also aboutinternalizing the business objectives, making them as personal and meaningful as possible, so that your team and the organisation at large can embrace them.
What are some of your passions outside of work? What do you like to do in your time off?
Since 20 years I live in Paris. Here I can benefit from a huge cultural scene, which I really like to benefit from: music, theatre, architecture, haute couture, and of course food. I enjoy cooking and love the Saturday routine of going to the fresh product market close to where I live to buy the vegetables, cheese, fish, meat, that I try to make the best of in my kitchen. Paris is also a very multicultural city, which for me is essential. Diversity makes your everyday life less predictable and therefore more enjoyable.
In addition, I love skiing. The Alps, with some of the largest ski areas in the world, are only a train ride away. I also love boating, but get very little opportunity to do it. This was a lot easier when I lived in Stockholm, but there we go, life is full of difficult choices!
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
In five years I should formally be retired. However, I don’t really see myself suddenly one day putting the gloves on the shelf and go home. My ambition and desire is to be able to contribute through mentorship, non-executive board roles and in any way possible, winding down professional life in a very progressive way over several years.
What advice would you give to aspiring pricing professionals looking to develop their skills and expertise in this field?
I believe in learning by doing the hands-on work. I think it is important to actually know stuff, not only in theory but also in practice. Having said that, on the basis of a good level of professional skill, if you want to have more impact then you need also to develop your strategic understanding and how you influence at the highest senior levels. So, in short, learn to master the core elements of the profession, but expose yourself to strategic decision making. This will help you in your own career and it will help progress pricing as a practice.