Isabel Garro
Chief Sustainability Officer, Votorantim Cimentos (EMEA) | Founder & CEO, 3a4b | Former Director General, UN Global Compact Spain | Professor, IE & UCM
Tien Tzuo
Founder & CEO of Zuora | Architect of the Subscription Economy | Bestselling Author of Subscribed | Former Salesforce CSO & CMO | Amplitude Board Director
Founder and CEO of Zuora and the acknowledged architect of the Subscription Economy. Speaker Tien Tzuo shows enterprise leaders why every durable business is moving from one-time product sales to continuous, data-driven customer relationships. Audiences book Tzuo for executive-ready frameworks on recurring revenue, AI-enabled business models, Total Monetization, and how Fortune 500 leaders can thrive through digital disruption.
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Tien Tzuo biography
Marketing speaker Tien Tzuo is the founder and CEO of Zuora and the acknowledged architect of the Subscription Economy — a shift in how companies build, price, and grow that has reshaped industries from media and software to automotive and industrial equipment. Speaker Tien Tzuo helps enterprise leaders understand why every durable business is moving from selling products to serving customers through continuous, data-driven relationships.
Tzuo laid out his thesis in the bestseller SUBSCRIBED: Why the Subscription Model Will Be Your Company’s Future — and What to Do About It, a practical playbook drawn from a generation of enterprise experience. Before founding Zuora in 2007, he was the 11th employee at Salesforce and rose to serve as CMO and Chief Strategy Officer, shaping the vision and direction of the company’s first 17 product releases. He has been named BusinessWeek CMO of the Year Finalist, Entrepreneur of the Year, and CEO of the Year.
Building the Next Era of Monetization
Zuora went public in 2018 and, after years as a leader in the subscription software category, was acquired by Silver Lake and GIC in a take-private deal — a milestone that positioned the company to accelerate its next chapter. Under Tzuo, Zuora is building what he calls the Total Monetization stack: a modular platform covering billing, metering, revenue, and payments for any business model, reinforced by the acquisition of usage-based billing specialist Togai. Tzuo has also joined the board of directors of Amplitude, bringing his founder-CEO perspective to another leader in the digital economy.
As a speaker, Tien Tzuo gives boards, executives, and product leaders a clear-eyed framework for navigating recurring revenue, AI-enabled business models, and the end of one-time-purchase thinking. He draws on two decades of building, scaling, and advising companies at the front edge of change, and helps audiences translate strategy into practical shifts in culture, pricing, and go-to-market. Explore more at Zuora.
Tien Tzuo Speaking Videos
Tien Tzuo "Why the subscription model is the future"
Measuring the Subscription Economy with Zuora's Tien Tzuo
Tien Tzuo Keynote Topics
We are at a pivotal moment in business history, one not seen since the Industrial Revolution: the end of product ownership as we know it. Consumers now subscribe to services across media, software, transportation, and even industrial equipment. In this signature keynote, Tien Tzuo shows how leaders at companies like Ford, Adobe, EA, and The New York Times are adapting to a subscription-first world — and why subscription businesses have consistently outpaced S&P revenue growth. Executives leave with a clear view of how to embed recurring revenue into their own strategy.
How do you build a billion-dollar business? Lots of people imagine a straight line. Tien Tzuo's experience at Salesforce and then as founder of Zuora taught him the opposite: the climb is a series of distinct journeys, each requiring a different organization, operating model, and leadership focus. In this talk, Tzuo maps the phases of the climb — from founder-led scrappiness to IPO to private-equity scale — and shows leaders what to work on in each phase to keep growing.
Subscriptions are exploding because billions of digital customers favor access over ownership, yet most Fortune 500 companies are still built to sell products. Shifting from products to services is hard — marketing, finance, and development all feel the strain. Tzuo shows leaders how to navigate that transition with as little disruption as possible, using real-world examples from customers across software, industrial, and consumer sectors.
After a decade of applied sensors and connectivity, manufacturing is ready to wake up in a new body. IoT is moving from theory to real business models with real profits, opening a growth runway for industrial firms comparable to the post-dot-com era of software. In this talk, Tzuo explains how manufacturers can use IoT data to rediscover the customer, build recurring services around connected assets, and monetize those services through subscription-based models.
More than half of the Fortune 500 has disappeared since 2000, and the life expectancy of a Fortune 500 company keeps shrinking. Tzuo argues that the old ship-and-forget product model is no longer working and lays out a framework for transformation across four dimensions — strategy, culture, process, and systems — to spark new recurring-revenue growth. Leaders leave with concrete steps for reorganizing around the customer and building a business model that can compound over time.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Tien Tzuo
Why Tien Tzuo?
Tien Tzuo is the single most authoritative voice on the Subscription Economy — a term he coined — and a rare operator-strategist who has built, scaled, and taken public a category-defining software company. He gives audiences the language, frameworks, and case studies to rethink revenue models, pricing, and customer relationships at the scale of the Fortune 500. Where other speakers theorize, Tzuo speaks from direct experience leading Zuora from startup to IPO to private-equity milestone. Book Tien Tzuo through Aurum Speakers Bureau for your next executive offsite, customer summit, or board-level keynote.
What is the Subscription Economy and who coined the term?
The Subscription Economy is a business model in which companies deliver ongoing value through continuous customer relationships rather than one-time product sales. Tien Tzuo coined the term to describe a generational shift affecting media, software, automotive, manufacturing, and industrial firms — from Netflix and Spotify to Ford, Caterpillar, and Walmart. In his bestseller SUBSCRIBED, Tzuo argues that subscription-based companies grow revenue faster than S&P 500 averages and that the traditional sell-and-forget product model is in structural decline.
What topics does Tien Tzuo speak about?
Tzuo's most requested keynotes cover the Subscription Economy, Total Monetization, building a billion-dollar business, and how Fortune 500 leaders can transform their companies amid digital disruption. He tailors sessions for executive audiences, product and finance leaders, and boards navigating business-model transitions. Each talk is grounded in real cases from Zuora's customers and Tzuo's years inside Salesforce. For custom scoping and availability, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau.
Who acquired Zuora and what is Tien Tzuo doing now?
Zuora was taken private in a transaction led by Silver Lake in partnership with GIC, with stockholders approving the deal in February 2025. Tien Tzuo remains CEO and continues to lead the company's next phase, centered on a Total Monetization platform spanning billing, metering, revenue, and payments, reinforced by the acquisition of usage-based billing specialist Togai. Tzuo has also joined the board of directors of Amplitude, extending his influence across the digital economy while continuing to speak, write, and advise enterprise leaders on durable recurring-revenue strategies.
How to book Tien Tzuo as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Tien Tzuo as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Tien Tzuo's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Tien Tzuo or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Tien Tzuo speaking fee?
Tien Tzuo speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Tien Tzuo to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Tien Tzuo.
How can I contact Tien Tzuo?
We only work with Tien Tzuo on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Tien Tzuo and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Tien Tzuo speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Tien Tzuo for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Tien Tzuo for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Tien Tzuo is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Tien Tzuo for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
