Token Economics, AI ROI, and the Future of Investment Banking with Rahul Rekhi

In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Rogo president Rahul Rekhi to unpack what AI actually changes in investment banking and finance. They dig into token economics, why adoption without ROI is a trap, how vertical AI wins, and why domain expertise still matters. Plus: forward-deployed bankers, outcome-based pricing, and what CFOs should measure before AI spend gets out of hand.—SPONSORS:Pulley is an equity management platform that lets you issue options, model dilution, and complete 409As without your cap table turning into a spreadsheet disaster. Founders raising, hiring, and scaling use Pulley to keep equity clean and stay focused on building. Learn more or request a demo at Pulley.com/mostlymetricsRillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cjMaximor is an autonomous finance platform that runs order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, the close, cash management, and reporting on self-learning agents instead of a dozen disconnected tools. One PE-backed customer cut their close in half, took audit findings from seven to zero, and cut back-office costs by 70% in six months. You pay for outcomes, not seats. See it at maximor.aiBrex is an intelligent finance platform with AI-powered agents that capture expenses automatically, enforce policy before the spend happens, and close your books in minutes instead of weeks. 35,000+ companies like OpenAI, Coinbase, Anthropic, and DoorDash already run on Brex. It's time to get Brex AF. Learn more at https://www.brex.com/metricsAnrok is the sales tax platform that watches your exposure everywhere, automates compliance, and flags risk before it turns into a surprise back-tax letter from a state you've never set foot in. Companies like Anthropic, Notion, and Vanta already trust Anrok to stay ahead of rules that move faster than any spreadsheet can. Talk to a sales tax expert for a personalized exposure estimate at anrok.com/rtnRightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform that lets your product team ship new pricing without asking finance for permission, and your sales team close deals without creating downstream chaos. Check out their free tool at calculator.rightrev.com It scores your rev rec process, shows what's exposing you to risk, and tells you exactly where to focus before it bites you in the rear end. Check it out at https://calculator.rightrev.com—LINKS: Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsNGuest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulrekhi/Company: https://www.rogo.ai/CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com—RELATED EPISODES:A CFO Explains the Stock Exchangeshttps://youtu.be/pooOE6ZNGR4A CFO Explains Marketplaceshttps://youtu.be/LpbH9GpBrSY—TIMESTAMPS:0:00 Preview and Intro2:44 Why finance was first to verticalize AI6:28 What the president title means at Rogo9:55 Sponsors — Pulley | Rillet | Maximor13:02 The problem Rogo is solving16:16 Token maxing is not transformation17:43 Why ROI is so hard to measure19:39 Sponsors — Brex | Anrok | RightRev22:37 ROI is business-unit specific24:03 Budgeting tokens like a benefits load25:00 AI incentives aren't aligned to efficiency26:26 The model broker function32:03 Not all token spend is equal37:14 Who owns AI efficiency?40:59 The forward deployed banker43:00 Domain expertise: the Interstellar analogy49:21 Lightning round49:28 Screwed up: DCF error in a live deal51:13 Will new grads have the spidey sense?53:03 Meeting Pope Francis55:04 Fact-checking jobs numbers at the White House57:39 Advice to younger self59:21 C