Alan Trefler

Cofounder, Pegasystems

Search every verified Alan Trefler interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Alan Trefler, founder and CEO of Pegasystems, has recently spoken about what he describes as unsustainable expectations in the AI industry. In a July 2026 podcast appearance, Trefler said that "the expectations people have of limitless growth is not going to be sustainable." He also stated that AI "is going to massively change jobs" and that it is already "very dramatically changing how people work" at his company. Trefler characterized the initial low-cost or free access to AI tools as "little tokens by the drug dealers to get us sort of hooked," noting that pricing models have since shifted. At PegaWorld in June 2026, Trefler announced that Pegasystems' Infinity 26 platform would not charge customers per token for AI usage, stating that "using Pega AI will not accrue a token charge." He contrasted this approach with what he called the "agentic" method of "wanting to re-reason every single time you do something," which he described as "madness." Trefler advocated for a "workflow recipe mindset" that prioritizes predictable outcomes and costs, and said that the company's approach allows users to "focus on results" and "getting things done" without worrying about variable charges.