Rick Robinson

About Rick Robinson

Most companies know pricing matters. Very few know how to build the function that makes it work.I’ve spent 30+ years doing exactly that — building enterprise pricing functions from the ground up in organizations ranging from $200M to $11B. At Mettler-Toledo, I built a pricing practice that delivered incremental annual profitability, formally tracked to executive leadership. At Nortel Networks, I led a CEO-sponsored transformation that consolidated part-time pricing contributors into a focused 150-person organization, delivering 1.6% top-line uplift (~$175M+) with zero incremental headcount.Today, I serve as an Industry Advisor for Pricing at KKR, where I assess pricing maturity during deal diligence, design post-acquisition transformation roadmaps, and work alongside portfolio company leadership to turn pricing into a measurable EBITDA lever. My engagement model is deliberately self-liquidating: I build the internal capability, then hand it off.Through this work, I’ve developed a practitioner-tested framework for building pricing functions that I call the five-stage model: Visibility → Credibility → Governance → Optimization → Scale. The insight most frameworks miss is Stage 2 — Credibility. Pricing leaders rarely have direct authority over all price points. You have to earn the right to influence through data, diagnostics, and delivering on promises to each stakeholder group. Skip this step and the whole thing stalls.What I believe:• You have to walk before you run. The fastest ROI in pricing is fixing leakage, not building optimization models on unreliable data.• AI will transform pricing — but the most compelling near-term use is making existing systems accessible, not replacing human judgment.• Not every company is ready for a pricing transformation. Knowing when to walk away is more valuable than knowing how to execute.• Results matter more than frameworks. If you can’t measure the impact, you haven’t done the work.

Experience

1. Industry Advisor - Pricing

   KKR

   Jan 2024 — Present

   Engaged by the leading global investment firm (~$686B AUM) to serve as a subject-matter expert on pricing strategy and execution across KKR’s Industrial portfolio companies.My work spans the full PE deal cycle:• Due Diligence: Assess target company pricing maturity, identify leakage and unrealized value, and quantify EBITDA improvement potential• Post-Acquisition: Deepen assessment with full data access, design transformation roadmaps, prioritize quick wins vs. structural improvements• Transformation & Handoff: Drive pricing changes directly alongside portfolio company teams, then progressively transition to internal leadership for sustainable impactThis model is deliberately self-liquidating: the goal is to build capability, not create dependency.

Education

• Western University

  B.E.Sc., Mechanical Engineering

  1986 — 1992

Skills

• Operations Management
• Contract Management
• Market Pricing
• Telecommunications
• Product Development
• Project Planning
• Supply Chain
• Strategic Planning
• Program Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Production Managment
• Product Lifecycle Management
• Wireless
• Pricing Analysis
• Team Management
• Process Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Business Analysis
• Product Marketing
• Manufacturing
• Business Strategy
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership
• Team Building
• Management
• Six Sigma
• Marketing
• Product Management
• Financial Analysis
• Pricing Optimization
• Negotiation
• Market Analysis
• Bid Pricing
• People Development
• Strategic Partnerships
• Sales
• Mobile Devices
• Sap
• Change Management
• Enterprise Software
• Business Process Improvement