Predictika · engineering design software license quotes, in the style of PTC

A design license quote, checked against the edition, license type, reseller and term rules before it goes to the customer

An AI sales agent prepares a quote for engineering design software seats, with the order total it expects. Before the quote goes out, the agent sends it to Predictika's validator, which checks the design edition, license type, simulation cores per seat, connector and support options, reseller tier, seat count and renewal term against each other, compares the total the agent states with the one it computes, and returns a verdict with every reason in one pass. All prices and limits are Predictika estimates in US dollars, not PTC list prices.

Scope: Quotes for engineering design software seats: four design editions, three license types, three reseller tiers, simulation cores per seat, a Windchill connector, a premium support plan, terms of 1 to 5 years and approval bands for seat count, discount and value. Prices and limits are illustrative estimates, not PTC data; Predictika is not affiliated with PTC. See everything this validator covers

This validator checks any quote for these editions, license types and reseller tiers, not just the scenarios shown below.

  • Design editions and license types — an Essentials, an Advanced, an Advanced Plus and an Ultimate design edition, with a node-locked, a floating and a floating license with cloud burst, including the node-locked license that cannot host the advanced simulation extension the two top editions include.
  • Simulation cores — the simulation core count per seat checked against the edition rating and the license type rating, with a compute capacity review above 16 cores.
  • Connector, support and reseller tiers — a Windchill connector and a premium support plan by edition, and direct list, Silver reseller and Gold reseller discount tiers with their seat minimums and discounts.
  • Renewal term and seat count — terms from 1 to 5 years, a finance review above 3 years, an enterprise agreement review above 100 seats, an approval band above 12 percent total discount, a limit at 20 percent and a deal desk review above USD 600,000.
  • The total the agent states — the stated net total is compared with the total the validator computes from the line items.

Any quote that touches these rules is in scope, not only the scenarios pictured here. Not checked: other PTC products such as Windchill, ThingWorx, Onshape or Kepware licensing, real list prices, conversion between named-user and compute-based licenses, and tax or multi-currency quoting.

The AI sales agentPrepares the design license quote for the customer and says it is ready to send.
Predictika validatorChecks every rule at once and returns the verdict, each finding, and the computed figures.

6 scenarios in 3 groups · each group runs from the agent’s first attempt to the outcome · click one to switch

What the agent proposes

The AI sales agent says

Illustrative agent statement. The validator receives the structured request below.

Proposing agent: AI sales agent (scripted)

Before sending, the agent must call Recorded run

Predictika validator


      

        
        
        
      

      
Waiting for the call.

      
    

  

  
  

    
Where a rules-based CPQ gets this wrong
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Our assessment of what a typical rules-based CPQ (product rules, price rules and validation rules, as in Salesforce CPQ) does with the same cases. It is a judgment about effort and reliability, not a claim that nothing can be built.

    
What the validator caughtA rules-based CPQPredictika
An option that depends on the editionOnly with care
Which edition takes the Windchill connector, and how many simulation cores it allows, is a table of exceptions, and each new edition adds more of them.		The options and core ratings of each edition are part of the model and checked against the edition in the same request.
A license type that cannot host a featureOnly with workarounds
The node-locked license cannot host the advanced simulation extension the two top editions include, and a cross-product exclusion like this is usually a hand-written rule that has to be remembered.		The exclusion is a constraint between the edition and the license type, checked on every call.
Approval bands that stackOnly with care
Seat count, term, simulation cores and discount each trigger a different approval, and a quote can hit several at once.		Each band is its own check; every approval that applies is returned together with any block.
The total the agent statesOnly with workarounds
Comparing a stated figure with a computed one means a separate rule per quote layout, and price rules rarely run on stated figures.		The stated net total is a field in the request and is checked against the computed total.
Every problem returned in one answerOnly with workarounds
Rules tend to fire as the quote is saved, so a rep often fixes one error and meets the next.		All findings come back together, whatever order the choices arrived in.

  

  

    
What this validator catches: findings from its test cases
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Every rule is checked on every call, in any order the choices arrive; one problem never hides another. Blocking findings stop the quote; approval findings need a person to sign off; everything else is computed.

    
1Each design edition has a maximum simulation core count per seat (4 for Essentials, 8 for Advanced, 16 for Advanced Plus, 32 for Ultimate).
2Each license type has its own core limit (8 for node-locked, 16 for floating, 32 for floating with cloud burst).
3The node-locked license cannot host the advanced simulation extension that the Advanced Plus and Ultimate editions include.
4The Windchill connector is not available on the Essentials edition.
5An order is 1 to 300 seats, and each reseller tier has a seat minimum (10 for Silver, 40 for Gold).
6The contract term must be between 1 and 5 years; a term over 3 years needs finance to approve the price lock.
7A simulation core count over 16 needs a compute capacity review.
8More than 100 seats need an enterprise agreement review.
9A total discount over 12 percent needs the sales director; over 20 percent is blocked.
10An order value over USD 600,000 needs a deal desk review.
11The net total stated in the quote must match the total computed from the line items.

  

  

    
Scenarios and results
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The recorded result of the validator for each scenario on this page: the request the AI agent sent, the verdict, and every finding, in the order they appear above.

    
1. Edition cores and connector: Essentials edition at 6 cores with the Windchill connector

    
The agent's request. Please check this quote for Northgate Aerospace Supply: 12 seats of the Essentials design edition on node-locked licenses with the Windchill connector, set up for 6 simulation cores per seat, at direct list pricing for 2 years. The total for the order is USD 97,200.00. The quote is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • Cores above the edition rating. A simulation core count of 6 is outside the 1 to 4 range of the Essentials design edition.
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  • Connector not available on this edition. The Windchill connector is not available on the Essentials design edition.
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2. Edition cores and connector: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

    
The agent's request. Please check this quote for Northgate Aerospace Supply: 12 seats of the Advanced design edition on floating licenses with the Windchill connector, set up for 6 simulation cores per seat, at direct list pricing for 2 years. The total for the order is USD 180,000.00. The quote is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Allowed.

    
3. Term and discount limits: A 6 year term with a 14 percent extra discount

    
The agent's request. Please check this quote for Ridgeview Mechanical Engineering: 30 seats of the Advanced design edition on floating licenses, set up for 6 simulation cores per seat, on the Silver reseller tier for 6 years with an extra discount of 14 percent. The total for the order is USD 407,160.00. The quote is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • Term outside the allowed range. A contract of 6 years is outside the 1 to 5 years allowed.
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  • Discount over the limit. Total discount of 22 percent exceeds the 20 percent limit.
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4. Term and discount limits: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

    
The agent's request. Please check this quote for Ridgeview Mechanical Engineering: 30 seats of the Advanced design edition on floating licenses, set up for 6 simulation cores per seat, on the Silver reseller tier for 3 years with an extra discount of 3 percent. The total for the order is USD 392,490.00. The quote is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Allowed.

    
5. Total stated below the computed total: A quote that states less than it adds up to

    
The agent's request. Please check this quote for Alder Machine Works: 12 seats of the Essentials design edition on node-locked licenses with the premium support plan, set up for 4 simulation cores per seat, at direct list pricing for 2 years. The total for the order is USD 98,280.00. The quote is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • Stated total does not match. The quoted net total of USD 98,280.00 does not match the USD 109,200.00 the validator computed.
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6. Total stated below the computed total: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

    
The agent's request. Please check this quote for Alder Machine Works: 12 seats of the Essentials design edition on node-locked licenses with the premium support plan, set up for 4 simulation cores per seat, at direct list pricing for 2 years. The total for the order is USD 109,200.00. The quote is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Allowed.

  

  

    
Narration transcript
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The text of the narrated walkthrough, step by step.

    
    
      
  1. Welcome to a demo of Predictika's Validator. An AI sales agent prepares a quote for engineering design software seats, with the order total it expects. Before the quote goes out, the agent sends it to Predictika's validator, which checks the design edition, license type, simulation cores per seat, connector and support options, reseller tier, seat count and renewal term against each other, compares the total the agent states with the one it computes, and returns a verdict with every reason in one pass. All prices and limits are Predictika estimates in US dollars, not PTC list prices.
    2. 
      
  2. I will start with the first request by the agent.
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  3. The agent says. Please check this quote for Ridgeview Mechanical Engineering: 30 seats of the Advanced design edition on floating licenses, set up for 6 simulation cores per seat. The total for the order is USD 407,160.00. The rest of the request is on screen.
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  4. Before it goes out, the agent calls the validator.
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  5. Blocked, with two findings, all in one answer. A contract of 6 years is outside the 1 to 5 years allowed. Total discount of 22 percent exceeds the 20 percent limit.
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  6. The validator returned two blocking findings in one answer. A check that reads one field at a time would pass most of this; it shows only when the choices in the quote are checked against each other.
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  7. What this shows: for an option that depends on the edition, a rules-based CPQ is error-prone for this.
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  8. Now the agent resubmits.
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  9. The corrected request. It changes the contract term to 3 years, the extra discount requested to 3 percent and the net total stated by the agent to $392,490.
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  10. It calls the validator again.
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  11. This time the validator clears it.
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  12. The validator also returns the line-item quote, on screen.
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  13. Both earlier findings are cleared, and the validator's total, USD 392,490.00, matches the quote.
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  14. Two problems caught in one call, fixed in one pass, and a clean $392,490 quote. That is the value of Predictika's validator: catching mistakes before they reach the customer. Now you can try the other scenarios yourself.
    15.