Tag: CEO

Microsoft’s $1B Bet: “Most Important Technological Development in Human History”

July 31, 2019
If you believe it’s important to dream big dreams, then you gotta love the expectations behind Microsoft’s decision to invest $1 billion with partner OpenAI: to achieve nothing short of “shape the trajectory of humanity.” There’s been a fair amount of chit-chat about the Microsoft-OpenAI partnership to create AGI (artificial general intelligence). But largely overlooked
New insights into Google Cloud and its recent success

Inside Google Cloud’s Breakout $2B Quarter: 10 Key Insights

July 29, 2019
CEO Thomas Kurian has lit a customer-centric fire under Google Cloud. And 10 key points from last week’s earnings call reveal the major factors driving new levels of success since Kurian assumed control in January. Those drivers have also pushed Google Cloud up one spot to #6 in the weekly Cloud Wars Top 10 rankings. 
Workday on the rise: the company could soon have a billion-dollar quarter

Workday’s Path to a $1-Billion Quarter: 10 Key Insights

May 31, 2019
It’s extremely likely that within the coming year, Workday will report its first billion-dollar quarter. “Plucky little Workday”—what a myth!! Through its long-time focus on customer success, judicious acquisitions, rigorous deployment of modern technology and bold but steady leadership, Workday has become one of the most successful and fast-growing enterprise software companies in the world.
On the ground for the Cloud Wars interview with Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith

SAP Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith: ‘I Was Alone for 17 Years—I Know What That’s Like’

May 21, 2019
Six months ago, SAP announced its plan to spend $8 billion to acquire experience-management unicorn Qualtrics, a company whose revenue was 1/50th of SAP’s. Today, SAP has rebranded itself as “the experience company powered by the Intelligent Enterprise.” This is a remarkable adjustment from its traditional “intelligent enterprise” promise—and an unmistakable sign of just how
Bob talks with Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith at SAP Sapphire Now 2019

Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith | Q&A at SAP Sapphire Now 2019

May 17, 2019
Cloud Wars caught up with Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith during SAP's big Sapphire 2019 event in Orlando. About 6 months after agreeing to an acquisition by SAP and about 3 months after the deal was completed, the Qualtrics co-founder and Chief Executive had some compelling insights and stories to share. We discussed how SAP's global

SAP CEO Bill McDermott | Exclusive Q&A at Sapphire Now 2019

May 16, 2019
In an exclusive interview during SAP’s big Sapphire 2019 event in Orlando, SAP CEO Bill McDermott sat down with Cloud Wars to talk the past, present, and future of his company. On the heels of his second main-stage keynote of the conference, McDermott described SAP’s sweeping transformation, its breakthrough acquisition of Qualtrics, the strategic significance

Understanding the New SAP: 10 Key Insights as Sapphire 2019 Kicks Off

May 6, 2019
As SAP prepares to roll out the future of the intelligent enterprise at Sapphire over the next few days, here are 10 timely perspectives to help you understand where the company stands today, where it’s headed, and why it expects to outperform its competitors. 1. SAP’s financial position has never been stronger. To compete and

ServiceNow Set to Unveil ‘Killer App’ as Market Cap Surpasses $50 Billion

May 2, 2019
With subscription revenue up 40% and a record-high market cap almost as large as General Motors’, digital-workflow leader ServiceNow is preparing to release a new employee-experience SaaS product that CEO John Donahoe says will become a “killer mobile app.” During ServiceNow’s recent Q1 earnings call, Donahoe spoke about the forthcoming release named “New York.” “New
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pinchai declined to offer specific Google Cloud Q1 Revenue numbers.

Google Cloud Q1 Numbers: What Alphabet Execs Said, and Didn’t Say

May 1, 2019
While Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and CFO Ruth Porat declined to offer specific details about Google Cloud’s revenue levels or growth rates during Monday’s earnings call, they did offer a few insights during prepared remarks and Q&A. Here’s a look at some of their verbatim statements. And I focused on comments about Google Cloud, which