Catharine Trebnick

Catharine Trebnick asked about changing channel buying patterns for bundled deals (Phone, Contact Center, Meetings), the impact on Zoom's go-to-market strategy, and whether enterprises are increasingly seeking a platform play similar to trends in security.

Answer

Michelle Chang (CFO, Zoom) observed an intensification of the natural bundling of Zoom Phone and Contact Center, often with meetings, reflecting the market's shift towards a 'system of action' and AI value. She confirmed that many large deals are platform-oriented, with 6 out of 10 top Contact Center deals including Phone, indicating a desire for a unified system. Eric Yuan (Founder and CEO, Zoom) added that consolidating UCaaS (Zoom Workplace) and CCaaS into one platform and vendor offers significant ROI for large enterprises migrating from on-prem or pre-AI solutions.

Catharine Trebnick asked about changes in buying patterns from Enterprise and SMBs, specifically if more bundled deals are making system integrators more attractive, and if enterprises are moving towards a platform play, with Zoom positioned to meet that demand.

Answer

Michelle Chang, CFO, Zoom, noted an intensification of the pattern where Phone and Contact Center naturally bundle, often with meetings, reflecting the market's move towards a 'system of action' and AI value. Eric Yuan, Founder and CEO, Zoom, added that for large enterprises migrating from on-prem or pre-AI solutions, consolidating UCaaS (Zoom Workplace) and CCaaS into one platform from one vendor offers significant ROI, leading to combined renewals.

Catharine Trebnick asked for an update on Zoom's international strategy, inquiring which products or business segments are receiving the most focus in international markets.

Answer

CFO Michelle Chang explained that Zoom's strategy is global and consistent across all regions. She noted that the 'better together' platform message, combining communication and customer experience, is resonating well globally. Specifically in EMEA, she highlighted strong traction for the Workvivo employee experience platform.

Catharine Trebnick from Rosenblatt Securities inquired about the pipeline for combined UC and Contact Center deals and the potential competitive disruption from NICE's low-priced phone offering.

Answer

CEO Eric Yuan expressed high confidence that competitors entering the UC space late would struggle to compete against established platforms like Zoom, citing the significant investment required in technology, features, and scalable architecture. CFO Kelly Steckelberg added that the 'better together' strategy is working well, with Contact Center driving demand for Zoom Phone and vice-versa, all unified by the AI Companion across the platform.

Catharine Trebnick inquired about the percentage of Five9's enterprise customer base currently adopting AI solutions, specifically Agent Assist and Genius Routing, to gauge the future runway for enterprise AI adoption.

Answer

Chairman Mike Burkland indicated that it's still early days for full, end-to-end AI penetration within the customer base, despite widespread enterprise interest in AI. He stressed that Five9's customers are deploying AI in production environments, not just proofs of concept, and that the $100 million AI ARR is merely the beginning of this opportunity.

Catharine Trebnick from Rosenblatt asked about the percentage of Five9's enterprise customer base adopting AI solutions, specifically Agent Assist and Genius Routing, to understand the future runway for enterprise AI adoption.

Answer

Chairman Mike Burkland stated that while almost every enterprise is considering AI, it's still early days for end-to-end full penetration within Five9's customer base. He reiterated that despite crossing $100 million in AI ARR, the company is 'just getting started' with this opportunity.

Catharine Trebnick of Rosenblatt Securities asked about the rationale and timing behind the recent executive team changes, including several departures.

Answer

CEO & Chairman Mike Burkland explained the moves were part of a thoughtful executive realignment to enhance efficiency, alignment, and ownership for future growth. He highlighted several internal promotions and the consolidation of sales and marketing under a new CRO as key steps to position the right leaders in the right roles, fulfilling his goal of setting the company up for long-term success.

Catharine Trebnick of Rosenblatt Securities asked for an update on the progress of the partnership with BT, particularly in light of geopolitical factors and commentary about a U.K.-based competitor.

Answer

President Andy Dignan affirmed that the relationship with BT remains strong, with continued deal wins and good activity. He emphasized that Five9 relies heavily on its international partners like BT to navigate local market dynamics and stated there has been no major change in the business or pipeline related to the partnership.

Catharine Trebnick of Rosenblatt asked about the status of the Verint partnership, particularly in light of RingCentral announcing a new partnership and a significant deal with Verint.

Answer

Executive Michael Burkland described Verint as a key partner, noting Five9 is their #1 partner. He expressed understanding that Verint must partner broadly across the CCaaS market and sees no issue with the RingCentral deal, viewing it as positive for the industry. Executive Andy Dignan added that Five9 is building a strong pipeline with its Verint cloud-to-cloud integration.

Catherine Trebnick requested an update on Sprinklr's pricing and bundling strategy for sales enablement, specifically for the MarTech stack core and social listening insight space. She also asked for an update on the deployment status of the Deutsche Telekom contact center deal and other large customer implementations.

Answer

CEO Rory Read confirmed the first phase of new pricing and bundling for new MarTech stack core and social listening offerings has been implemented with good early feedback. The next phase will expand this to existing MarTech stack customers, with service functions moving to the new model later next year. Mr. Read also reported significant improvement in execution for large deployments, including Deutsche Telekom, with agents showing positive reception to the solution, and rollouts accelerating across European customers.

Catharine Trebnick asked for an update on Sprinklr's pricing and bundling initiatives for sales enablement and the deployment status of the Deutsche Telekom contact center deal.

Answer

Rory Read, President and CEO, stated that the first phase of new pricing and bundling for the MarTech core has been implemented with good customer feedback and will expand to existing MarTech customers, then to service functions later next year. He also noted significant improvement in large deployments, including the Deutsche Telekom deal, with agents appreciating the solution and accelerated rollouts in Europe.

Catharine Trebnick asked if customer churn was concentrated in any of Sprinklr's core product suites (Marketing, Insights, Social) and what R&D activities are underway to improve renewals.

Answer

President, CEO & Director, Rory Read, responded that renewal pressure is roughly equivalent across the core product suites, with no significant variation. He attributed the issue to a lack of focus on the core as the company pivoted to CCaaS. Read detailed an internal initiative, "Project Tiger Shark," focused on accelerating the core through UI/UX improvements, innovation, and potential small acquisitions, particularly in the customer feedback management space.

Catharine Trebnick requested an update on the sales reorganization discussed in the previous quarter, specifically regarding the plan to have separate sales representatives focused on renewals versus new logos.

Answer

President and CEO Rory Read confirmed that a mature enterprise coverage model will be fully implemented for the start of FY'26 in February. This model will feature a dual pod structure, including dedicated Renewal Account Managers (RAMs), to ensure consistent, year-round relationship management. He stressed a move to a more logical "time and patch" territory model to improve sales productivity and align incentives to drive growth in both core and service offerings.

Catharine Trebnick of Rosenblatt Securities asked for a deeper understanding of the underlying issues causing renewal delays and also inquired about the impact of the AI 'overhang' on marketing departments.

Answer

Founder and Co-CEO Ragy Thomas categorized renewal pressures into two buckets: uncontrollable macro factors and internal execution issues that Sprinklr can fix. He highlighted the need to standardize complex platform implementations to ensure customers realize value. Regarding the marketing suite, he noted that while there is pressure, it's difficult to attribute it specifically to an AI overhang versus other internal execution factors that the company is focused on improving.

Catharine Trebnick asked about the tangible benefits and the expected timeline for seeing incremental revenue from the new partnerships with ServiceNow, AWS, and Snowflake.

Answer

CEO Scott Russell explained that these partnerships involve deep product and engineering collaboration. The resulting integrated capabilities will be available to the market in the second half of the year, mainly in Q4. While pipeline is already building based on these roadmaps, he anticipates a more significant revenue impact will materialize in 2026.

Catharine Trebnick asked about the tangible benefits and the expected timing of incremental revenue from the new partnerships with ServiceNow, AWS, and Snowflake.

Answer

CEO Scott Russell explained that these partnerships involve deep product and engineering collaborations to build orchestration capabilities, which will be available to the market in H2, particularly Q4. While pipeline is already building, he anticipates a more meaningful revenue impact starting in 2026 as customers integrate these joint roadmaps into their long-term purchasing decisions.

Catharine Trebnick of Rosenblatt Securities inquired about the tangible benefits expected from the new ServiceNow, AWS, and Snowflake partnerships and the timeline for seeing incremental revenue from them.

Answer

CEO Scott Russell explained that the partnerships involve deep product and engineering collaboration to build out orchestration capabilities, which will become available to the market in the second half of the year, particularly in Q4. While pipeline and demand are already building, he expects to see a more meaningful revenue impact from these partnerships in 2026, as customers incorporate the joint roadmaps into their long-term buying decisions.

Catharine Trebnick asked about the tangible benefits and the expected timeline for incremental revenue from the new partnerships with ServiceNow, AWS, and Snowflake.

Answer

CEO Scott Russell explained that these partnerships involve deep product and engineering collaboration to build out orchestration capabilities. He expects to bring these integrated solutions to market in late 2025, primarily in Q4. While pipeline is already building based on these collaborations, he anticipates a more material revenue impact beginning in 2026.

Catharine Trebnick of Rosenblatt Securities inquired about the size of deals coming from the Microsoft partnership and asked for an update on the company's capital allocation strategy, particularly regarding debt and M&A.

Answer

CEO Vlad Shmunis clarified the Microsoft Teams integration sees strong double-digit growth and is included in about half of all enterprise deals. CFO Vaibhav Agarwal outlined a flexible capital allocation strategy focused on deleveraging the balance sheet, opportunistic share buybacks under an increased $500M authorization, continued investment in innovation, and potential M&A.

Catharine Trebnick inquired about the status of the NICE partnership for the upmarket segment and asked which competitors RingCX most frequently faces in bake-offs.

Answer

CEO Vlad Shmunis affirmed the NICE partnership remains strong and continues to generate deals, positioning it as a high-end, feature-rich solution. He described RingCX as a complementary, lighter-weight product. Both he and President Kira Makagon noted that RingCX typically competes against smaller, newer entrants, where RingCentral wins on its reputation, global reach, and security.

Catharine Trebnick of Rosenblatt Securities inquired about the competitive positioning OneSpan gains from its Knock Knock acquisition and whether the strategy is focused on acquiring new customers or upselling to its existing base.

Answer

CFO Jorge Martell clarified that the Knock Knock acquisition is a technology-focused tuck-in, not primarily for immediate revenue. He stated the main goal is the cross-sell opportunity within OneSpan's large existing customer base of over a thousand banks, with a more significant impact expected in 2026. The acquisition adds FIDO2 software to complement their hardware keys, offering clients maximum flexibility and securing OneSpan a board seat in the FIDO Alliance.

Catharine Trebnick of Rosenblatt Securities inquired about OneSpan's competitive positioning following the acquisition of Knock Knock Labs, asking if the strategy targets new customer acquisition or upselling to the existing banking client base.

Answer

CFO Jorge Martell explained that the Knock Knock acquisition is a strategic technology tuck-in to complement their FIDO hardware keys with FIDO2 software. He emphasized that the primary goal is the cross-sell opportunity within their extensive base of over a thousand global banking customers, with a more significant revenue impact expected in 2026. Martell also noted the value of the experienced team and the board seat on the FIDO Alliance gained through the deal.

Catharine Trebnick of Rosenblatt Securities inquired about the competitive positioning of the Knock Knock Labs acquisition and its strategic purpose, asking if it is intended for new customer acquisition or as an upsell to the existing banking customer base.

Answer

CFO Jorge Martell explained that the Knock Knock acquisition is a technology-focused, tuck-in deal designed to complement OneSpan's existing FIDO hardware keys. He stated the primary strategy is the cross-sell opportunity to their extensive base of over a thousand global banks, providing maximum flexibility in authentication solutions. Martell noted that the significant impact from this cross-selling is expected more in 2026 as the teams and products are integrated.

Catharine Trebnick inquired about the geographic breakdown of OneSpan's hardware revenue, specifically the portion from Europe, in the context of potential U.S. tariffs on products from Asia.

Answer

CEO Victor Limongelli explained that U.S. exposure is minimal and the announced tariff impact would be small. He confirmed Europe is their largest hardware market but has not been affected by similar tariffs, noting some production occurs within the EU. CFO Jorge Martell added that while he didn't have the exact figure, EMEA likely accounts for over 50% of hardware revenue and is not subject to the recent tariff changes discussed.

Catharine Trebnick inquired about the progress on OneSpan's product roadmap and ecosystem expansion, particularly regarding new products and partnerships mentioned previously. She also asked for clarification on the expected rate of decline for Security hardware revenue in 2025.

Answer

CEO Victor Limongelli described the product and ecosystem efforts as ongoing, highlighting the development of channel partners for the Workforce Authentication market. CFO Jorge Martell confirmed that the 2025 guidance assumes a continued decline in hardware revenue, noting that historically the segment has declined around 8% annually on average over the last decade, and a similar trend is factored into the forecast.

Catharine Trebnick of Trebnick Systems inquired about the progress of building out OneSpan's partner ecosystem and the expected timeline for a positive revenue impact.

Answer

CEO Victor Limongelli explained that while the company is actively signing up partners to address mid-market banks, particularly in Europe, the financial impact is not yet present in reported results. He anticipates a more material contribution beginning in 2025, as it takes several quarters for new partners to be trained and become productive.

Catharine Trebnick asked for details on why 8x8 is winning in the CCaaS space and which product features are key differentiators. She also inquired about the strong performance in the U.K. and the status of the CPaaS business.

Answer

CEO Samuel Wilson attributed CCaaS wins to providing a complete, single-vendor solution that combines best-in-breed technology through its platform and technology partner ecosystem, which is compelling for mid-market customers. He praised the U.K. team for strong execution and high retention rates. He confirmed the CPaaS business continues to be a high-growth area and highlighted the recent launch of integrated RCS messaging as a key innovation.

Catharine Trebnick from Rosenblatt Securities asked about recent adjustments to the go-to-market strategy, partner motions, and channel messaging. She also requested details on the role of a newly added 'transformational leader'.

Answer

CEO Samuel Wilson stated the sales organization continues to evolve towards more consultative solution sellers and praised the marketing team's work on rebranding 8x8 as a CX company. He affirmed the company remains channel-centric. He identified the new leader as Joel, who brings significant AI skills to help transform how the company uses AI internally to drive insights and improve product delivery. He also highlighted Michelle Paitich's recognition as a Channel Chief.

Catharine Trebnick asked about the performance and competitive standing of Fortinet's virtual firewall offering.

Answer

CFO Keith Jensen stated that virtual firewalls have performed 'very, very well' and are a component of both the Unified SASE and Secure Networking pillars. He emphasized the strong relationship and overlap between enterprise customers who purchase both physical and virtual appliances, a topic he noted would be discussed further at the upcoming Analyst Day.