David Hynes

David Hynes questioned whether Sprout Social is moving fast enough with its agent development, given that other companies are already generating significant agentic revenue and scaling their efforts rapidly.

Answer

Ryan Barretto, CEO, acknowledged the internal pressure to accelerate development but emphasized the critical importance of ensuring accuracy, trust, and avoiding hallucinations when building AI at scale. He expressed satisfaction with the team's progress and the positive customer feedback from over 1,000 Trellis users, highlighting the complexity of integrating vast amounts of data reliably.

David Hynes asked for further explanation on Sprout Social's statement that "social data is not meaningfully accessible to the LLMs today," seeking clarification on what social data is and isn't available to LLMs and homegrown agents. He also questioned whether Sprout Social is moving fast enough with its agent development, given that other companies are already generating agentic revenue and scaling quickly.

Answer

Ryan Barretto (CEO, Sprout Social) explained that Sprout Social has privileged access to private APIs through elevated partner status and legal agreements with social networks, which often restrict data sharing with LLMs. He noted that even large LLM providers are Sprout customers for mission-critical social data, highlighting Sprout's ability to ingest billions of data points and enrich them with context. Regarding agent speed, Mr. Barretto acknowledged the pressure to move quickly but emphasized the importance of ensuring accuracy, trust, and effectiveness of AI at scale, given the complexity of data and infrastructure, expressing satisfaction with the team's progress and positive customer feedback on Trellis.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity asked if NewsWhip provides access to new media sources not previously captured by Sprout's listening tools and inquired about the product's typical price point.

Answer

CEO Ryan Barretto confirmed NewsWhip does access new media sources, focusing on news publications to identify trending articles for crisis management. He described NewsWhip as an enterprise product with a price point 'multiples bigger' than Sprout's average deal size, fitting well within the company's enterprise sales motion.

David Hynes asked two questions: whether cRPO-based bookings growth is a decent proxy for enterprise bookings growth, and what trends are being seen in gross retention for the $10,000 to $50,000 ARR customer cohort.

Answer

CFO Joe Del Preto explained that while the 21% year-over-year cRPO growth was positive, the sequential number is affected by Q4-to-Q1 seasonality and the month-to-month business. He confirmed that gross retention was strong and improved quarter-over-quarter across the entire customer base, not just in enterprise.

David Hynes asked about the health of the sales pipeline entering 2025 compared to the previous year and inquired about the 2025 margin guidance, which appears conservative given the strong Q4 performance.

Answer

CEO Ryan Barretto confirmed that the pipeline grew year-over-year in Q4, particularly in the enterprise segment, driven by focused initiatives. CFO Joe Del Preto explained the margin guidance reflects a strategy to maintain flexibility for investments, a consistent approach for the company. He added that revenue overperformance would likely lead to incremental leverage, as demonstrated in past years.

David Hynes asked for specifics on the future product roadmap for enterprise social customer care, questioning what features large customers are requesting that Sprout does not yet deliver. He also inquired about the remaining opportunity from the end-of-life of Salesforce's Social Studio.

Answer

CEO Ryan Barretto explained that enterprise customers primarily need features Sprout is already delivering and enhancing, such as high-volume handling, rapid onboarding, deep workflow, security, and AI-driven productivity. Regarding Salesforce, Barretto confirmed a significant opportunity remains, noting Sprout has won the vast majority of deals it has seen and highlighted the ongoing partnership, including being a launch partner for Agentforce.

David Hynes asked about the trends in volume commitments during the Q4 renewal cycle compared to a year ago, and any price increases on like-for-like renewals. He also sought a deeper understanding of Datagrid's role in integrating data not currently within Procore to power AI efforts.

Answer

CFO Howard Fu stated that ACV commitments on the platform continued to grow past $1 trillion in Q4, indicating ongoing market share gains, but did not disclose specific price increase numbers. President and CEO Ajei Gopal explained Procore's three-layered AI architecture (APIs, platform, agents) and how Datagrid accelerates this strategy by bringing advanced reasoning and connectivity. He noted Procore's existing connectors to numerous third-party systems, including ERPs, and its massive, dynamic dataset, which includes unique elements like annotations and changes, are crucial for AI.

David Hynes asked about trends in volume commitments during the Q4 renewal cycle compared to the previous year, including any price increases on like-for-like renewals, and sought deeper insight into Datagrid's role in integrating external data not already within Procore to power AI efforts.

Answer

Howard Fu (CFO, Procore Technologies) stated that ACV commitments on the platform continued to grow beyond $1 trillion in Q4, indicating ongoing market share gains, but did not disclose specific pricing details. Ajei Gopal (President and CEO, Procore Technologies) outlined Procore's three-layered AI architecture (APIs, agentic platform, AI agents). He explained that Datagrid accelerates this strategy by providing advanced reasoning and connectivity, including connectors to third-party systems like ERPs, complementing Procore's extensive and dynamic internal dataset.

David Hynes asked whether the increased cross-sell mix was a direct result of the new GTM model or a reflection of lower volume-based upsells. He also inquired about the lighter-than-expected Q2 free cash flow and the full-year outlook.

Answer

CFO Howard Fu attributed the improved cross-sell mix to broad execution, including the new technical specialists and product progress, not lower volume. CEO Craig Courtemanche confirmed volume was not down and that customer feedback on the new model is positive. Regarding cash flow, Fu advised against focusing on quarterly fluctuations, stating the company is on track for its full-year targets.

David Hynes asked for specifics on the 'learnings' from the Q1 go-to-market disruption and questioned why Q1 sales and marketing opex was lower than in Q3 2024 despite recent hiring.

Answer

CEO Craig Courtemanche and CFO Howard Fu stated the transition is proceeding as planned, with learnings centered on change management and communication. They are where they expected to be and anticipate benefits in the second half of the year. Howard Fu clarified that the S&M spending decrease was due to one-time investments in late 2024 that did not recur, and the primary focus remains on optimizing free cash flow per share.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity questioned the sales team's reception to the new coverage plans, the activity of the technical sales layer, and the expected shape of revenue growth throughout 2025.

Answer

CEO Tooey Courtemanche described enthusiasm from the sales team and customers about the new model but stressed that the company is now in the critical execution phase, with disruption expected in H1 2025. CFO Howard Fu noted that productivity should pick up in the second half of the year but declined to provide specific quarterly growth shaping, reiterating the focus is on successful execution in Q1 and Q2.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity questioned the basis for the fiscal 2025 revenue guidance of 11% growth, noting that metrics like billings and CRPO don't seem to fully support it, and asked about the performance of customer cohorts that made conservative commitments a year ago.

Answer

Howard Fu, an executive, clarified that the fiscal 2025 guidance is an early and intentionally conservative floor, factoring in the ongoing go-to-market transition. He added that customer cohorts from the past year have shown consistent behavior, with expansion rates remaining steady but still below historical pre-downturn levels.

David Hynes asked about the factors creating headwinds for the CX business in Q4 2025, given the optimism around AI, and inquired if the current net dollar retention (104% currency adjusted) is sufficient to drive durable 14-15% growth, or if NRR needs to inflect higher.

Answer

CEO Dennis Woodside explained that investment is focused on EX and AI, with the CX business being managed for mid-single-digit growth after unifying conversational and ticketing capabilities and lapping a 'Free to Paid' initiative. COO and CFO Tyler Sloat added that the EX business has faster growth and better net dollar retention, with new growth mechanisms like ESM, Device42, FireHydrant, and Freddy Copilot expected to improve NRR, projecting an increase to 105% in Q1 2026 driven by EX.

David Hynes asked about the factors creating headwinds for the CX business growth in Q4, the impact of AI, and whether the current net dollar retention (NRR) ratio is sufficient to drive durable 14%-15% growth, or if NRR needs to inflect higher.

Answer

Dennis Woodside, CEO and President, explained that the CX business is focused on unifying conversational and ticketing capabilities on a new platform, managing mid-single-digit growth while investing in the EX side. Tyler Sloat, COO and CFO, added that NRR is expected to improve to 105% on a constant currency basis in Q1 2026, driven by the faster-growing EX business and new product mechanisms like ESM, Device42, and FireHydrant.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity inquired about the strategy for driving greater AI adoption within the installed base, especially on the CX side, and asked for the organic growth rate of the EX ARR.

Answer

CEO and President Dennis Woodside stated the strategy involves leveraging early adopters, showcasing success stories, and introducing new products to navigate the natural AI adoption curve. COO and CFO Tyler Sloat explained that the company is no longer breaking out the organic growth for the EX business because the Device 42 offering is now highly integrated into the overall sales motion.

David Hynes questioned the slowdown in the $50,000+ customer adds metric and asked for help interpreting it relative to IT bookings. He also inquired about the new Unisys partnership and the broader opportunity in the MSP market.

Answer

CEO Dennis Woodside explained the $50k+ customer metric was affected by a disproportionate FX impact, lapping a strong prior year quarter, and a trend of landing fewer but larger deals, noting that ARPA for this cohort is up. He expressed excitement for the Unisys partnership, highlighting that Unisys chose Freshservice after a year-long review to build a service line for its mid-market customers. Woodside also mentioned ongoing product investments to enhance MSP-specific functionality.

David Hynes requested a deeper dive into the Device42 acquisition, asking about demand trends and product integration efforts. He also inquired about agent seat count trends specifically for CX customers who have adopted Freddy self-service.

Answer

CEO and President Dennis Woodside outlined a clear product roadmap for Device42, with an improved integration coming in Q1 and a cloud version planned for late 2025. He noted the go-to-market focus is on building a cross-sell pipeline, which has significantly increased demand. Regarding seat counts, he confirmed that overall agent seats are growing, as customers adopt a mix of AI and human agents, but did not provide a specific breakout for the self-service cohort.

David Hynes inquired about realized pricing at renewals in Q4 compared to previous periods and Henry Schuck's thoughts on pricing and packaging strategies for 2026 with the rollout of new products.

Answer

Graham O’Brien, Chief Financial Officer, reported 'really positive' renewal outcomes in Q4, particularly for Copilot customers, which showed 'mid-four-digit better renewal outcomes' compared to legacy products. Henry Schuck, Founder and CEO, stated that their primary goal is to delight customers with better products, expecting to 'participate as they consume more and more of our data, more and more of our insights in more and more places' through new pricing and packaging.

David Hynes inquired about realized pricing at renewals in Q4 compared to previous years and Henry Schuck's thoughts on pricing and packaging strategies for new products in 2026.

Answer

Graham O’Brien, CFO, reported positive renewal outcomes in Q4, especially for Copilot customers, who showed mid-four-digit better renewal rates than legacy OS customers. Henry Schuck, CEO, stated that pricing and packaging would align with increased data and insights consumption as customers leverage new products.

David Hynes asked about the decision-making process for choosing a Vibe coding platform, whether customers pilot multiple tools or if coexistence is expected, and the competitive dynamics. He also inquired if the 91% gross retention in the 50K+ cohort is satisfactory or if there's potential for further gains, and whether churning customers consolidate on other packaged vendors or build solutions in-house.

Answer

Eran Zinman, monday.com Co-CEO, differentiated monday.com's Vibe coding, which leverages existing data and workflows within an enterprise-grade, secure platform, from other consumer/SMB-oriented tools. Eliran Glazer, monday.com CFO, stated that 91% gross retention is a historical high and is expected to continue rising with additional products and AI. He noted that churn is primarily from lower-end SMBs due to price or other reasons, and monday.com's multi-product/AI platform encourages consolidation on their platform rather than customers moving to competitors or building in-house.

David Hynes asked about the decision-making process for customers choosing a Vibe coding platform, inquiring if they pilot multiple tools, if coexistence is expected, and about the competitive dynamics. He also asked if the 91% gross retention in the $50K+ cohort is satisfactory, if there's potential for further gains, and what churning customers are doing.

Answer

Eran Zinman, Co-CEO, explained that monday.com offers Vibe coding on top of its platform, allowing existing customers to leverage their data and workflows, distinguishing it as an enterprise-grade solution unlike consumer/SMB-oriented tools. Eliran Glazer, CFO, stated that 91% gross retention is a historical high and is expected to continue improving with additional products and AI features. He noted that churn is primarily among lower-end SMB customers due to price or other reasons, and monday.com's multi-product platform encourages consolidation rather than customers churning to other platforms.

David Hynes asked whether the planned 30% headcount growth for the year should be considered a temporary 'surge' or a new steady-state hiring pace, and if hiring would moderate in the future.

Answer

CFO Eliran Glazer clarified that the 30% headcount growth in fiscal 2025 is a strategic investment to capture the current market opportunity. He stated that the pace of hiring is expected to decelerate in the second half of the year and become more moderate going into fiscal 2026, as the company will have the necessary resources in place.

David Hynes asked about the underlying trends in Net Retention Rate (NRR) when excluding price increases. He also inquired about the appetite for additional product adoption among large customers who recently completed major seat expansions.

Answer

CFO Eliran Glazer stated that underlying NRR trends are now 'more stable,' as the impact from price increases was primarily felt last year. Co-CEO Eran Zinman added that while CRM and Dev products are not yet mature enough for large enterprise cross-sell, monday service is showing surprising momentum and adoption potential within these larger accounts.

David Hynes asked a strategic, big-picture question about the company's future direction, specifically inquiring where monday.com plans to expand its core work product lines next.

Answer

co-CEO Roy Mann outlined a two-pronged strategy: first, to deepen the functionality of each existing product to become a full suite (e.g., adding a marketing solution to the CRM). Second, to deeply embed AI within each product to accelerate its core value, such as using AI to make project management more predictable and help CRM users sell more effectively.

David Hynes asked for an update on the partner ecosystem's growth and contribution, especially as monday.com moves upmarket. He also inquired about the beta usage of monday Service, specifically the split between internal ticketing and customer-facing support use cases.

Answer

Co-CEO Eran Zinman reported continued great momentum in the partner ecosystem, noting that partners are increasingly delivering services and specializing in specific products like CRM and dev. He clarified that monday Service is currently positioned for internal use cases, not external customer support. The demand is broad across departments like IT, HR, operations, and finance, not just for IT service management.

David Hynes inquired about how Veeva balances go-to-market initiatives on the commercial side, particularly with Crossix's success, CRM migration, and new products like Service Center, asking when Veeva will lean more into cross-selling these new offerings to top 20 clients.

Answer

Paul Shawah (EVP Strategy) explained that dedicated teams allow focus on multiple areas simultaneously. He noted that CRM migration, while sometimes slowing things, also creates opportunities for customers to adopt broader commercial cloud pieces for efficiency. He emphasized Veeva's unique value proposition of connecting all commercial pieces (Vault CRM, content, Crossix, Data Cloud) on a common platform, creating significant competitive advantage over new market entrants.

David Hynes asked about how Veeva balances go-to-market initiatives on the commercial side, including CRM migration, new products like Service Center and Campaign Manager, and cross-sell opportunities.

Answer

Paul Shawah (EVP Strategy) explained that Veeva manages multiple go-to-market initiatives with dedicated teams, allowing focus across areas. He noted that Vault CRM migration, while sometimes slowing things, also creates cross-sell opportunities for products like Network, Nitro, Service Center, and Campaign Manager as customers seek broader efficiencies.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity inquired about the economics of the first large enterprise customers on Vault CRM, specifically comparing their spend levels and margin contribution to the legacy Veeva CRM.

Answer

CEO Peter Gassner stated that the price and revenue to Veeva are 'about similar' between Vault CRM and the legacy product. He explained that while the cost of goods sold will be lower in the long term, it is slightly higher in the short term to cover transition costs while customers run both systems during the cutover period.

David Hynes asked if Salesforce is appearing more frequently as a competitor, citing their recent earnings call. He also requested a reminder of the margin impact from the Termination for Convenience (TFC) clause this year.

Answer

EVP of Strategy Paul Shawah noted that Salesforce remains the primary competitor, which is expected and not a change in frequency, especially as IQVIA has exited the market. CFO Brian Van Wagener clarified that the TFC impact is mainly on revenue, affecting the year-over-year growth rate by about 2 percentage points, with a smaller effect on margins.

David Hynes asked about Toast's business performance during a recent AWS outage, specifically how customers utilized offline mode, the impact on online ordering, and if this event served as a differentiating point for Toast.

Answer

CEO Aman Narang stated that the business performed well during the AWS outage because the platform is built for resilience, allowing customers to operate in offline mode, take orders, send them to kitchens, and process payments. He noted that while online ordering was affected, customers were able to process offline transactions once systems were restored, and there was no meaningful impact on Q4 guidance. He also mentioned ongoing efforts to enhance digital channel resilience.

David Hynes from Canaccord Genuity inquired about Toast's business performance during the recent AWS outage, specifically how restaurants utilized offline mode, the impact on online ordering, and whether Toast's resilience during such events serves as a competitive differentiator.

Answer

CEO Aman Narang confirmed that the business held up well due to Toast's platform being built for offline operation, allowing customers to take orders, send to kitchens, and process payments offline, then sync when systems returned. He acknowledged the growing need for resilient digital channels but stated there was no meaningful impact on Q4 guidance.

David Hynes asked about the competitive dynamics in the enterprise restaurant segment, including incumbent reactions and price sensitivity. He also inquired about the typical implementation timeline for a large enterprise win like Firehouse Subs.

Answer

CEO Aman Narang stated that Toast is primarily displacing legacy on-premise systems, making modern cloud technology the key differentiator over price. CFO Elena Gomez added that these wins are the result of multi-year product investments and that a large rollout can take one to two years to fully implement, with some locations going live shortly after the deal is signed.

David Hynes questioned the strength of the enterprise pipeline and Toast's product positioning for upmarket customers, and also asked about the ARPU and margin profile of the emerging retail segment.

Answer

CEO Aman Narang highlighted recent enterprise wins like Hilton and Perkins, attributing the momentum to platform maturation in areas like APIs and enterprise-grade configuration management. CFO Elena Gomez noted that while it's early for the retail segment, the economics are healthy, and the industry's higher average GPV suggests strong potential for ARPU and long-term ARR growth.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity asked about the path from user growth in Atlassian Intelligence (Rovo) to monetization, including the timeline and whether it would manifest as consumption revenue or cross-sell.

Answer

CFO Joe Binz stated that the immediate focus for Rovo is on driving usage and engagement, with monetization being a longer-term consideration; FY26 guidance assumes only nominal revenue. CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes added that monetization is already occurring indirectly through the uplift from the Teamwork Collection, which includes AI credits, and through strong growth in Premium and Enterprise editions. He noted that while direct consumption models are possible, the primary benefit is driving adoption of the broader platform.

David Hynes from Canaccord Genuity asked about the strategy and timeline for monetizing the growing user base of Rovo, Atlassian's AI offering.

Answer

CFO Joe Binz clarified that the immediate focus for Rovo is driving deployment and usage, with only nominal revenue assumed in the FY26 plan. CEO & Co-Founder Mike Cannon-Brookes added that monetization is already occurring indirectly through the Teamwork Collection, which includes a large bundle of AI credits and is a key driver for upgrades. He also mentioned other vectors like consumption-based pricing and potential future SKUs, but reiterated that driving usage is the current priority.

David Hynes, using the alias DJ Hynes, asked for the key assumptions underpinning the Q3 data center revenue growth guidance of approximately 7%, considering factors like price changes, early renewals, and partner commissions.

Answer

CFO Joe Binz explained the 7% growth guidance reflects pricing and expansion, offset by macro uncertainty, cloud migrations, and a difficult year-over-year comparison due to the prior year's server end-of-support event. He noted that the impact of recent price increases has been predictable and is already factored into the forecast, with no unusual customer behavior observed to date.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity questioned the sequential revenue decline in the E&T segment and asked for color on the bookings mix between new logos and existing customer upsells.

Answer

CEO Ron Yekutiel and CFO John Doherty clarified the E&T sequential revenue dip was expected due to a tough comparison with a strong Q1 that included a significant on-prem revenue component. On bookings, Yekutiel acknowledged that upsells have recently dominated new logos, reflecting an industry trend of consolidation. However, he noted a growing pipeline and recent wins like Xbox indicate a positive shift toward more new logo acquisition, driven by product strength and AI.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity asked about the new customer pipeline's role in sustaining growth and inquired about strategic changes from the new product and sales leadership.

Answer

Executive Ron Yekutiel noted that while upsells from existing customers are strong, the new logo pipeline is improving as clients look to consolidate vendors. He stated the new product lead is doubling down on AI with "Kaltura Content Lab," while the new sales lead is deepening verticalization and global expansion, indicating a reinforcement of existing strategies rather than a major shift.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity asked about CS DISCO's 'With You in Every Case' strategy, questioning if services are a primary tool for new customer acquisition. He also inquired about the path to the 2026 adjusted EBITDA breakeven target and whether it relies more on revenue growth or operational efficiency.

Answer

CEO Eric Friedrichsen clarified the services strategy is not about driving services revenue but about educating customers on DISCO's full capabilities to win larger software deals. CFO Michael LaFaire and Friedrichsen confirmed the 2026 EBITDA breakeven goal remains, supported by revenue growth assumptions and relatively flat expenses, while still allowing for strategic investments to accelerate growth towards a 20%+ target.

David Hynes asked about CEO Eric Friedrichsen's strategic focus for the next 12-18 months following his first year, and sought clarity on the new "With You In Every Case" tagline, questioning if it signaled a move towards more services.

Answer

CEO Eric Friedrichsen explained that after a year of foundational changes to culture, operations, and go-to-market, the focus is now on high-level execution of that strategy. He clarified that the "With You In Every Case" tagline is meant to communicate DISCO's dual strengths: an easy-to-use, self-service platform for some matters, and a robust, expert services team for larger, more complex cases, ensuring customers see them as a comprehensive partner.

David Hynes from Canaccord Genuity asked if Klaviyo's new consumer-facing conversational AI agents could create channel conflict with e-commerce platform partners who may be developing similar technology.

Answer

Co-Founder and CEO Andrew Bialecki stated that he sees no real competition, but rather an opportunity for collaboration. He explained that Klaviyo is in a 'rush' to help all its customers deploy personal AI agents, a capability not yet widely available. He views partners as an accelerant to this shared mission, not a source of conflict.

David Hynes from Canaccord Genuity asked how Klaviyo is prioritizing investment dollars across its various growth initiatives, including new customer acquisition, upmarket expansion, international growth, and new product development.

Answer

CEO Andrew Bialecki outlined three key areas of ambitious investment: 1) Expanding the use of AI and machine learning for content automation; 2) Accelerating the push into mid-market and enterprise with a modern, data-first platform; and 3) Broadening the B2C CRM platform with new channels and applications, particularly in the large service market.

David Hynes questioned the ARR overlap with the Shopify ecosystem, the progression of that partnership's lead flow, and other promising B2C ecosystem opportunities like WooCommerce.

Answer

Co-Founder and CEO Andrew Bialecki described the Shopify relationship as very strong and symbiotic, noting some brands adopt Klaviyo before moving to Shopify. He positioned the new WooCommerce partnership as serving a more international and varied customer base. CFO Amanda Whalen added that many of Shopify's large enterprise wins, like Reebok and Champion, are also strong Klaviyo customers.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity inquired about the performance of Klaviyo's various customer acquisition channels, including inbound marketing, partner ecosystems like Shopify, and direct sales efforts.

Answer

CEO Andrew Bialecki explained that all three primary acquisition channels are performing well. He highlighted particular strength in the entrepreneur segment, driven by inbound and platform partners like Shopify, and noted the direct sales team is gaining significant traction with mid-market and enterprise brands.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity asked about the impact of AI adoption on human agent seat counts, questioning if customers are reducing agents and if AI spend is offsetting any potential decline.

Answer

CEO & Chairman Mike Burkland explained that the non-AI business continues to grow, indicating customers are not reducing agent counts. He stated the primary enterprise strategy is using AI to manage agent growth, not replace staff. He noted customers are deflecting 5-10% of voice interactions, and the bear thesis of mass agent reduction is not materializing in their results.

David Hynes questioned who is likely to win in the AI space—CCaaS vendors or third parties like Salesforce—and asked how Five9 monetizes its data access if a customer uses a third-party AI solution.

Answer

CEO Michael Burkland explained that Five9's platform acts as a crucial control point for contextual data, making it a winner regardless of which AI is used. He detailed that if a customer uses a third-party AI, Five9 monetizes access to its data through 'voice stream and transcript stream,' a consumption-based model that generates approximately $40 to $50 per month per AI agent.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity asked about the experience of early AI adopters, questioning if they are expanding usage, reducing agent counts, or maintaining their current setup.

Answer

Executive Michael Burkland stated that AI is central to customer experience discussions, expanding Five9's total addressable market. He noted customers use AI for both labor savings and as an additive enhancement for human agents. Executive Andy Dignan added that while IVA was the initial driver of AI bookings, Agent Assist is now showing significant growth.

David Hynes from Canaccord Genuity asked for clarification on the M&A strategy, questioning if the pause was short-term or a permanent shift, and also inquired about the current demand environment and pipeline development.

Answer

CEO Jack McDonald clarified that the pause on M&A is a near-term focus on organic growth and deleveraging, but it's possible the company could consider acquisitions again in about a year. Regarding demand, he described the environment as "fine," noting that AI is a tailwind and that investments in demand generation, including the recent rollout of intent data for outbound SDRs, are leading to increased marketing-sourced bookings.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity inquired whether the pause on M&A was a near-term strategy or a permanent shift to organic growth. He also asked for an assessment of the current demand environment and pipeline development.

Answer

CEO Jack McDonald clarified that the M&A pause is a near-term focus on organic growth and deleveraging over the next year, but it's possible the company could resume M&A activity in about a year. Regarding demand, McDonald described the environment as "fine," highlighting AI as a tailwind and noting positive trends from investments in demand generation, including increases in marketing-sourced bookings and the recent rollout of intent data to support outbound sales efforts.

David Hynes asked for a qualitative breakdown of the drivers behind the company's faster organic growth and improving margins, questioning if it was due more to divesting underperforming assets or if the core products were genuinely improving.

Answer

CEO John McDonald attributed the bulk of the improvement to focusing on higher-growth, higher-margin products through divestitures. However, he also highlighted significant contributions from a new centralized digital marketing capability, product enhancements from the India development center, and the successful AI-enablement of products, which is driving new bookings like a recent major enterprise LLM implementation.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. inquired about Upland's AI strategy, suggesting it might be an underappreciated aspect of the company, particularly regarding products like RightAnswers and BA Insight. He also asked for details on the asset unwind strategy, including the remaining recurring revenue to be divested and the net proceeds from recent sales.

Answer

CEO John McDonald confirmed the centrality of their AI strategy, noting that 80% of the core content and knowledge management portfolio is now AI-enabled. He highlighted specific products like BA Insight's AI enablement platform, Panviva Sidekick, and Qvidian's AI Assist, which secured a $500,000 ARR deal. Executive Michael Hill added that the recent divestitures yielded approximately $10 million in proceeds and that Sunset asset revenue is expected to fall from about $32 million in 2024 to $14 million in 2025.

Asked about the profile and experience of newly hired sales reps and the time to productivity. Also questioned whether enterprise account growth is a prerequisite for revenue reacceleration, given the recent sequential declines.

Answer

Travis Hess described hiring experienced reps for enterprise and incubating younger talent for mid-market, with an estimated 6-month onboarding time. Daniel Lentz acknowledged the decline in enterprise accounts but pointed to six consecutive quarters of accelerating average revenue per account (ARPA), arguing that revenue can accelerate through wallet share expansion initiatives even with modest unit growth.

Asked about engagement with partners following leadership changes and the target for enterprise Net Revenue Retention (NRR).

Answer

Partner engagement is strong, with a new focus on deeper relationships with a concentrated set of partners, driven by the composability strategy. The goal for NRR is to return to best-in-class levels (above 113%), driven by new product monetization paths and bundling, with more details to come at the Investor Day.

Asked for clarification on the company's strategic focus given the plan to serve B2C, B2B, and SMB markets, and inquired about the reasons for the consecutive quarterly declines in the number of enterprise accounts.

Answer

The company will narrow its focus within the B2C, B2B, and SMB segments to target 'discerning customers looking to scale,' with specialized approaches for each. The decline in enterprise accounts is attributed to insufficient new pipeline growth to offset attrition among smaller enterprise clients, an issue they are actively working to resolve, particularly by focusing on the strong B2B pipeline.

David Hynes from Canaccord Genuity asked which industry verticals Zeta is monitoring most closely in the current environment and how an impact would manifest. He also questioned the company's philosophical approach to balancing growth and operating leverage if growth were to slow below 20%.

Answer

CEO David Steinberg identified automotive and retail as verticals he was initially most concerned about but noted both have remained strong with no disruption seen through April. CFO Chris Greiner added that 7 of the top 10 verticals grew over 20% in Q1 and the guidance is built with conservatism. On the growth/leverage trade-off, Greiner stated they don't have to sacrifice one for the other, pointing to 17 straight quarters of margin expansion and multiple levers within opex to protect margins if revenue slows.

David Hynes from Canaccord Genuity inquired about the momentum in Zeta's agency business, the visibility into new brand pipelines from agency partners, and the strategy behind the company's push into creative AI agents, including any potential for channel conflict.

Answer

CEO David Steinberg attributed the strong agency momentum to Zeta being a highly profitable partner, as bundling data with activation lowers agency costs by an average of 25%. This is driving significant volume and provides strong visibility for 2025. Regarding creative AI, Steinberg clarified that the goal is not to compete with agencies but to support them by using AI to optimize their existing creative assets for different devices and improve conversion rates.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity inquired about Zeta's vision for its newer publisher cloud and its potential market size. He also asked for a breakdown of scaled customer ARPU growth, excluding political and agency revenue, to better understand underlying trends.

Answer

CEO David Steinberg described the publisher cloud as the next major growth opportunity, designed to integrate the SSP, DSP, and data cloud to boost publisher yield. CFO Christopher Greiner clarified that excluding political revenue, ARPU growth would still be in the mid-20s, higher than the previous quarter, driven by channel adoption, use case expansion, and agency mix.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity inquired about Zeta's vision and market potential for its newer publisher cloud business, and also asked for a breakdown of scaled customer ARPU growth when excluding political and agency-related contributions.

Answer

CEO David Steinberg described the publisher cloud as the next significant growth opportunity, aiming to integrate the SSP, DSP, and data cloud to increase publisher yield. CFO Christopher Greiner clarified that even excluding political revenue, ARPU growth would have surpassed the previous quarter's 22%, driven almost equally by channel adoption, use case expansion, and agency customer mix.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity sought details on the tangible business outcomes for customers using OfferFit, such as changes in message volume or content creation speed, and how this translates to revenue for Braze. He also asked for the cash and stock breakdown of the OfferFit acquisition.

Answer

CEO Bill Magnuson clarified that OfferFit's primary outcome is enhanced message relevance and ROI, not necessarily higher message volume. He positioned the acquisition as a way for Braze to value-sell more effectively due to OfferFit's demonstrable performance uplift, which commands higher prices while maintaining attractive margins. CFO Isabelle Winkles specified that the $325 million deal consists of 42% equity and the remainder in cash.

David Hynes asked for clarification on Braze's positioning relative to CDPs, given that CDP vendors are launch partners for the Braze Data Platform. He also questioned the depth of capabilities available in the 14-day free trial.

Answer

CEO Bill Magnuson clarified that Braze partners with CDPs to manage data complexity from diverse customer ecosystems, aiming to get data into Braze efficiently rather than replace the entire data stack. Regarding the free trial, he explained its purpose is to allow technical stakeholders to validate Braze's performance and reliability, which helps differentiate it from competitors and is increasingly table stakes in enterprise evaluations.

David Hynes asked about ServiceTitan's strategy in heavy construction, its positioning relative to Procore and Autodesk, and whether Net Revenue Retention (NRR) has been trending higher.

Answer

President Vahe Kuzoyan clarified that ServiceTitan focuses on specialty trade subcontractors, not general contractors, suggesting a potential for partnership with firms like Procore rather than direct competition. CFO Dave Sherry stated that the stabilization trend in NRR continued and customers expanded faster, but did not provide a specific number or confirm an upward trend.

David Hynes asked about the business impact from natural disasters like the California wildfires and also requested expectations for Q4 free cash flow.

Answer

CFO Dave Sherry explained that due to significant geographic diversification of Gross Transaction Volume (GTV), natural disasters have not historically had a material impact on the business. Regarding cash flow, he noted Q3 was strong due to operating income performance and favorable working capital. For Q4, he expects positive free cash flow to be roughly in line with or slightly ahead of guided non-GAAP operating income.

David Hynes inquired about the early progress of the Microsoft Azure marketplace channel compared to the AWS launch and asked about the extent of unused license capacity (shelfware) in the customer base and its potential impact on growth as hiring improves.

Answer

CEO John Strosahl reported that the Azure marketplace launch is showing encouraging early signs, with strong partner engagement from Microsoft, similar to the success seen with AWS. He also explained that Jamf closely monitors device enrollment and is not concerned about significant shelfware, expecting to benefit from a hiring recovery without a major lag, though noting device expansion is just one of several growth levers.

David Hynes asked who becomes the 'control tower' for various AI agents in an 'Agentic world' and how HubSpot is positioned to fulfill that role for its SMB customer base.

Answer

Executive Dharmesh Shah explained that composability and agent collaboration will be critical. He positioned HubSpot's agent.ai as the key network where builders will aggregate due to its access to users and rich, contextual data. He noted agent.ai's user base had surged to over 900,000, positioning HubSpot to become the dominant agent platform for SMBs.

David Hynes questioned the key drivers behind the strong growth in customers enabled for more than one solution and asked if private equity-led consolidation in the trades industry is impacting EverCommerce's business.

Answer

President Matt Feierstein attributed the growth in multi-product enablement to a more integrated go-to-market and sales motion, where embedded offerings like payments and Edge are discussed upfront. CEO Eric Remer explained that PE consolidation is not significantly impacting their core market of smaller contractors (1-10 trucks) and that for larger customers, EverCommerce is well-positioned to be a net beneficiary.

Inquired about the drivers for future levered free cash flow per share growth and the outlook for a return to positive sequential revenue growth in 2025.

Answer

The company identified three levers for free cash flow growth: top-line growth (the priority), margin expansion, and share repurchases. They are taking a very conservative approach to future guidance and did not commit to a specific timeline for returning to positive sequential growth, citing the large number of renewals in Q4.

David Hynes of Canaccord Genuity inquired about the specific product enhancements Shopify is focusing on to drive further B2B adoption, particularly within the enterprise segment.

Answer

President Harley Finkelstein detailed recent B2B feature releases, including product bundles, improved conversion tracking, and Shopify Flow automation templates. He noted that while growth initially came from existing DTC merchants adding a B2B channel, Shopify is now attracting exclusively B2B merchants, who sometimes expand into DTC later, reinforcing the value of its unified platform.