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    Jay Vleeschhouwer

    Research Analyst at Griffin Securities, Inc.

    Jay Vleeschhouwer is Managing Director-Software Research at Griffin Securities, Inc., specializing in technology sector research with a focus on software, computer hardware, semiconductors, and imaging technology. He covers leading companies in engineering and enterprise software, including EDA names like Synopsys and Cadence, and is recognized for consistently accurate stock picks, achieving a 76.5% success rate and generating average returns of 28% per recommendation in recent years. With over 40 years of analyst experience, Vleeschhouwer began his career at Merrill Lynch and has held senior analyst roles at Josephthal Lyon & Ross, Bear Stearns, and Cantor Fitzgerald before joining Griffin Securities, where he has led proprietary research and industry commentary since the early 2000s. He holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from UCLA and an M.B.A. from UC Berkeley, has been named a top stock picker for Software by Refinitiv Starmine, and is regularly featured in major industry and media events.

    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to Autodesk (ADSK) leadership

    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to Autodesk (ADSK) leadership • Q2 2026

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer of Griffin Securities requested a breakdown of the drivers for the increased billings guidance and asked about the expected customer adoption curve for fundamentally new technologies like APS and granular data models.

    Answer

    EVP & CFO Janesh Moorjani attributed the guidance raise to broad momentum from product innovation and go-to-market execution, with AECO and Construction as key drivers. President and CEO Andrew Anagnost noted that API usage is continuously increasing and that new AI features like auto-constraint in Fusion are seeing high acceptance rates (60%), indicating a strong customer appetite for productivity-enhancing technology.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to Autodesk (ADSK) leadership • Q1 2026

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer asked for details on the accelerated roadmaps for Autodesk's industry clouds, particularly the integration of ACC and Forma, and questioned the benefits and risks of channel partner consolidation.

    Answer

    CEO Andrew Anagnost highlighted accelerated roadmaps for Fusion's data management and plans to deepen Forma's integration with Revit. He explained that channel consolidation is a deliberate strategy to foster more solution-focused partners, which has already benefited the Autodesk store through better price realization. The risk of partners not focusing on new business is managed through incentive structures.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to Autodesk (ADSK) leadership • Q4 2025

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer asked for a breakdown of the components (price, volume) behind the now-retired 10-15% growth framework. He also questioned which critical product and technology initiatives, such as platform services and new data models, are receiving reallocated investment.

    Answer

    CEO Andrew Anagnost focused his response on two key growth drivers: enhancing channel productivity to boost core subscription sales and accelerating the growth of emerging 'Make' businesses. He specified that investments are being reallocated to accelerate the roadmaps for the Forma, Fusion, and Construction industry clouds, expand platform APIs, and develop more commercial AI features like the 'AutoConstrain' tool in Fusion.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to Autodesk (ADSK) leadership • Q3 2025

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer questioned the sustainability of the approximate 12% three-year CAGR for current RPO (CRPO) and asked about the future of the Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) position.

    Answer

    Interim CFO Betsy Rafael addressed the CRPO question, noting that underlying growth was consistent with Q2 after accounting for headwinds and tailwinds, such as the declining contribution from large EBA cohorts renewing in FY26. CEO Andrew Anagnost confirmed the CRO role will remain separate under the COO, focusing on direct customer engagement and channel transformation.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to Autodesk (ADSK) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer inquired about the division of labor between Autodesk's direct sales force and the channel under the new transaction model, and how to parse the organic business performance from billings impacts like co-terming.

    Answer

    CEO Andrew Anagnost explained that the new model will drive efficiencies and productivity in sales and marketing, which is where future margin growth will originate. Regarding co-terming, he noted that while it shifts the timing of some billings, it is a net positive as it creates significant efficiency in the renewal process and provides better opportunities for cross-selling and upselling. Interim CFO Betsy Rafael added that managing fewer, consolidated contracts also drives internal cost efficiencies.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to PTC (PTC) leadership

    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to PTC (PTC) leadership • Q3 2025

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer asked two questions: first, whether the sales pipeline is showing an improvement in multi-solution deals, and second, about the status of the Ansys OEM relationship following its acquisition by Synopsys.

    Answer

    President and CEO Neil Barua responded positively to both points. Regarding Ansys/Synopsys, he expressed enthusiasm for the transaction and noted he has already been in discussions with Synopsys's CEO to strengthen and expand the partnership. On multi-product deals, he confirmed they are seeing more of these conversations, particularly at customer events, which validates the strategy of aggregating CAD, PLM, and ALM, especially in the context of AI.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to PTC (PTC) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer inquired about PTC's organic growth drivers beyond active base growth, touching on pricing power, cross-sell opportunities, and the risk of deal disaggregation.

    Answer

    CEO Neil Barua emphasized that the go-to-market transformation is designed to capture more wallet share by expanding core Windchill and Creo usage and cross-selling ALM and SLM, citing a recent CAD consolidation win as proof. CRO Robert Dahdah added that compensation plans are now aligned with this strategy, and the vertical focus allows for more credible, problem-solving conversations with customers, which elevates the engagement and strengthens the value proposition.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to PTC (PTC) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer inquired about PTC's organizational and investment strategy for its AI product initiatives and its potential expansion into manufacturing processes.

    Answer

    CEO Neil Barua explained that PTC's AI development, which began within individual product teams like ServiceMax, is now being centralized for better alignment. Regarding manufacturing, Barua clarified that PTC's strategy is to extend PLM data to the factory floor to integrate with, rather than compete against, existing MES systems.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to PTC (PTC) leadership • Q4 2024

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer of Griffin Securities asked which verticals are most advanced in adopting a 'digital thread' strategy and how PTC's automotive business has fundamentally changed with the industry's shift to software-defined vehicles.

    Answer

    CEO Neil Barua explained that PTC's automotive focus has shifted significantly to Windchill (PLM) and Codebeamer (ALM) to address the complexities of software-defined vehicles, a major change from its historical focus. Regarding the digital thread, he noted that no single vertical is dramatically ahead, which he views as a significant opportunity to cross-sell the integrated portfolio across all key industries.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS (CDNS) leadership

    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS (CDNS) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer of Griffin Securities asked about the broader requirements of Agentic AI, such as workflow orchestration and data management.

    Answer

    President & CEO Anirudh Devgan agreed that workflow automation is key, highlighting the critical role of the Cadence JEDI platform. He described JEDI as the underlying 'Joint Enterprise Data and AI' platform that provides the necessary data management and storage to enable complex, multi-tool agentic workflows, supporting on-prem, cloud, and hybrid customer environments.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS (CDNS) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer asked about the most important technical deliverables for the year, investments in areas like physical verification and next-gen hardware, and spending on acquired simulation solver products.

    Answer

    CEO Anirudh Devgan highlighted three critical R&D investment themes: 1) Expanding AI in chip design, with over 50% of designs now using their AI-enabled tools; 2) 3D-IC technology, a long-term driver requiring investment in tools, analysis, and IP; and 3) Hardware-software co-optimization across CPUs, GPUs, and their own Palladium hardware.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS (CDNS) leadership • Q4 2024

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer from Griffin Securities pointed out the progressive slowdown in year-over-year growth of current RPO (cRPO) and asked for details on its composition and geographic trends excluding China.

    Answer

    CFO John Wall acknowledged the need to grow the annual value of the backlog (cRPO) and stated it would be a key focus for 2025. He noted that the China headwind negatively impacts this metric. He also explained that total backlog is expected to dip in the first half of 2025 due to the timing of renewals, which are more concentrated in the second half of the year.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS (CDNS) leadership • Q3 2024

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer asked about the potential for more vertical-specific product packaging for AI/ML applications and the company's AI development roadmap. He also inquired about the strategy for the System Design & Analysis (SD&A) business, including application integration and go-to-market expansion.

    Answer

    CEO Anirudh Devgan outlined a multi-horizon AI strategy and noted that while most solutions are horizontal, vertical-specific offerings like Millennium will emerge. For SD&A, he stated the portfolio is now largely complete and outgrowing the market, supported by a three-pronged go-to-market strategy of direct sales, a growing indirect channel of over 100 partners, and the Cadence OnCloud e-commerce platform.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to ADOBE (ADBE) leadership

    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to ADOBE (ADBE) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer of Griffin Securities inquired about the rationale behind recent hiring trends, particularly the focus on adding headcount in go-to-market, product management, strategy, and marketing functions.

    Answer

    Chairman & CEO Shantanu Narayen explained that the hiring aligns with the company's innovation roadmap. Marketing investments are to build awareness for new products like Express, while product management hiring is focused on enhancing product-led growth (PLG) motions. He clarified that overall headcount is not growing dramatically due to internal efficiencies gained from AI, and the recent quarterly increase was largely driven by the influx of summer interns.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to ADOBE (ADBE) leadership • Q4 2024

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer asked if current RPO growth would remain near the reported 13% or revert to its lower 3-year average. He also asked if new tiered offerings are based on product functionality or market segmentation.

    Answer

    Dan Durn, EVP and CFO, expressed confidence in future business momentum, citing large enterprise deals and cross-cloud opportunities, but did not guide specifically on cRPO growth. David Wadhwani, President of Digital Media, clarified that the new tiering strategy will be a combination of access to specific features and associated usage limits, representing an evolution from past models like generative credits.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to ADOBE (ADBE) leadership • Q3 2024

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer followed up on previous comments about increasing go-to-market (GTM) spend for Adobe Express, asking if this accelerated investment pace would continue or if it might taper off soon.

    Answer

    President of Digital Media David Wadhwani and CEO Shantanu Narayen responded. Wadhwani confirmed the strategy, detailing significant GTM ramp-up across direct sales, social media, and partnerships to reach new audiences for Express. He stated unequivocally, 'we're going to pour more gas on it, not less.' Narayen added that the company continues to invest in key long-term growth initiatives like Express while delivering phenomenal margins.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to SYNOPSYS (SNPS) leadership

    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to SYNOPSYS (SNPS) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer of Griffin Securities asked for clarification on the growth and sustainability of current RPO. He also requested a deeper explanation of the 'reengineering engineering' theme and the evolution from optimization-focused AI (like DSO.ai) to agent-based AI (AgenTeq.ai).

    Answer

    CFO Shelagh Glaser confirmed strong backlog growth, up $400 million quarter-over-quarter, reflecting a strong business environment. CEO Sassine Ghazi elaborated that 'reengineering engineering' involves integrating multi-physics with electronics for complex systems. He described the AI evolution as a paradigm shift from optimization to agent-based technology, which will transform workflows and create new monetization opportunities.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to SYNOPSYS (SNPS) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer of Griffin Securities asked for confirmation on the growth of the company's current RPO. He also requested that CEO Sassine Ghazi elaborate on the 'reengineering engineering' theme from the recent SNUG conference, particularly the evolution from AI for optimization to the new 'Agentik.ai' concept.

    Answer

    CFO Shelagh Glaser confirmed strong backlog growth, up $400 million quarter-over-quarter. CEO Sassine Ghazi detailed that 'reengineering engineering' involves integrating multi-physics with electronics for complex systems. He distinguished the first AI wave (optimization tools like DSO.ai) from the next wave, Agentik.ai, which will use AI agents for specific engineering tasks, ultimately transforming workflows and creating new monetization opportunities.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to SYNOPSYS (SNPS) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer asked if the growth in semiconductor R&D is becoming more concentrated among fewer companies. He also questioned whether the infusion of AI into EDA tools could eventually democratize design capabilities, making customers more alike in their productivity.

    Answer

    CEO Sassine Ghazi stated that R&D investment is increasing in aggregate across the industry, from advanced to mature nodes, and Synopsys is growing along with this trend. On the second point, he explained that while current AI tools have not fundamentally changed the design workflow, he believes upcoming 'Agentic AI' will. This shift in workflow, he argued, represents a significant new monetization opportunity, distinguishing it from past innovations.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to SYNOPSYS (SNPS) leadership • Q4 2024

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer asked for specifics on the operational alignments being made to prepare for future growth, independent of the Ansys deal. He also inquired about how the long-term trend of domain-specific design interacts with the newer phenomenon of customer-specific AI use cases.

    Answer

    CEO Sassine Ghazi explained that operational alignment involves scaling the company's structure and modernizing internal engineering workflows to improve R&D productivity. Regarding AI, he described a three-stage evolution: first, embedding AI into products (e.g., DSO.ai); second, enabling customer-specific AI models for their unique workflows; and third, the future of generative/agentic AI, which he believes will drive entirely new business models and product offerings.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to SYNOPSYS (SNPS) leadership • Q3 2024

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer asked how the development process for AI products differs from conventional EDA tools and whether they will eventually be absorbed into core products. He also inquired about the company's ambition for its custom analog design business.

    Answer

    CEO Sassine Ghazi explained that generative AI development is moving at a faster, more customer-specific pace than traditional EDA. He agreed with the view that AI capabilities will eventually become an expected, integrated part of the core solution. Regarding analog design, he noted the opportunity is to grow in the analog design environment TAM, where Synopsys is smaller, by leveraging new technologies like ASO.ai to address rising complexity and modernization needs.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to BENTLEY SYSTEMS (BSY) leadership

    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to BENTLEY SYSTEMS (BSY) leadership • Q1 2025

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer inquired about pipeline trends regarding multi-solution sales versus potential deal disaggregation, and the current mix of Bentley's work between existing infrastructure versus new projects.

    Answer

    Executive Chair Greg Bentley noted that the year-plus backlog of customers is a buffer, and the trend of multi-year E365 escalations reflects customer confidence. CEO Nicholas Cumins stated that customers are optimistic and leveraging E365 for more software access, the opposite of disaggregation. He added that while traditionally focused on new infrastructure, growing the business tied to existing asset operations is a major future opportunity.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to BENTLEY SYSTEMS (BSY) leadership • Q4 2024

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer asked for the principal objectives for the new Chief Operating Officer and for an update on the integration of the customer success and account management teams.

    Answer

    CEO Nicholas Cumins clarified the new COO's role is cross-functional, focusing on planning, execution, industry solutions, and growth initiatives like Asset Analytics. He confirmed the combination of account and success management teams has been highly beneficial. Executive Gregory Bentley added that the new COO brings valuable experience in commercial model innovation.

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    Jay Vleeschhouwer's questions to BENTLEY SYSTEMS (BSY) leadership • Q3 2024

    Question

    Jay Vleeschhouwer from Griffin Securities asked how customer selection criteria are evolving, specifically whether purchasing decisions are now being made horizontally based on platform capabilities or vertically based on application-level features.

    Answer

    Executive Chair Greg Bentley and executive Julien Moutte both confirmed a shift towards horizontal, platform-based decisions. They explained that customers, particularly large engineering firms, are prioritizing intelligent data management and platform openness to ensure their data is accessible for future AI applications, making these key criteria in their evaluation process.

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