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    Joe Vruwink

    Senior Research Analyst at Baird

    Joe Vruwink is a Senior Research Analyst at Robert W. Baird, specializing in vertical software with extensive coverage of companies such as Procore Technologies, Veeva Systems, Bentley Systems, and Q2 Holdings. Consistently recognized for his performance, he holds a 4.83-star rating on TipRanks with a 65.82% success rate and notable returns, including a +185.5% return on his top-rated call. He joined Baird after earning his BBA in Finance, Investment & Banking and Risk Management & Insurance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, previously serving on Baird's Global Auto & Truck team for a decade before moving to the Software & SaaS and then Vertical Software focus. Vruwink holds the CFA designation and is registered with FINRA, underscoring his professional credentials and industry standing.

    Joe Vruwink's questions to Autodesk (ADSK) leadership

    Joe Vruwink's questions to Autodesk (ADSK) leadership • Q2 2026

    Question

    Joe Vruwink of Baird asked about Autodesk's strategy for AI in manufacturing, questioning whether to buy, partner, or build, and inquired about the implied growth rate step-down in the fourth quarter guidance.

    Answer

    President and CEO Andrew Anagnost explained the AI strategy is to build a new IP moat around custom foundation models, which will be available to both Autodesk and its partners, while also partnering with promising startups. EVP & CFO Janesh Moorjani stated that the Q4 growth outlook is simply a function of maintaining a prudent guidance posture for the second half of the year.

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    Joe Vruwink's questions to nCino (NCNO) leadership

    Joe Vruwink's questions to nCino (NCNO) leadership • Q2 2026

    Question

    Joe Vruwink asked about the new pricing model, specifically how the transition is proceeding for large commercial customers and if the model helps widen the scope of customer engagement. He also asked how first-half bookings compared to the internal plan.

    Answer

    CEO Sean Desmond explained that the new outcome-aligned pricing model facilitates better conversations about efficiency, which resonates well with customers. CFO Greg Orenstein added that about a third of the 21% of ACV on the new model is from mortgage. He also noted that first-half net bookings performance was strong and supports confidence in the full-year ACV guide.

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    Joe Vruwink's questions to VEEVA SYSTEMS (VEEV) leadership

    Joe Vruwink's questions to VEEVA SYSTEMS (VEEV) leadership • Q2 2026

    Question

    Joe Vruwink from Baird asked about the evolution and elevated stature of Quality Cloud, its potential role in labs and manufacturing, and its impact on the five-year plan. He also questioned the monetization strategy and strategic importance of Veeva AI.

    Answer

    CEO Peter Gassner confirmed that Quality Cloud has an elevated focus, particularly in the LIMS area, but its trajectory is in line with the existing $6 billion five-year plan. Regarding AI, he described it as a transformative new layer of 'agents' on the Vault platform. While he expects it to create billions in customer value, he noted that material revenue contribution is not anticipated for fiscal '26 or '27.

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    Joe Vruwink's questions to VEEVA SYSTEMS (VEEV) leadership • Q1 2026

    Question

    Joe Vruwink of Baird inquired about the key drivers for the 200 customers migrating to Vault CRM, asking if new features and the AI strategy were influential. He also asked about the potential impact of macro uncertainty on discretionary revenue streams like services and Crossix.

    Answer

    EVP, Strategy, Paul Shawah confirmed that Vault CRM adoption is strong, with about 200 customers expected to be live in a year, driven by its superiority to the old CRM and new innovations. He noted that non-adopters sometimes prefer a more custom product. CEO Peter Gassner addressed the macro environment, stating that while uncertain, Veeva has not yet seen a material impact on results or pipeline, and noted that a high-ROI product like Crossix may not be significantly affected.

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    Joe Vruwink's questions to Definitive Healthcare (DH) leadership

    Joe Vruwink's questions to Definitive Healthcare (DH) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Joe Vruwink from Baird asked if the strategy to reduce down-sells in Life Sciences is linked to a higher-touch delivery model and whether the second-half outlook implies weaker new business conversion.

    Answer

    CEO Kevin Coop confirmed that the strategy involves a higher-touch, tech-enabled service model for Life Sciences clients, including data science assistance and deep workflow integrations to become a more valuable analytics partner. CFO Casey Heller clarified that the prudent second-half guidance reflects some upsell pressure in Life Sciences but does not assume a slowdown in new logo acquisition.

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    Joe Vruwink's questions to Definitive Healthcare (DH) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Joe Vruwink from Baird asked if the strategy to stem Life Sciences down-sells is tied to a higher-touch service model and questioned the drivers behind the prudent second-half revenue outlook, which implies a sequential decline.

    Answer

    CEO Kevin Coop confirmed that Life Sciences clients often need tech-enabled services and data science assistance, making integration and a 'thought partner' approach key. CFO Casey Heller clarified the H2 guidance, noting the midpoint for Q3 implies a subscription revenue decline consistent with Q2, while the upper end implies stabilization, citing continued upsell pressures in Life Sciences.

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    Joe Vruwink's questions to Certara (CERT) leadership

    Joe Vruwink's questions to Certara (CERT) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Joe Vruwink of Baird asked for clarification on whether the multi-billion dollar addressable market for New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) is incremental to the existing biosimulation TAM and sought Certara's interpretation of customer preferences between PBPK and QSP for NAMs.

    Answer

    CFO John Gallagher confirmed the NAMs opportunity is an additional market. He also noted that QSP is a high-growth area and a key beneficiary of the NAMs trend. CEO William Feehery added that PBPK and QSP are often closely linked, and since QSP is a newer branch of model-informed drug development, the survey results showing lower QSP adoption were not concerning.

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    Joe Vruwink's questions to BENTLEY SYSTEMS (BSY) leadership

    Joe Vruwink's questions to BENTLEY SYSTEMS (BSY) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Joe Vruwink from Baird asked about Bentley's strategy for the 'long tail' of engineers with lower software spend, questioning if the company has the right product set and go-to-market model to effectively capture this market segment.

    Answer

    CEO Nicholas Cumins affirmed that Bentley has a comprehensive product range, with MicroStation serving as the key entry point for engineers, particularly in the SMB segment. He highlighted this strategy's success by pointing to the consistent addition of over 600 new SMB logos for the fourteenth consecutive quarter, which often start with MicroStation before upselling to more specialized applications.

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    Joe Vruwink's questions to PROCORE TECHNOLOGIES (PCOR) leadership

    Joe Vruwink's questions to PROCORE TECHNOLOGIES (PCOR) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Joe Vruwink followed up on the Rule of 40, questioning if the margin-led improvement is a continuation of a trend and what the outlook for revenue growth is. He also asked if AI is compelling customers to increase their volume on the platform or attracting more collaborators.

    Answer

    CFO Howard Fu confirmed that profitability will drive Rule of 40 improvement next year, cautioning against expecting revenue acceleration due to the macro environment. CEO Craig Courtemanche explained that AI enhances Procore's value and accelerates the existing trend of collaborators joining the platform to own their project data.

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    Joe Vruwink's questions to PTC (PTC) leadership

    Joe Vruwink's questions to PTC (PTC) leadership • Q3 2025

    Question

    Joe Vruwink asked about the new packaging for Windchill, specifically the enterprise user and role-based packages, and whether this new structure is a more effective way to drive deeper adoption and ecosystem expansion.

    Answer

    President and CEO Neil Barua enthusiastically agreed, stating the questioner 'nailed it.' He explained the new packaging is strategically designed to simplify PLM expansion, ease migration to SaaS, and facilitate customer consumption of embedded AI capabilities. He noted the timing aligns with the broader corporate strategy to position PLM as the epicenter of PTC's vision.

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    Joe Vruwink's questions to CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS (CDNS) leadership

    Joe Vruwink's questions to CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS (CDNS) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Joe Vruwink of Baird asked about the impact of 'physical AI' on Cadence's recent booking strength and whether it's altering customer spending patterns.

    Answer

    President & CEO Anirudh Devgan explained that while AI infrastructure is huge, 'physical AI' (e.g., autonomous systems, robotics) could be an even larger, long-term opportunity. He noted that this trend drives demand for both specialized, power-efficient edge silicon and the data center infrastructure needed to train these new models, benefiting Cadence's broad portfolio. Devgan emphasized that this market is still in its early stages.

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    Joe Vruwink's questions to MANHATTAN ASSOCIATES (MANH) leadership

    Joe Vruwink's questions to MANHATTAN ASSOCIATES (MANH) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Joe Vruwink from Baird asked about the potential impact and timing of the four go-to-market investment areas and questioned what drove the strong RPO bookings performance in the quarter.

    Answer

    President & CEO Eric Clark detailed that the go-to-market changes, such as new sales leadership and partnerships with Google and Shopify, are expected to have a material impact next year. On bookings, Clark attributed the strong performance to solid sales execution and customers adapting to the macro environment, noting that the last three quarters have been the company's best ever for bookings despite market challenges.

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    Joe Vruwink's questions to ROPER TECHNOLOGIES (ROP) leadership

    Joe Vruwink's questions to ROPER TECHNOLOGIES (ROP) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Joe Vruwink asked for details on the impressive high-teens bookings growth, which businesses contributed, and whether this backlog could drive organic recurring revenue growth toward double digits. He also inquired about the P&L impact of AI, including on R&D spend and revenue timing.

    Answer

    EVP & CFO Jason Conley confirmed the strong bookings, highlighting Aderant's record quarter and solid healthcare performance, which supports the second-half guidance. President and CEO Neil Hunn explained that AI is already yielding internal productivity gains and generating tens of millions in direct ARR, with a larger pull-through effect on the broader tech stack. He emphasized the compounding nature of AI's impact on future growth, noting it will gain momentum into next year.

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    Joe Vruwink's questions to SYNOPSYS (SNPS) leadership

    Joe Vruwink's questions to SYNOPSYS (SNPS) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Joe Vruwink of Baird asked whether Synopsys would typically have received advance notice from the Commerce Department before news of potential restrictions emerged. He also inquired if the broader R&D landscape, including auto and industrial, is returning to the strong levels seen in 2021-2022.

    Answer

    CEO Sassine Ghazi stated that past experiences with advance notice have varied and reiterated that Synopsys has not received any notice from BIS regarding new restrictions. He confirmed a pickup in automotive and industrial design activity, noting that these customers are now focused on integrating more AI into their next-generation chips, which implies more sophisticated R&D investment.

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    Joe Vruwink's questions to SYNOPSYS (SNPS) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Joe Vruwink of Baird asked whether Synopsys would typically receive advance notice from the Commerce Department regarding new restrictions. He also questioned if the observed pickup in non-AI R&D spending could signal a return to the very strong market environment of 2021-2022.

    Answer

    CEO Sassine Ghazi stated that past experiences with advance notice from BIS have varied and reiterated that the company has not received any new notice. He clarified that the current pickup in non-AI segments is for more sophisticated, AI-enabled chips, which drives new R&D investment, rather than being a simple cyclical recovery.

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    Joe Vruwink's questions to Phreesia (PHR) leadership

    Joe Vruwink's questions to Phreesia (PHR) leadership • Q1 2026

    Question

    Joe Vruwink asked if the non-recurring revenue benefit in Q1 signals a change in client engagement models or customer support, particularly for higher ROI opportunities.

    Answer

    CFO Balaji Gandhi clarified that the revenue was from the 'related services' component, which is an existing part of their business model and not a strategic shift. He stated it was called out for transparency and reflected the team's ability to quickly execute a project for an existing client, rather than a change in how Phreesia engages with customers.

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    Joe Vruwink's questions to Phreesia (PHR) leadership • Q2 2025

    Question

    Joe Vruwink asked about gross retention rates behind the net customer counts and whether the economics of the established installed base have improved. He also inquired about the expected conversion rate of EBITDA to free cash flow.

    Answer

    Executive Balaji Gandhi confirmed that economics within the established base have improved and stated that gross revenue retention has remained in a tight range of 94% to 96% since the IPO. Regarding cash flow, he noted there will be a strong pull-through from EBITDA to free cash flow but did not provide a specific conversion rate target at this time.

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    Joe Vruwink's questions to INST leadership

    Joe Vruwink's questions to INST leadership • Q3 2023

    Question

    Questioned the reported slowdown in higher education deal closings, asking for the reasons behind it, whether RFP activity remains high, and the potential financial implications for 2024.

    Answer

    The slowdown is a matter of pace, not activity, as RFP levels are at a six-year high. Customers are temporarily pausing projects to re-evaluate their strategies due to macro pressures like declining enrollment and budget challenges. The company is well-positioned for when these deals resume but is not providing 2024 guidance or specific financial implications at this time.

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