Parker Lane

Parker Lane asked how often generative AI serves as a primary catalyst for insurers to move to the cloud or adopt cloud solutions, and if it's accelerating their timelines. He also inquired about the North American versus international split in the pipeline for the remaining three quarters, given Q1's deal distribution.

Answer

CEO Mike Rosenbaum confirmed that generative AI is a driver and a positive influence, helping with migration discussions and making Guidewire Cloud more appealing, though not necessarily the 'primary' driver due to ongoing experimentation and long core project timelines. CFO Jeff Cooper expressed satisfaction with the broad-based and global demand, noting healthy pipelines in Europe, Asia-Pac (due to investments), and continued strong performance in North America.

Parker Lane, under the name J. Lane, asked about the advantages of a full suite cloud implementation compared to on-premise and what drives these deals. He also inquired about the frequency and readiness of platform expansions during cloud migrations versus in the past.

Answer

CEO Mike Rosenbaum explained that the biggest driver for full suite deals is the proven track record of success, which gives customers the confidence to commit to the entire platform at once rather than delaying decisions. He added that expansions for additional lines of business are driven by the platform's proven ability to handle complexity in the cloud, creating confidence for customers to migrate multiple legacy systems to Guidewire simultaneously.

Parker Lane of Stifel asked for more detail on the services revenue growth dynamics and how close Guidewire is to its ideal balance of implementation work between its internal teams and partners.

Answer

CFO Jeff Cooper stated that the internal services team is a strategic asset and Q1 utilization was higher than expected. President and CRO John Mullen added that large deals from the previous quarter created a strong start to the year, and the company is finding a healthy balance, with partners continuing to lead most programs.

Parker Lane asked for the common themes among the four net new customers won in the quarter, such as the systems they replaced or the business challenges they faced.

Answer

President & CRO John Mullen identified two main themes: long-standing relationships and a pressing business need for growth, speed, and agility. He highlighted that confidence in the Guidewire platform led some initial single-product discussions to expand into full-suite deals, enabling Guidewire to displace even relatively modern competitor systems.

Parker Lane asked about the reasons why some clients remain on-premise and whether AI innovation is accelerating their decision to migrate to the cloud. He also questioned the expected trend for professional services revenue and gross margins in fiscal year 2026.

Answer

CEO John Hall explained that traditional impediments to cloud migration have been largely tackled, with Microsoft's partnership addressing regulatory hosting requirements. He noted that AI has captured firms' attention, and they seek trusted partners for compliant AI deployment, especially concerning client confidentiality and IP management. While AI is accelerating the move, IT budget prioritization remains a practical consideration. CFO David Morton expects professional services gross margin pressure to moderate in the latter half of the year, with services revenue generally modeling around 10% of total revenue.

Parker Lane asked about the common reasons why some clients continue to stick with on-premise solutions despite Intapp's cloud innovation, particularly regarding AI, and whether AI is becoming a tipping point to accelerate their cloud migration. He also inquired about the expected trend for professional services revenue growth and gross margins in fiscal 2026, given the increased reliance on partners.

Answer

John Hall (Chairman and CEO, Intapp) noted that traditional impediments to cloud adoption have been tackled, with Microsoft's partnership helping meet regulatory hosting requirements. He emphasized that AI has captured firms' attention, and Intapp's focus on compliance, information governance, and confidentiality positions it as a trusted partner for AI deployment, accelerating cloud moves. David Morton (CFO, Intapp) expects professional services gross margin pressure to moderate in the back half of the year, aiming for services revenue to be around 10% of total revenue, with some quarterly deviation.

Parker Lane of Stifel Financial Corp. asked for an assessment of the maturity of Intapp's co-selling relationships with partners, given that 17 of the 20 largest deals involved a partner. He also inquired whether the demand for AI solutions was broad-based or concentrated in specific areas.

Answer

CEO John Hall confirmed that the partner ecosystem has reached a very important stage of maturity, significantly contributing to sales and accelerating deployments, with the Microsoft relationship being a particularly strong driver. On AI, Hall described demand as broad-based, attributing it to the powerful confluence of offering a compliant, vertical-specific AI solution focused on driving firm growth, which resonates strongly with senior firm leadership.

Parker Lane inquired about the progress of the enterprise account go-to-market motion and whether it involved new hiring. He also asked why the company is tracking ahead of its 300-500 basis point margin expansion target.

Answer

CEO John Hall stated that the go-to-market reorganization was successfully completed in Q2 and that the company continues to invest in its sales and marketing organization. CFO David Morton explained that margins are ahead of plan due to optimizing G&A functions sooner than expected and achieving profitability in the professional services segment. He reiterated that Intapp remains a product-led growth company and will continue to invest in product and go-to-market functions.

Parker Lane inquired about customer feedback and key learnings regarding the pricing and packaging of Intapp's new generative AI solutions.

Answer

CEO John Hall explained that the market is shifting from general AI hype to demanding practical applications. He stated that Intapp's strategy of building vertically-specific 'killer apps,' like Intapp Assist for Terms, provides tangible value that allows the company to successfully defend its pricing, even as more generic AI tools face pricing pressure.

Parker Lane asked about the nature of Manhattan Associates' investments in sales and marketing for the new dedicated renewal team, conversion program, and the hire of Greg Betts, specifically whether it involves internal shifts or incremental step-ups. He also inquired about commonalities or drivers for customers who are behind on their DC rollouts.

Answer

President and CEO Eric Clark confirmed an incremental step-up in investment, combined with leveraging Manhattan veterans (like John Lieberman for renewals) and bringing in outside talent (like Greg Betts from Microsoft) to blend deep company knowledge with new skills. Regarding delayed DC rollouts, Mr. Clark explained it's a mix, sometimes due to customers shifting focus, and the company is now taking a more proactive, consultative approach to ensure full deployment beyond initial phases.

Parker Lane asked about the nature of Manhattan Associates' investments in sales and marketing for new teams (renewals, conversions) and the recent hire of Greg Betts, specifically whether it involves shifting existing personnel or incremental investment. He also inquired about commonalities among customers who are behind on DC rollouts and the factors contributing to this.

Answer

President and CEO Eric Clark confirmed an incremental step-up in investment, combined with leveraging Manhattan veterans (like John Lieberman for renewals) and bringing in external expertise (like Greg Betts from Microsoft) to blend deep company knowledge with new skills. Regarding DC rollouts, Mr. Clark noted it's a mix of factors, including customers shifting focus, and the company is now taking a more proactive, consultative approach to ensure full deployment of warehouses.

Parker Lane asked if the primary monetization of automation and efficiency, as exemplified by Gulfshore, is solely through Pro Product attach, or if there will be an evolution in pricing dynamics and models.

Answer

Co-Founder and CEO Ara Mahdessian acknowledged that ServiceTitan's packaging is likely not optimal, with customers finding the buying experience difficult due to many a la carte products. He indicated that the current monetization model through Pro Product attach might evolve in the future, as they haven't yet perfected it.

Parker Lane from Stifel asked if the contact center is the primary area for efficiency gains from Agentic AI, or if the opportunity is broader across functions like dispatch and marketing.

Answer

President Vahe Kuzoyan explained that the company's approach to AI is end-to-end, viewing the entire operational workflow as an opportunity for innovation. He specified that beyond the contact center, there are significant opportunities to automate back-office work, particularly in commercial and construction, as well as in the field.

Parker Lane from Stifel asked if the primary efficiency benefits from agentic AI are in the contact center or if there is broader appeal across other functions.

Answer

President Vahe Kuzoyan explained that the company's end-to-end platform provides a durable advantage for AI innovation across the entire workflow. He highlighted opportunities to automate back-office work in commercial and construction, as well as in the field, not just the contact center.

J. Parker Lane asked how much of the recent customer expansion was driven by new products like Sales Pro and Contact Center Pro, and whether the private equity consolidation trend might change in a worsening macro environment.

Answer

CFO Dave Sherry clarified that the contribution from Pro products to expansion was relatively consistent with prior periods and that the outperformance was principally driven by the core business. President Vahe Kuzoyan stated they do not expect the PE consolidation trend to change due to macro conditions.

Parker Lane inquired about the prevalence of troubled engagements among Sprinklr's top 700 customers and the learnings from Project Bear Hug. He also asked if higher cloud costs would lead to further pressure on subscription gross margins in the second half of the year.

Answer

Rory Read, President and CEO, stated that challenged accounts among top customers have decreased to the 'teens.' Manish Sarin, Outgoing CFO, confirmed an anticipated 2-3 point reduction in subscription gross margins in the second half due to higher cloud and AI consumption costs.

Parker Lane from Stifel asked for more detail on the 'technical debt' mentioned in the prepared remarks, specifically where it is most pronounced on the platform and the timeline for its resolution.

Answer

President and CEO Rory Read explained that technical debt is being addressed throughout FY26 via improved product lifecycle processes, documentation, and test coverage. Key focus areas include innovating in the core product suite, completing telephony work for the CCaaS offering, and re-architecting the reporting function from a point-to-point solution to a more scalable data lake model. He noted that the company is pacing new deals to ensure the platform is hardened before taking on too many major new implementations.

Parker Lane asked new CEO Rory Read about his personal philosophy on M&A and the buy-versus-build decision, noting Sprinklr's history of being acquisitive before its IPO.

Answer

President and CEO Rory Read stated that while he has extensive experience with M&A, he believes Sprinklr currently has the necessary assets to succeed through better execution and operational discipline. He is not looking for major acquisitions but would consider a small, strategic tuck-in for specific skills or technology if the opportunity arose.

Parker Lane from Stifel inquired about the dollar-based net expansion rate (DBNE) across the Create and Grow businesses and its potential for future upside.

Answer

CFO Jarrod Yahes stated that the recent improvement in DBNE reflects underlying health in both segments. He clarified that future upside in this metric will be driven primarily by customer spend increases in the high-scale Grow business, as price improvements in Create are expected to be modest and stable.

Parker Lane from Stifel asked about the adoption of new AI enhancements across different customer cohorts and how this utilization is correlating with message volume growth.

Answer

Co-Founder and CEO Andrew Bialecki noted that more advanced users, often in the enterprise and SMB segments, are the fastest adopters of new AI features. He said it's still early to correlate this with message volume, emphasizing that the primary goal is improving message quality to drive attributed revenue and customer LTV, which is the key metric they and their customers track.

Parker Lane from Stifel inquired about the margin improvements in the down-market segment since implementing the business risk model and the potential for additional leverage from this part of the business.

Answer

CFO Graham O'Brien stated that the down-market performance was in line with expectations and that resources continue to be shifted upmarket. He anticipates a stabilization in the rate of decline in the second half of the year and noted positive renewal outcomes from customers who transitioned to the new model.

Parker Lane from Stifel inquired about the margin improvements in the downmarket business since the implementation of the business risk model and the potential for further leverage in that segment.

Answer

CFO Graham O'Brien stated that resources continue to shift from the downmarket to the higher-margin upmarket segment. He expects the rate of decline in the downmarket business to stabilize in the second half of the year as the company fully laps the operational changes, including the new business risk model, that were optimized in Q3 of the prior year.

Asked about the potential impact of the DeepSeek LLM on ZoomInfo's business and for more detail on the characteristics of the $100,000+ customer cohort.

Answer

The company clarified they are not using DeepSeek in production but see its emergence as positive for driving down costs across the LLM ecosystem. The $100k+ cohort is heavily upmarket, and growth within it is driven by both seat expansion into new roles (AE, AM, CSM) via Copilot and cross-selling additional functionality like Operations OS.

Parker Lane asked for details on new top-of-funnel sales initiatives and their expected impact on revenue, and also inquired about the growth opportunities in the travel and airline segment.

Answer

President & CEO Jeff Cotten explained that the company is creating highly targeted marketing campaigns for specific customer profiles, with results expected to impact bookings in a few quarters. He added that he is particularly excited about the airline industry, where complex shifts in buying patterns are creating significant demand for PROS' offer management solutions as carriers redefine their technology stacks.

Parker Lane asked about the commercialization strategy for new generative AI solutions like Fare Finder Genie, questioning if they would be bundled or monetized as stand-alone products. He also inquired about the potential for further improvement in subscription gross margins.

Answer

CEO Andres Reiner explained that the strategy is to embed AI into core solutions to deliver significant value, which will then be sold as distinct, sellable SKUs. CFO Stefan Schulz addressed the margin question, stating he would not limit the engineering team's potential and that margins could possibly reach 82% or 83% in the future.

Parker Lane of Stifel Financial Corp. questioned whether recent risk and fraud solution wins were for incremental new capabilities or displacements of existing vendors, and asked for clarification on the drivers for the improved gross margin outlook.

Answer

President Kirk Coleman responded that risk and fraud wins are a mix of both replacing legacy products and providing net-new innovation via Q2's platform and partners. CFO Jonathan Price clarified that the higher gross margin outlook is driven by both a pull-forward of cloud migration costs into Q2, which benefits the second half, and a favorable revenue mix shift.

Parker Lane from Stifel Financial Corp. questioned whether the supplier-side cautiousness was concentrated in specific geographies or verticals and sought clarity on whether the 2% annual EBITDA margin expansion target includes potential M&A.

Answer

CEO Chad Collins specified that the spending pressure is primarily from U.S.-based suppliers, with less scrutiny observed in Europe and Australia. CFO Kim Nelson clarified that the margin expansion guidance of two percentage points annually excludes future acquisitions, but noted the company's track record of making acquisitions accretive within a year.

Parker Lane of Stifel inquired about the initial customer feedback and cross-sell potential for the newly acquired SupplyPike and Carbon6 businesses. He also asked about the slight year-over-year decline in the analytics business and its outlook amid macro concerns.

Answer

Chad Collins, an executive, confirmed positive early indicators for cross-selling between the fulfillment and new revenue recovery products, validating their acquisition hypothesis. Kimberly Nelson, an executive, acknowledged the analytics business declined approximately 2% year-over-year due to economic uncertainty but stated the full-year expectation is for it to be flat. Chad Collins added that analytics represents less than 10% of total revenue.

Parker Lane questioned whether the new TAM analysis would change the company's go-to-market philosophy and asked about the priority of adding new retailers to the SupplyPike and Carbon6 networks in 2025.

Answer

Executive Chad Collins responded that the TAM analysis reinforces their conviction in the current go-to-market motions, including community enablement for new suppliers and the channel strategy for larger replacement cycles. For 2025, he said the focus is on driving growth in the acquired businesses and establishing cross-selling motions to expand wallet share with customers from both the core SPS and the acquired bases.

Parker Lane requested an update on the European go-to-market landscape one year after the TIE Kinetix acquisition and asked if the re-evaluation of the total addressable market (TAM) was solely due to recent product expansion.

Answer

Executive Chad Collins confirmed the TAM re-evaluation is driven by the expanded product portfolio and the need to refresh dated analysis, with an update planned for 2025. On Europe, he explained that TIE Kinetix's e-invoicing is now bundled with fulfillment, removing a key barrier. While early signals suggest North American go-to-market techniques are transferable, he noted that they are in the 'early innings' and must navigate regional complexities and different retailer-supplier power dynamics.

Parker Lane of Stifel Financial Corp. inquired about the contract renewal cycle, asking about the seasonal linearity for the 25% of contracts renewing in the current year. He also asked if Blackbaud has observed any pockets of customer weakness or anxiety related to the macroeconomic environment and future funding.

Answer

President, CEO & Vice Chairman Mike Gianoni responded that while renewal volumes are typically higher in Q2 and Q4, the overall pacing is fairly smooth and the program is now standard business practice. Regarding the macro environment, he stated there has been no negative impact on Blackbaud's sales pipeline or renewals. In fact, he noted that a loss of government funding can make customers more dependent on Blackbaud's fundraising solutions, representing a potential upside.

Parker Lane of Stifel inquired about which of the recently announced innovations were resonating most with customers and how the financial benefits would materialize. He also asked if the improved gross retention rate could continue to be a tailwind.

Answer

CEO Mike Gianoni highlighted several innovations, including embedded AI, Payment Assistant, and a partnership with Constant Contact, noting they are key to earning renewals and winning new logos. EVP and CFO Anthony Boor added that while pricing initiatives primarily boost net retention, the gross retention improvement is driven by customer success and innovation, with a goal to keep the rate above 90%.

On behalf of Parker Lane, Matthew Kikkert asked if non-mortgage lending revenue would bounce back faster than mortgage given different volume minimum structures. He also asked for specifics on go-to-market investments and their initial impact.

Answer

CFO Elias Olmeta explained that consumer lending revenue recognition can be constrained by 'global minimums' across a client's entire product suite, unlike the single-product minimums in mortgage. President Larry Katz detailed go-to-market investments in sales engineering and demand generation, noting that while it's early for results, they are seeing positive feedback and momentum.

Parker Lane asked about the competitive landscape for Agentic AI solutions like TrueLark and whether Weave is early to this opportunity. He also explored the potential for Weave to expand into other verticals where TrueLark has a presence, such as fitness.

Answer

CEO Brett White responded that after reviewing over 20 companies, TrueLark stood out for its proven solution, strong customer ROI, and experienced AI leadership. He confirmed that TrueLark's success in other appointment-based businesses like med spas and fitness presents a clear opportunity for Weave to potentially introduce its core platform into those verticals via existing TrueLark relationships.

Parker Lane inquired about the focus of the multi-location and enterprise strategy, asking if it was aimed primarily at the dental vertical or broader markets. He also questioned why there wasn't a greater opportunity to increase prices on new AI functionalities being introduced in 2025.

Answer

CEO Brett White explained that the multi-location motion is currently focused on the dental vertical due to strong brand recognition and inbound interest, with plans to expand later. CFO Alan Taylor noted that while some price increases will occur, they are distinct from monetizing new AI products through upsells. VP of Finance Jason Christiansen added that the company is being cautious with price hikes to avoid inhibiting customer migration to its new platform.

Parker Lane asked for more details on the company's periodic price adjustments and its long-term pricing power. He also inquired about the adoption timeline for the New Weave platform and the change management strategy for migrating customers.

Answer

CFO Alan Taylor explained that price adjustments are made quarterly by cohort and are tied to delivering new value, with payments and deeper workflow integration being key to increasing wallet share. CEO Brett White noted that while the superior New Weave platform is currently a free upgrade, they are encouraging, but not forcing, customers to migrate to realize its benefits sooner.

Parker Lane asked for an updated view on the achievability of a prior company target to have 40% of its installed base on the software platform.

Answer

CEO James Kelly stated that while he was not familiar with the specific prior target, the goal seems reasonable given the platform's current 26% site growth rate. He emphasized that the company's entire focus is now on execution, and achieving such a target is in line with his expectations for the business over the next few years.

Parker Lane asked for details on the new platform selling approach and its potential impact on net retention, and also inquired about Sprout's strategy to benefit from the explosion in AI-generated content.

Answer

CEO Ryan Barretto explained the platform approach combines identifying ideal customer profiles with product innovation and go-to-market enablement. Regarding AI, he expressed excitement about the opportunity, citing the company's scale in data processing (1 billion messages daily) and the 11 releases of its AI Assist product that are already delivering value to customers.

Parker Lane inquired about the current macroeconomic environment compared to 90 days prior and the beginning of the year, asking what is performing well and where improvement is expected. He also asked for details on the go-to-market motion changes under the new CRO, Mike Wolff, and if further disruptions are anticipated.

Answer

CEO Ryan Barretto characterized the macro environment as similar to the rest of the year, with challenges like elongated sales cycles. However, he highlighted positive progress in building a healthy enterprise pipeline and strong competitive win rates. Regarding the go-to-market strategy, Barretto expressed confidence in new CRO Mike Wolff, who is implementing increased rigor and accountability, and stated that no major structural changes are planned as they feel well-aligned heading into Q4.

Parker Lane asked what the right balance would be between legacy vendor replacement and point solution consolidation if the demand environment were to improve.

Answer

CEO Bill Magnuson explained that the balance depends on business posture. Recent years, driven by cost-saving, favored point solution consolidation. A more expansionary environment, where businesses prioritize value creation, would be more conducive to wholesale legacy platform replacements, as companies would be more willing to incur the necessary switching costs.

Jack, on behalf of Parker Lane from Stifel, requested more details on the largest Contact Center deal of the quarter, including the customer's objectives and their reasons for choosing Zoom.

Answer

CEO Eric Yuan explained that the customer evaluated multiple vendors and chose Zoom based on its roadmap, modern architecture, and AI initiatives. He emphasized that the decision ultimately came down to trust, Zoom's rapid innovation pace, and the platform's proven ability to deliver on promised features. Yuan also highlighted that Zoom's solution is a modern build, unlike legacy offerings that are slower to embrace AI.