Research Analyst at Citizens Financial Group Inc/ri
Patrick Walravens is Managing Director and Director of Technology Research at Citizens JMP, specializing in equity research across software, Internet and digital media, semiconductor, and communications equipment sectors. He has covered leading companies including Global-E Online, Twilio, Jamf Holding, and Shopify, and maintains a strong performance record with a 47.75% success rate and a 6.1% average return as ranked by analyst platforms. Walravens began his research career in the early 2000s after roles as VP and Senior Research Analyst at Lehman Brothers and as an attorney at Cooley LLP, joining JMP Securities in 2001. He holds FINRA registration (CRD# 2919590), an MBA and JD from UCLA, and a BA from Stanford, and received national recognition with a StarMine ranking for stock picking.
Patrick Walravens asked about the competitive landscape, specifically regarding new entrants like Sierra, and NICE's competitive positioning in the AI market.
CEO Scott Russell acknowledged new entrants validate the market's potential but emphasized Cognigy's proven enterprise scale, ease of adoption, and customer value. Russell highlighted Cognigy's ability to lead with an AI-only play, CCAS, or a combination, reinforcing NICE's strong competitive stance.
Patrick Walravens asked about the competitive landscape for Cognigy, specifically mentioning new entrants like Sierra and their recent funding.
CEO Scott Russell acknowledged new entrants validate the market's potential but emphasized Cognigy's proven enterprise scale, ease of adoption, and customer value. He highlighted NICE's ability to lead with an AI-only play, CCAS, or a combination of both.
Patrick Walravens asked for comments on the durability of Via's growth model and the expected pace of margin expansion, seeking broad insights into these long-term trends.
Daniel Ramot, Co-Founder and CEO, expressed confidence in long-term growth durability, citing the massive market, Via's limited penetration, and continuous product innovation. Clara Fain, CFO, outlined a two-phase approach to margin expansion: near-term modest improvements from organic operational efficiencies, and medium-to-longer term significant expansion driven by transitioning lower-margin services to third parties, expanding with higher-margin software products, and strategic M&A, reiterating a 50% long-term adjusted gross margin target.
Patrick Walravens asked for comments on the durability of Via's growth model and the expected pace of margin expansion.
Daniel Ramot, Co-Founder and CEO, expressed confidence in the long-term durability of growth, citing the massive market, Via's limited penetration, and the broad applicability of its solutions to many more cities. Clara Fain, CFO, outlined that in the immediate term, Via focuses on modest gross margin expansion through organic operational improvements (0.4% in Q3 2025). For the medium to long term, Via targets a 50% adjusted gross margin, driven by transitioning lower-margin services to third parties, expanding with higher-margin software products, and strategic M&A, leveraging its playbook from Remix and Citymapper acquisitions.
Patrick Walravens from Citizens asked about the evolution of pricing in the industry, specifically Pegasystems' move towards "work-based pricing" and its alignment with customer outcomes. He also inquired if Pega is encountering new players like Sierra or Decagon in the competitive landscape.
Alan Trefler, Founder and CEO, stated that Pega has been ahead in pricing for nearly a decade, shifting to work-based pricing to align vendor and customer incentives, unlike seat-based models that penalize efficiency. He believes industry pricing will radically change. Regarding new competitors, Mr. Trefler noted seeing them on the periphery but emphasized Pega's "center-out" approach, which provides an agentic system working across all channels (dialogue, email, back office), differentiating it from channel-locked chatbot-agent systems.
Patrick Walravens inquired about the evolution of pricing strategies within the industry, particularly Pegasystems' move towards "priced on real work process" and outcome-based models. He also asked if new players like Sierra or Decagon are emerging as direct competitors.
Alan Trefler, Founder and CEO of Pegasystems, stated that Pega has been ahead in pricing for nearly a decade, having shifted to work-based pricing (based on system output and workflows) to align vendor and customer incentives for efficiency, unlike problematic seat-based models. Regarding new players, Mr. Trefler noted their presence on the periphery but emphasized Pega's "center-out" approach, which provides an agentic system capable of operating across all channels (dialogue, email, back office), offering a more comprehensive solution than channel-locked chatbot systems.
Patrick Walravens asked for a big-picture response to the idea that large SaaS players have a competitive advantage because they own customer data. He also asked for the general availability timeline for the Pega agentic process fabric.
Founder & CEO Alan Trefler countered that Pega's durable advantage lies in its process-centric architecture, not data ownership, as customers increasingly want to control their own data. He argued that Pega's focus on the process and workflow engine is the key differentiator. He also confirmed the agentic process fabric is expected to be released around Labor Day in Q3 2025.
Patrick Walravens asked for deeper insight into how Pega differentiates its 'Agentic AI' in a noisy market against competitors like Salesforce and Microsoft, and also asked for perspective on the disconnect between investor anxiety and strong tech earnings.
CEO Alan Trefler explained Pega's unique approach of using AI for design via Blueprint and reliable workflows for execution, which he contrasted with competitors' less predictable prompt-based systems. Executive Peter Welburn suggested that while macro uncertainty exists, some companies may be using it as an excuse for poor execution, whereas Pega's clients continue to invest in modernization.
Patrick Walravens asked how the competitive environment has shifted over the last couple of years, particularly against Salesforce, now that Pegasystems has Pega GenAI Blueprint and AI is a major focus.
CEO Alan Trefler emphasized that Pega's core "center-out" architecture remains a key differentiator, allowing clients to orchestrate processes across various systems without being locked into a single front-end vendor like Salesforce. He positioned Blueprint not as a standalone product but as a catalyst that makes the entire Pega platform more dynamic and easier to implement, strengthening their overall AI and digital transformation narrative and giving them a competitive advantage.
Patrick Walravens inquired about the nature of Sprinklr's churn issues, seeking specific examples, and later asked about the components driving increased investment due to strong AI uptake.
Rory Read, President and CEO, detailed churn examples including downsells and ELA adjustments, emphasizing improved execution. He and Manish Sarin, Outgoing CFO, explained that AI uptake leads to higher cloud hosting and LLM costs, impacting gross margins.
Patrick Walravens asked Rory Read to draw parallels between the current transformation at Sprinklr and his previous turnaround at Vonage, focusing on the timeline to unlock strategic value. He also asked for expectations on the net dollar expansion rate.
President, CEO & Director, Rory Read, outlined his phased transformation approach: business optimization (mostly complete), a 12-18 month transitional phase (current), and then an acceleration phase. He noted this is the same framework used at Vonage and other turnarounds. CFO Manish Sarin addressed the net dollar expansion rate, stating that at 102%, it is likely to remain "give or take" at current levels, consistent with the full-year subscription growth outlook, until the business transformation shows a clear "bend."
Patrick Walravens from Citizens JMP questioned the significance of the federal government business for Sprinklr and asked if any part of the company's transformation has been more difficult than anticipated.
President and CEO Rory Read stated that the federal business is 'very small' and 'not material' to Sprinklr's results, partly due to its early stage in the FedRAMP approval process. Regarding the transformation, Read said there have been no major surprises, noting the technology is strong but execution processes were immature, like a startup's. He affirmed that the necessary fixes are clear and the transformation is proceeding as planned, with Phase 1 (optimization) complete and Phase 2 (execution burn-in) now underway.
Patrick Walravens asked new CEO Rory Read to identify the root cause of Sprinklr's churn, questioning if it stemmed from competitive or pricing pressures. He also inquired about the broader macroeconomic environment and whether recent events like the U.S. election have improved the outlook.
President and CEO Rory Read attributed the churn primarily to self-inflicted execution issues, including an over-rotation to the service space and a lack of consistent renewal management, rather than a fundamental competitive event. On the macro front, he expects mid-single-digit IT spend growth and noted that clarity on major events gives customers confidence to spend, adding that he sees strong underlying demand for unified customer experience platforms.
Patrick Walravens from Citizens JMP Securities, LLC posed a big-picture question to Sridhar Ramaswamy, asking if he agrees that frontier AI models are converging in performance and what the implications would be for model providers and Snowflake.
CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy expressed skepticism about models plateauing, pointing to continued remarkable progress in areas like code quality. He argued that the key to enterprise value is connecting these powerful models to proprietary enterprise data, which is Snowflake's core focus with products like Snowflake Intelligence. He sees a vast, early-innings opportunity in applying agentic AI to complex business workflows.
Patrick Walravens of Citizens JMP Securities, LLC asked for a high-level reflection on the key lessons learned from the five-year partnership with Shopify. He also requested details on the specific functionality currently being developed with Shopify and its expected release timeline.
Co-Founder and CEO Amir Schlachet summarized the key lesson as the power of a mutually beneficial partnership where each party contributes its unique strengths. Co-Founder and President Nir Debbi detailed current work, including enhancing the Managed Markets solution for a seamless experience and, for the 3P solution, launching Shop Pay in late Q3/early Q4, which will be exclusive to Global-E for 12 months.
Patrick Walravens asked for an update on the Ted Baker business, noting its website was back online under a new owner, and questioned if Global-e had regained the account.
Executive Nir Debbi clarified that the Ted Baker brand is now under new ownership with a completely different tech stack. As a result, Global-e is treating them as a new business prospect and the account is part of their sales pipeline, but it is not currently a client.
Patrick Walravens asked for an update on the Ted Baker business, noting its website was back online under new ownership, and questioned if Global-e would regain the account.
President Nir Debbi clarified that the brand is now operated by a new owner with a completely different tech stack. He stated that Global-e is treating the new entity as a new sales prospect and it is in their pipeline, with hopes to work with them in the future.
Patrick Walravens asked about the potential impact on the business if the United States were to implement higher or universal tariffs.
Executive Amir Schlachet explained that while high tariffs could present challenges, they also increase the value of Global-e's offering, as the company specializes in helping merchants overcome such trade barriers. He compared the situation to Brexit, which ultimately proved to be a positive catalyst for the business by increasing market complexity and demand for their services.
Patrick Walravens asked for a post-mortem on the Segment acquisition, questioning the impact of the CDP market's shift, and requested details on platform-level investments aimed at improving gross margins.
CEO Khozema Shipchandler reiterated that the original thesis was always to integrate data for intelligent communications, a strategy now coming to fruition. CFO Aidan Viggiano provided examples of margin-focused investments, including migrating the email platform to the cloud and establishing more direct carrier connections.
Patrick Walravens requested an update on the relative growth rankings by product and industry, similar to the breakdown provided for Q3 at the Investor Day, to understand how trends have shifted.
CFO Aidan Viggiano confirmed that the top five communications verticals (tech, financial services, professional services, healthcare, retail/e-commerce) all grew very well in Q1. She highlighted that Messaging was particularly strong this quarter, with robust growth in both the U.S. and internationally. Chief Revenue Officer Thomas Wyatt added that customers spending over $500k grew 37% year-over-year.
Patrick Walravens asked for clarity on the expected ramp of operating margin to its 2027 target. He also asked for specific examples of how Twilio is using AI agents internally.
CFO Aidan Viggiano clarified that investors should model for operating margin accretion each year from 2025 to 2027, rather than a flat year in between. CEO Khozema Shipchandler provided two key examples of internal AI use: in customer support, where AI agents are driving significant ticket deflection, and for vetting inbound sales leads (SDRs), which improves the quality of leads for sales reps.
An analyst on behalf of Patrick Walravens of Citizen JMP asked for details on the go-to-market shift, specifically regarding changes to sales rep quotas and product focus.
CEO John Strosahl responded that the sales team is being incentivized to sell the integrated platform solutions for Mac and mobile, which blend management and security. He elaborated that the strategy involves continuing to support the large SMB customer base while increasing investment in enterprise sales resources, where Jamf sees high growth, strong retention, and a favorable LTV to CAC ratio.
Patrick Walravens of JMP Securities directed two questions to the incoming CFO: what attracted him to the role at Jamf, and his initial thoughts on the 3-year financial model presented at the company's Investor Day.
Incoming CFO David Rudow expressed his excitement about joining Jamf due to its market leadership in the Apple ecosystem and its significant expansion opportunities in security and international markets. He stated that upon initial review, the 3-year model seems reasonable, but a formal update will be provided with Q4 guidance.
Representing Patrick Walravens of Citizens JMP, an analyst asked if the initial AI wins were based on current or future features and what capabilities customers are requesting beyond the current offering.
Ron Yekutiel, Co-Founder, Chairman, President & CEO, confirmed that the three initial AI deals and the 100+ qualified opportunities are all based on currently available products like ContentLab and Genie, not future roadmaps. He stated that Kaltura is often leading the vision for what's possible with AI, with future plans focused on integrating more data types and embedding AI tools more deeply into customer experience workflows to become a video-first experience platform.
Patrick Walravens from Citizens JMP requested a bridge explaining the components of the guided revenue decrease from Q1 to Q2, asked where the soft Q1 bookings are reflected in the metrics, and sought quantification of the sales pipeline.
John Doherty (CFO) attributed the sequential revenue decline to the non-recurrence of about $1.6M in Q1 on-prem revenue, seasonally lower Q1 bookings, and the expected M&T churn. Ron Yekutiel (executive) added that the soft bookings are visible in the seasonal drop in RPO, which is typical for Q1 due to fewer renewals. Regarding the pipeline, he clarified his 'huge' comment was specific to the M&T segment's rebound, while the overall company pipeline shows a 'very nice pickup' that supports the full-year growth plan.
Patrick Walravens sought to bridge the decrease in total revenue from Q1 to Q2 and inquired about the softness in bookings despite good RPO metrics.
CFO John Doherty attributed the decrease to a pickup in on-prem revenue in Q1, lower bookings, and M&T churn. CEO Ron Yekutiel added context on the typical Q1 seasonality.
Patrick Walravens of Citizens JMP questioned the outlook for 7-figure deals after a strong Q3 and asked for specific examples of resource reallocation to higher-return opportunities.
Executive Ron Yekutiel confirmed the pipeline contains more 7-figure deals for Q4 and beyond. CFO John Doherty explained that resource reallocation involves focusing on customer profitability analysis to target price increases and upsells, and shifting sales team focus to deepen penetration within existing high-value accounts.
Nick, on for Patrick Walravens, asked if Teradata is seeing increased customer interest and adoption of smaller language models (SLMs) for agentic AI tasks. He also asked the new CFO what has been better and more challenging than expected in his first three months.
President and CEO Steve McMillan confirmed strong customer interest in SLMs, highlighting that Teradata's massively parallel architecture is well-suited to run them efficiently, citing a customer who ran a Hugging Face model better on Teradata's CPU architecture than on a GPU. CFO John Ederer stated that the solid Q2 results were a positive start, while the main challenge has been getting up to speed on the complexities of Teradata's technology and business model.
Patrick Walravens of Citizens JMP asked what qualities made new CFO John Ederer the top candidate and what his initial priorities might be.
CEO Stephen McMillan praised John Ederer for his public company CFO experience, his successful track record in navigating SaaS transitions, and his strong operational capabilities. He expects the new CFO to bring an external perspective to help evaluate execution, improve efficiency, and drive the company's profitable growth strategy.
Patrick Walravens asked about the departure of the Chief Product Officer and what key characteristics the company is looking for in a replacement.
CEO Stephen McMillan clarified that the company is not conducting an external search for a replacement. Instead, Teradata is leveraging its internal 'bench strength' by elevating existing leaders. He announced the appointment of Louis Landry as the new Chief Technology Officer and stated that the heads of product management and product engineering will now report directly to the CEO.
Patrick Walravens of Citizens JMP Securities, LLC asked for more detail on the over 100% year-over-year growth in AI/ML revenue, inquiring about the history of the offering and the reasons for its current success.
CEO & Director Paddy Srinivasan explained that the growth is driven by a three-layer AI stack: Gradient AI infrastructure (GPUs from AMD and NVIDIA), the newly GA Gradient AI platform for integrating AI into apps, and Gradient AI agents. He noted that the majority of revenue currently comes from the infrastructure layer, which is consumed by AI-native companies for inferencing, but the platform layer is driving significant developer adoption.
Patrick Walravens of JMP Securities asked CEO Padmanabhan Srinivasan to reflect on his first year, inquiring about what aspects of the business performed better than expected and which proved more challenging.
CEO Padmanabhan Srinivasan responded that product innovation and positive customer reception exceeded his expectations, validating their customer retention strategy. He noted the company's disciplined AI strategy has been a positive learning experience, successfully addressing key adoption barriers of complexity and cost for customers without getting caught in a 'GPU farm' race.
Patrick Walravens asked for an update on the macroeconomic environment, seeking to understand what Freshworks observed in customer conversations and whether uncertainty was impacting decision-making.
CEO Dennis Woodside reported seeing strong demand across the board, attributing it to a diversified customer base by geography and industry. He emphasized that Freshworks provides 'must-have' software for IT and customer support automation, which insulates it from macro pressures, and stated the company is bullish on its second-half momentum.
Patrick Walravens of Citizens JMP asked if AI functionality has become 'table stakes' in RFPs and how Freshworks manages to cut through the 'vaporware' and noise from competitors in the AI space.
CEO and President Dennis Woodside affirmed that AI is 'absolutely table stakes' and a key consideration in over 80% of deals. He explained that Freshworks differentiates itself from 'vaporware' by leveraging its large base of referenceable customers who can attest to real, quantifiable value, giving them a significant advantage over competitors who may only have a demo.
Patrick Walravens asked how recent advances in open-source and commercial LLMs, like DeepSeek and Mistral, could impact Freshworks' product capabilities and the cost of delivering AI features to its customers.
CEO Dennis Woodside responded that increased competition among LLM providers is beneficial, as it drives down pricing and spurs innovation. He explained that Freshworks has built a flexible tech stack to test and integrate various LLMs, balancing cost, performance, and data security. While currently relying on Azure OpenAI for its enterprise-grade protections, the company has tested models from Anthropic and Google and will continue to evaluate new options to deliver better products at a lower cost.
Patrick Walravens asked for more color on conversations with customers about AI, specifically the problems they are trying to solve and the biggest challenges they face during implementation.
CEO and President Dennis Woodside explained that customers are primarily looking to increase agent productivity with tools like Copilot and deflect routine support questions with self-service and AI agents. The main goals are to improve both agent productivity and the end-customer experience. He emphasized that customers are looking to Freshworks as their trusted partner to provide these capabilities, rather than building solutions themselves or using other point vendors.
Patrick Walravens of Citizens JMP Securities asked for details on the NICE-Cognigy acquisition, including how the partners differed and the strategic rationale. He also questioned the disconnect between the high valuation of that deal and Bandwidth's current valuation, and how Bandwidth could capture more of that perceived value.
CEO David Morken explained that both NICE (contact center) and Cognigy (AI voice agent) were Maestro partners, and their combination validates Maestro's role as a critical orchestration layer. Regarding valuation, Morken suggested the market has not yet fully appreciated the importance of voice AI infrastructure compared to AI compute infrastructure. He believes that as this becomes recognized, valuations will better reflect Bandwidth's leadership position.
Patrick Walravens asked for a high-level overview of how Artificial Intelligence is serving as a growth driver across each of Bandwidth's three main product categories: enterprise voice, global voice, and programmable messaging.
CEO David Morken provided a comprehensive overview, revealing that his and the CFO's prepared remarks were read by their own voice agents to illustrate AI's power. He explained that for enterprise voice, the open Maestro and AI Bridge platforms are critical for orchestrating various AI solutions. For global voice plans, customers are building AI experiences that increase call durations and usage. For messaging, programmability and low latency are vital for supporting complex agent interactions. He positioned AI as a durable, long-term demand driver for the business.
Patrick Walravens asked for details on Bandwidth's enterprise go-to-market strategy and how its sales force lands major deals, such as the described hospitality win. He also requested an update on the company's long-term debt situation.
CEO David Morken stated that large enterprise wins are currently secured almost exclusively through their direct sales force, noting their channel program is still in its early stages. CFO Daryl Raiford addressed the debt, confirming they had repurchased nearly all remaining 2026 notes with cash on hand. He characterized the remaining 2028 notes as manageable, with net debt leverage just under 2.0x LTM EBITDA, and said leverage is no longer a primary internal focus.
Patrick Walravens of JMP Securities questioned which of the new product announcements, such as Nomadic Global E911 or Number Reputation Management, is likely to impact financial results the soonest. He also asked how management would address investor skepticism about the one-time nature of political messaging revenue.
CEO David Morken speculated that platform enhancements that reduce friction, such as improved number porting and a unified user experience, would have the most immediate impact. In response to skepticism, CFO Daryl Raiford emphasized strong underlying commercial growth and the significant raise in full-year guidance. CEO David Morken added that the company expects to continue growing profit in the following year, irrespective of political cycles.
Patrick Walravens of Citizens JMP Securities, LLC asked when management became aware that Q1 billings would miss guidance. He also asked for a bigger-picture view on the competitive landscape, including any thoughts on a former executive joining Ironclad.
CEO Allan Thygesen and CFO Blake Grayson explained that they did not have visibility on the early renewals shortfall until the last couple of weeks of the quarter, as that activity is heavily back-end loaded. On competition, Thygesen stated that dynamics in the core e-signature market are stable, and while CLM is competitive, DocuSign is setting the pace with its broader IAM vision and is more focused on its own execution than on competitors.
Patrick Walravens of Citizens JMP asked for CEO Allan Thygesen's big-picture perspective on attempts to regulate AI, specifically mentioning a California bill, and how such regulations might impact DocuSign.
CEO Allan Thygesen stated his belief that it is very early to regulate AI effectively but asserted that none of the currently proposed regulations in the U.S. or E.U. meaningfully affect DocuSign's plans. He suggested that the focus should be on adapting existing laws for an AI context rather than creating entirely new frameworks. He confirmed the company will adhere to all laws in the markets where it operates.
Patrick Walravens of Citizens JMP Securities asked for a high-level perspective on the future of work for young people, referencing recent commentary about AI potentially eliminating entry-level white-collar jobs, and inquired about Asana's role in this societal shift.
Co-Founder and CEO Dustin Moskovitz shared his view that AI's impact is real and society is not fully prepared, and that the issue needs attention from government. He stated that Asana aims to play a role in this transition by making AI tools a safe, secure, and easy-to-use companion for employees, enhancing their leverage and helping organizations navigate from the present to a radically different future.
Patrick Walravens asked for a big-picture view on the future of AI agents and how Asana will differentiate itself. He also asked the outgoing CFO for the single most important metric investors should watch for a turnaround.
CEO Dustin Moskovitz argued that successful AI agents will be focused on specific, well-defined tasks within workflows, which is Asana's strategy, rather than attempting to be a human replacement. He believes this approach is more practical for near-term deployment. Outgoing CFO Tim Wan identified 'seats' as the #1 metric, stating that seat deployment drives value and creates future pricing power.
Patrick Walravens of Citizens JMP Securities, LLC inquired about C3.ai's strategy for activating its vast Microsoft Azure sales partner network and also asked for an update on CEO Tom Siebel's health following a previously disclosed setback.
Thomas Siebel, Founder, CEO & Chairman, detailed a leveraged sales strategy where C3.ai's sales team partners with Azure reps to jointly target accounts, supported by new demo tools. He noted they are already tracking over 600 joint accounts. Regarding his health, Mr. Siebel confirmed he is recovered and has resumed a full travel schedule, including an imminent red-eye flight to Washington D.C.
Patrick Walravens of Citizens JMP asked CEO Tom Siebel to discuss a recent health setback he had disclosed and the steps being taken to ensure continuity in running the business.
CEO Thomas Siebel candidly explained that he was diagnosed with giant cell arteritis, an autoimmune disease that has impaired his vision. He assured investors he remains fully engaged in managing the business daily, with accommodations like having emails read to him. He also noted that board member Jim Snabe, former Co-CEO of SAP, has assumed a role as a special assistant to handle events that require travel.
Patrick Walravens of JMP Securities asked about the history of the C3 AI-Microsoft relationship and for an outlook on federal spending under the new administration.
Chairman and CEO Thomas Siebel explained that the Microsoft alliance was driven by his long-standing relationship with Microsoft's Judson Althoff. Regarding federal spending, Siebel stated that based on his attendance at the Reagan Defense Forum, AI applications are now the top priority for defense and intelligence, and he expects a "dramatic acceleration" of AI adoption and a shift in government procurement methods.
Patrick Walravens of JMP Securities asked for commentary on the business tone in Q1, noting the high implied bookings value, and questioned why full-year guidance was not raised despite the strong results.
CEO Thomas Siebel described the current market as "pretty wild" and complex, making it difficult to model linearly due to a wide range of unanticipated use cases for generative AI. CFO Hitesh Lath added that the existing annual guidance already represents a strong 19% to 27% growth rate, positioning C3.ai as one of the fastest-growing public software companies.
Speaking on behalf of Patrick Walravens from Citizens JMP, an analyst asked for an update on customer demand for the Agent Catalyst offering since Domopalooza and asked the CFO to reflect on the easiest and hardest parts of his role after nine months.
CRO RJ Tracy responded that demand for AI solutions is high, particularly from ecosystem partner leads, as customers need Domo's core data integration and transformation capabilities to power their AI use cases. He gave examples of customers automating ServiceNow workflows and labor management. Reframing the second question, CFO Tod Crane identified improving gross retention toward 90%+ as his key focus area for improvement. He expressed satisfaction with the strong RPO performance, which he noted de-risks both the near-term billings forecast and longer-term revenue outlook.
Patrick Walravens inquired about the current macroeconomic environment's impact on customer purchasing decisions and asked for clarification on two financial points: the $5 million renewal shift due to consumption model conversions and the company's balance sheet health, including its cash and debt position.
CEO Joshua James and executive RJ Tracy stated that the macro environment remains challenging, with customers only approving well-vetted, essential projects. CFO Tod Crane explained the $5 million renewal timing shift resulted from resetting contract dates during consumption conversions. He also highlighted the company's record Q4 free cash flow of $6 million, a cash balance increase to over $45 million, and a manageable debt load with a four-year runway, expressing confidence in the balance sheet.
Patrick Walravens of JMP Securities asked about the current macroeconomic environment's impact on customer purchasing decisions and requested details on the balance sheet, including the cash and debt position and the dynamic behind a $5 million renewal shift due to consumption model conversions.
CEO Joshua James and executive RJ Tracy noted that the macro environment remains cautious, with customers only pursuing well-vetted projects. CFO Tod Crane explained that the $5 million renewal shift from Q1 was due to resetting contract dates during consumption conversions throughout the prior year. He also highlighted the company's record free cash flow in Q4, which increased the cash balance to over $45 million, and noted that the company's debt has a maturity of over four years.
Patrick Walravens asked for specifics on the terms and covenants of the new debt refinancing and requested a list of the cloud data warehouse partners that are currently live.
CFO David Jolley detailed that the new debt extends maturity four years to August 2028, lowers the overall interest rate, and reduces the cash interest component to approximately 8.25% (SOFR + 300bps), providing significant cash savings. CEO Josh James confirmed live partnerships with Snowflake, Databricks, Google, Oracle, IBM, and Dremio, noting that while Snowflake is the most advanced, full integrations with the others are expected within the next one to two months.
Patrick Walravens inquired about the specific terms and covenants of the recent debt refinancing and asked for clarification on which CDW partnerships are currently live beyond Snowflake.
CFO David Jolley detailed the new debt terms, including a four-year extension to August 2028, a reduced cash interest rate of SOFR plus 300 basis points, and 500 basis points of PIK interest. Founder and CEO Joshua James confirmed active partnerships with Snowflake, Databricks, Google, Oracle, IBM, and Dremio. He noted Snowflake is the most advanced integration, with others like Databricks and BigQuery expected to be fully live within one to two months.
On behalf of Pat Walravens, Austin Cole asked about high-level AI trends observed in customer conversations and specific use cases for features like AI Avatars that give management confidence in AI's role in modern work.
CEO Eric Yuan explained that the vision is to evolve Zoom from a communication tool into a 'system of actions.' He noted customers are excited about using Zoom's agentic AI framework to integrate with systems like ServiceNow and Jira, automating workflows by creating tasks and tickets directly from meetings. He sees this transformation into a core part of the business workflow as a major opportunity.
Patrick Walravens from JMP Securities asked new CFO Michelle Chang about her reasons for joining Zoom, her initial findings, and any preliminary thoughts on the outlook for the next fiscal year.
CFO Michelle Chang shared that she was drawn to Zoom's iconic brand and its strategic evolution into an AI-first platform. She expressed that she has been delighted by the customer love and pace of innovation. Her primary focus areas are accelerating top-line growth, managing margins, and strategic capital allocation, highlighted by the new share buyback program. She deferred specific FY'26 guidance to the next earnings call.
Austin Cole, on for Patrick Walravens of JMP Securities, asked about demand trends in international regions, particularly EMEA, given its recent revenue contraction.
CFO Kelly Steckelberg acknowledged that the economy in EMEA has been impacted by ongoing wars, a headwind faced by peers as well. She expressed optimism for the future, highlighting that a new leadership team is coming into place and that the company is investing in the region, exemplified by the recent opening of a London Executive Briefing Center to showcase the expanded platform and drive growth.
An analyst on behalf of Patrick Walravens asked for details on customer engagement and pipeline for the new AI chatbot traffic product. He also sought clarification on whether any current pipeline weakness might trigger a change in the company's investment strategy.
CEO Or Offer explained that the AI traffic product is currently in beta for paying customers and has successfully driven conversions from free to paid plans. He anticipates a larger revenue impact after the second part of the offering, which includes market share and sentiment analysis, is launched and monetized as a standalone module. CFO Jason Schwartz confirmed there is nothing in the current pipeline to suggest a need to alter their investment plans.
Patrick Walravens pressed for a deeper explanation of the Q4 sales execution softness, asking about its severity, the root cause, and why the company is increasing investment following a weaker quarter.
CEO Or Offer described Q4 as 'okay' rather than 'great,' attributing the softness to specific, localized managerial and performance issues in EMEA and Japan that were addressed during the quarter. He stressed that the decision to invest more heavily now is driven by strong underlying demand and confidence in the new team members who are already in place and performing well.
Patrick Walravens asked for an update on the new CRO, Susan Dunn, including the changes she has implemented, and inquired about the timeline or revenue scale needed to reach the company's long-term 25% operating margin target.
CEO Or Offer praised CRO Susan Dunn as an experienced industry leader who is making all the right moves to ramp up the go-to-market strategy. CFO Jason Schwartz stated that the long-term model of 25% operating margin and 30% free cash flow margin is targeted for when the company reaches a revenue scale of $400 million to $450 million.
Patrick Walravens asked about the technical difficulty of building connectors for apps like Slack and Teams, and which of the four key features in the Dash spring release was the most expensive and time-consuming to develop.
CEO Drew Houston described building connectors as 'deceptively difficult' and a significant R&D investment that forms a technical moat, as third-party solutions were inadequate. He explained that while all new Dash features are major investments, supporting multimodal search (images/video) leverages Dropbox's existing infrastructure at scale, making it more efficient for them to deliver than for smaller competitors.
Patrick Walravens asked about the competitive dynamics for Dash, specifically seeking to understand how Dropbox is differentiated from well-funded competitors like Glean.
CEO Drew Houston highlighted several differentiators, including Dropbox's large existing customer base of over 500,000 businesses, its trusted brand, and its technical infrastructure. He emphasized that a key product advantage is Dash's 'Protect and Control' security features, which allow admins to identify and remediate improperly shared content before rolling out powerful AI search tools, addressing a major customer concern that competitors don't solve as effectively.
Patrick Walravens of Citizens JMP asked CFO Bryan Hill about the rationale behind his retirement, and asked CEO Alex Shootman about the criteria for the next CFO and the company's most important priority for the upcoming year.
CFO Bryan Hill explained his decision was based on personal timing, the company's strong performance, and the desire to provide a long, transparent transition. CEO Alex Shootman highlighted the need for a top-tier candidate and stated his most important priority is creating market differentiation by integrating digital banking, MANTL's onboarding, and the data platform to drive higher win rates.
Patrick Walravens asked for the origin story of the MANTL acquisition, including when the companies first connected and how the transaction came together.
CEO Alex Shootman explained that the two companies have known each other since 2019 and the deal evolved from mutual respect, cultural alignment, and direct feedback from Alkami's Customer Advisory Board prioritizing a better onboarding experience. CFO W. Hill added that the timing was opportune as MANTL was exploring strategic options, and the combination creates a uniquely powerful platform to help Alkami achieve its long-term growth targets.
Patrick Walravens asked for a reminder of the key drivers behind the expected reacceleration of revenue growth throughout the remainder of 2025.
CEO David DeStefano attributed the expected acceleration to two main factors: the ongoing cloud migration cycle driven by SAP and Oracle, which builds the sales pipeline, and increased cross-selling of new offerings, which is anticipated to lift NRR back above 110% by year-end. He noted e-invoicing would contribute more to ARR this year and become a revenue accelerant in 2026.
Patrick Walravens asked about the general 'tone of business' and sales force attainment, and requested an update on the e-invoicing solution's country coverage.
CEO David DeStefano described the business tone as 'great,' with strong team confidence reflected in the robust full-year guidance. Regarding e-invoicing, he did not provide a specific current country count but stated the accelerated investment aims to achieve necessary global coverage within the next 18 to 24 months, guided by customer feedback and market opportunities.
Patrick Walravens asked how having a European e-invoicing solution drives demand for Vertex's core tax engine in the region and also inquired about the data opportunity that the ecosio acquisition opens up for continuous transaction processing.
CEO David DeStefano explained that because e-invoicing makes taxability visible to governments at the transaction level, customers want more confidence in the accuracy, which drives demand for the core determination engine. He added that the acquisition expands the data Vertex touches, fueling a new value proposition around data transparency and accuracy across the end-to-end workflow.
Patrick Walravens asked Co-CEO Therese Tucker to contrast BlackLine's approach to AI with competitors like FloQast, which appears more embedded in Excel.
Co-CEO Therese Tucker stated that BlackLine is taking a different, long-term approach focused on 'responsible AI.' She emphasized the critical need for governance and clear audit trails to ensure acceptance by finance executives and auditors. This methodical strategy leverages BlackLine's two decades of SaaS data to provide deep, reliable insights rather than just surface-level automation.
Patrick Walravens from Citizens JMP asked what management's single most important focus is for 2025 and what the playbook is for re-engaging customers who have stalled on their journey.
Co-CEO Owen Ryan identified the top priority as 'execution,' specifically in enabling the sales team to communicate new innovations and proactively helping stalled customers. The playbook for these customers involves using an industry-focused lens and benchmarking data to show them how they compare to peers, creating an 'aha moment' about the untapped potential of the BlackLine platform.
Patrick Walravens inquired about the current macroeconomic environment and whether conditions are improving, and also asked for more details on a significant competitive win with a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical company.
Co-CEO Owen Ryan stated that while the demand environment feels "a little bit better," with positive indicators like a sold-out user conference and increased partner hiring, the company is not ready to declare a significant change. Regarding the pharmaceutical deal, Ryan explained it was a multi-year sales cycle won by leveraging BlackLine's deep industry-specific domain expertise, relevant use cases, and compelling customer references from other major pharmaceutical clients.
Patrick Walravens of Citizens JMP asked for a comparison of the current AI-driven technology shift to the previous on-prem to cloud shift, and how ServiceNow views the potential for AI to disintermediate SaaS.
Chairman and CEO Bill McDermott argued that this shift is different because ServiceNow is uniquely positioned to integrate the 'chaos' of legacy, departmental systems. He stated that AI will drive consolidation onto a single platform like ServiceNow, as customers will no longer tolerate fragmented systems. He sees a major tailwind for ServiceNow as the platform that can integrate with everything but also consolidate everything, a choice customers are increasingly making.
Patrick Walravens from JMP Securities asked about the timing of the OfferFit acquisition, specifically questioning why the deal happened now and whether OfferFit was undergoing a formal sale or financing process.
CEO Bill Magnuson revealed that Braze's corporate development group proactively approached OfferFit, a long-time and prominent partner. The timing coincided with OfferFit preparing for a new fundraising round, which placed some time constraints on the process. He emphasized that Braze saw it as an opportune moment for a complementary combination, given OfferFit's maturity and the clear synergies between the two companies' product roadmaps.
Patrick Walravens requested a five-year historical overview of the non-Atlas business to understand its fluctuating growth rates and asked about the growth outlook for this segment beyond fiscal year 2026.
CEO Dev Ittycheria and CFO Serge Tanjga explained that while the non-Atlas (EA) business continues to grow, there is a clear trend of these customers deploying more of their incremental workloads on Atlas. Looking ahead, Serge Tanjga noted that while the move to the cloud will continue, the application modernization initiative could benefit both Atlas and EA, though its future impact is still being assessed.
Asked about the confidence in achieving mid-single-digit growth in the upmarket segment despite ongoing tech layoffs, and what could accelerate that growth further.
Confidence comes from slow, steady, and focused execution in the upmarket segment, including proper resourcing and product innovation. Growth acceleration beyond mid-single digits is expected to be driven by the continued adoption of Copilot, which expands the user base to new personas, and the Operations business.
Patrick Walravens asked where Datadog sees opportunities to drive internal improvements using new technology, and whether these efficiencies would change future headcount growth needs.
CEO Olivier Pomel stated that opportunities for AI-driven improvement exist everywhere internally, starting with software development and extending to customer support and all back-office functions. However, he clarified that in the short-to-mid term, any productivity gains will be reinvested into R&D to build more products and into go-to-market to scale faster, rather than slowing headcount growth. He affirmed the long-term goal is to remain a highly efficient and profitable company.
Patrick Walravens's associate asked about the current macroeconomic environment's impact on customer behavior and whether there were any notable changes following the recent election.
CEO Eric Stang characterized the market as strong, stating that conditions have not worsened post-election and may be 'similar or a little better.' He noted that Q4 is always challenging to forecast due to holiday seasonality. However, he emphasized that key growth areas like AirDial and 2600Hz are driven by unique market dynamics independent of the broader economy, and the small business UCaaS market remains large and underpenetrated.
Asked if Paycor is actively using AI to improve sales force efficiency and for clarification on the implied recurring revenue growth rate for fiscal '25 given the total revenue guidance.
Management stated they are in the 'early innings' of using AI for sales efficiency, primarily on the marketing front-end to route the best prospects to reps. Recurring revenue growth for FY '25 is expected to be a couple of points faster than the total revenue growth, based on the interest income guidance provided.
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