Yun Kim

Yun Kim asked about the level of partner engagement in core VM renewals versus their focus on selling new products, specifically regarding mROC partners. He also inquired about the seasonality of renewals for the year, asking if it would remain consistent with prior years (skewed towards the second half) or change due to newer products.

Answer

Sumedh Thakar, President and CEO of Qualys, noted that mROC partners are excited to launch high-value services around the Risk Operations Center, offering business-oriented cyber risk visibility and leveraging agentic AI to reduce staffing costs. These partners are bringing new business and upsell opportunities by positioning broader risk management. Joo Mi Kim, CFO of Qualys, stated that the seasonality of renewals is expected to remain consistent with 2025, skewed towards the second half of the year.

Yun Kim asked about the extent of partner involvement in core VM renewals versus their focus on selling new products, particularly the mROC partners, and inquired if the renewal seasonality for the year is consistent with prior years or if newer products are changing the mix.

Answer

Sumedh Thakar (President and CEO, Qualys) explained that mROC partners are excited to launch higher-value services around the Risk Operations Center (ROC) and ETM, which allows them to charge more and potentially reduce staffing costs through agentic AI. These partners are bringing new and upsell business by positioning broader risk management. Joo Mi Kim (CFO, Qualys) confirmed that the seasonality for renewals is expected to remain consistent with 2025, skewed towards the second half of 2026.

Yun Kim inquired about the visibility and variables influencing the Q4 ARR contribution from deferred ARR deals, and whether the timing of this ramp would affect cash flow.

Answer

Neil Barua (CEO, PTC) highlighted the significant increase in deferred ARR for Q4 2026 (triple last year's Q4) and 2027 (double last year's 2026), attributing it to strategic cross-product wins and competitive displacements driven by go-to-market transformation. Jennifer DiRico (CFO, PTC) confirmed the details.

Yun Kim inquired about the visibility and quantification of deferred ARR deals contributing to Q4 ARR, asking about the variables influencing their recognition and potential impact on billings and cash flow.

Answer

CEO Neil Barua and CFO Jennifer DiRico explained that go-to-market transformation has led to a significant increase in deferred ARR, with Q4 2026 deferred ARR being triple that of the previous year and 2027 being double. They highlighted that these are committed, contracted amounts tied to customer implementation cycles, ensuring future ARR impact.

Yun Kim asked about Braze's thoughts on expanding its product portfolio beyond first-party data to address customer acquisition and advertising using third-party data, especially as personalization data potentially shifts to chatbot vendors in agentic commerce.

Answer

Bill Magnuson (CEO, Braze) stated that Braze already plays a role in acquisition and reactivation, using Canvas and Braze Data Platform for first-party data in acquisition use cases, and has identity resolution partnerships. He acknowledged that for commodity purchases, agents might disintermediate brands. However, for products customers care about, brands still need to build strong direct relationships, which Braze helps facilitate, even if initial purchases are agent-driven, as the most valuable customer is one who connects with the brand.

Yun Kim asked about Braze's thoughts on expanding its product portfolio beyond first-party data to address customer acquisition and advertising using third-party data, especially as personalization data may shift to chatbot vendors in agentic commerce.

Answer

Bill Magnuson (CEO, Braze) stated Braze already plays a role in acquisition and reactivation, coordinating strategies and driving first-party data into acquisition use cases, with identity resolution partnerships. He acknowledged that for commodity purchases, agents might disintermediate brands, but for valued relationships, brands must build strong direct connections. He emphasized that Braze will continue to build into third-party ecosystems and leverage integration points, but the most valuable customer always invests in a connection with the brand, which Braze helps cement.

Yun Kim inquired about trends in different messaging channels, specifically which premium channels performed well in the quarter, and if any messaging channels are expected to receive a boost from customer adoption of OfferFit.

Answer

Co-founder and CEO Bill Magnuson reported consistent growth across messaging channels, with notable growth in premium channels, especially outside the U.S., driven by the flexible credits model. He highlighted increased adoption of channels like RCS, WhatsApp, landing pages, and content cards. OfferFit's decisioning engine is primarily deployed around email but is flexible enough to be applied across various marketing channels, including performance marketing use cases beyond Braze's existing footprint.

Yun Kim requested an update on Braze's partner ecosystem, specifically regarding global system integrators (GSIs) and potential OEM opportunities with other software vendors.

Answer

CEO Bill Magnuson stated that Braze's strategy remains focused on direct sales, and OEM is not a significant part of its go-to-market motion. The primary focus with tech and services partners is on aligning sales teams, rationalizing technical architectures for digital transformations, and leveraging product integrations, which leads to faster deal cycles and better customer outcomes.

Yun Kim asked about the impact of agentic commerce and AI chatbots like ChatGPT on ServiceTitan's product strategy, particularly for marketing and sales, and if this represents an opportunity to increase GTV takeaway. He also inquired about changes in contract length and billing cycles with an increasing commercial and larger customer mix.

Answer

CEO Ara Mahdessian acknowledged that while it's early days, ServiceTitan is closely monitoring changing consumer behavior and expects new product and service opportunities to emerge from agentic commerce. CFO Dave Sherry confirmed that billing remains generally monthly for nearly all customers, including large commercial ones, and he doesn't foresee this changing.

Yun Kim asked about the drivers of GTV growth (volume vs. average ticket price), the impact of AI on platform gross margin efficiency and onboarding, and whether the ramp of Pro Products contributes to gross margin tailwinds.

Answer

Co-Founder and CEO Ara Mahdessian stated that GTV growth was driven by both job growth and ticket growth, with non-HVAC residential trades seeing a pickup mostly from jobs. He expressed excitement about AI's progress but noted it's still early days for its full impact on operations. He added that Pro Products' impact on gross margin depends on the mix, contributing more to the top line and sales/marketing efficiencies.

Yun Kim of Loop Capital Markets asked if the rise of Agentic AI could lead ServiceTitan to introduce new consumption or usage-based pricing models beyond its existing fintech products.

Answer

President Vahe Kuzoyan explained that ServiceTitan's current Pro Product suite already utilizes a broad range of pricing models, including per-seat and consumption-based options. He stated that this existing flexible framework is the mechanism the company will use to monetize new opportunities created by Agentic AI.

Yun Kim of Loop Capital Markets asked if Agentic AI presents an opportunity to introduce new usage or consumption-based pricing models.

Answer

President Vahe Kuzoyan responded that the current Pro Product suite already utilizes a broad range of pricing models, including per-seat and consumption-based. He indicated that this existing, familiar structure will be used to monetize new opportunities created by agentic AI.

Yun Suk Kim asked if the growing mix of commercial and roofing would alter GTV seasonality and take-rate trends, and requested an update on the adoption of the new mobile app.

Answer

CFO Dave Sherry stated they are not forecasting a significant change to seasonality or earn rate from the new segments but acknowledged it could be impacted by faster-than-expected growth. President Vahe Kuzoyan reported a meaningful increase in the new mobile app's utilization, with a rollout that is on schedule and showing strong results.

Asked how the industry consolidation trend affects sales cycles and monetization, and requested an update on the Convex business and its role in the commercial strategy.

Answer

Sales cycles for consolidators can vary, but these sophisticated operators have a high appetite for Pro products, which enhances monetization. The Convex acquisition is performing well and is integral to the commercial strategy, providing a valuable data set for a future prepopulated CRM and offering crucial insights and relationships within the commercial market.

Yun Kim asked about the types of AI agents early adopters are working with (software vendor agents vs. custom-developed) and whether Okta's approach to securing AI agents differs for these two types, given Auth0 for AI Agents targets developers.

Answer

CEO Todd McKinnon explained that the most concrete implementations currently involve custom-built agents, with packaged application vendors being slightly behind in deployments. He emphasized that the future will be a multi-platform world with diverse models and frameworks, which is why Okta's message of providing flexible, independent identity security resonates with customers who want to avoid lock-in to a single cloud platform.

Yun Kim of Loop Capital Markets asked if the strong performance in the customer identity business was broad-based or driven by a few large deals, and inquired about the typical timeframe for a large renewal following a customer's viral event.

Answer

CEO Todd McKinnon confirmed that the Auth0 business had a strong Q1, particularly with large customers, and he is optimistic about broad-based success for the rest of the year. CFO Brett Tighe added that the quarter's largest deal was an Auth0 deal from a specialized team, demonstrating strong execution following a record Q4.

Yun Kim of Loop Capital Markets LLC asked if the Flex pricing model is improving deal visibility and sales velocity, and whether it might encourage customers to pursue early renewals.

Answer

CEO Tomer Weingarten confirmed that the Flex model is 'definitely streamlining the sales process' and unlocking more velocity by allowing customers to think more broadly about platform adoption. He clarified that the company will continue its standard customer engagement cadence and not pursue unnatural early renewals.

Yun Kim from Loop Capital Markets LLC questioned the near-term cross-sell opportunities and whether they require a fully integrated platform first. He also asked about the expected trend for the combined Net Revenue Retention (NRR) rate post-acquisition.

Answer

CEO Sandeep Sahai identified Beacon's risk capabilities as the most immediate cross-sell opportunity and cited the recent VKB win as proof of the demand for a front-to-back solution. CFO Jim Cox explained that the consolidated NRR of 110% is on a similar journey to the core business a few years ago, with a clear path to the 115% target through commercial model enhancements and expanded cross-sell offerings.

Yun Kim asked about the overall pricing environment and whether products like pre-bid optimization provide greater pricing leverage. He also inquired if the optimization segment is expected to achieve double-digit growth in 2025.

Answer

CFO Tania Secor noted that while measurement CPMs were down slightly, optimization CPMs were stable, and confirmed that optimization products command a material premium. She highlighted pre-bid social as a significant upsell opportunity. While not providing a specific growth target for the optimization segment in 2025, she reiterated that ramping pre-bid social revenue is a key driver for next year's growth.

Asked about the drivers of enterprise momentum, trends in deal size, customer reaction to price increases, and the outlook for the Net Dollar Expansion Rate (NRR).

Answer

Enterprise momentum is driven by sales efficiency, a strong pipeline, and improved product-market fit. Deal sizes are growing, evidenced by more large customers (>$50k ARR) and a recent eight-figure deal. The price increase did not cause an uptick in churn for SMBs, and the NRR improvement was driven by both organic growth and pricing, a trend expected to continue in Q4.