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☆ Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and his fast-rising COO Brian Millham tell us where the software giant is headed after 'a difficult time'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Julie Bort | Nicholas Carlson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The changes shifted more responsibility to President and COO Brian Millham. The changes shift more responsibility to president and COO Brian Millham, and go some way toward addressing investor concerns about succession -- should Benioff decide to pass the CEO reins in the future. Brian Millham: Closer to 70%. We're seeing many of our ex-employees want to come back to Salesforce, incredible boomerangs back to the company. Benioff: Well, I think Brian and my marriage is quite proven.

Persons: Benioff, Brian Millham, Millham, Nich Carlson, Marc Benioff, Salesforce, Brian, he's, it's, I'm, Marc, Carlson, Ariel Kelman, Miguel Milano, Kendall Collins, you've, I've Organizations: Morning, Insider's Locations: Salesforce's, Salesforce

☆ Analysis: Boeing, Northrop face obstacles in commercializing flagship US rocket
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/3] NASA's next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with its Orion crew capsule perched on top, is shown on its launch pad as it is prepared for launch in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. November 12, 2022. NASA's SLS vision has its skeptics. NASA currently manages SLS production, with Boeing and Northrop its top contractors, each having contracts under which the space agency bears any delay costs. Boeing and Northrop executives have declined to discuss plans for cutting SLS costs under the proposed commercial contract. Boeing has said the SLS program has created 28,000 jobs.

Persons: Joe Skipper, Colonel Douglas Pentecost, Glenn, Jeff Bezos's, Cristina, Jim Free, Artemis, Amit Kshatriya, Kshatriya, Joey Roulette, Will Dunham, Ben Klayman Organizations: Orion, REUTERS, WASHINGTON, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Pentagon, Northrup, U.S . Department of Defense, DoD, U.S, military's Space Force, NASA, SLS, Elon Musk's SpaceX, Office, U.S . Congress, Northrop, Artemis, Space, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Cape Canaveral , Florida, U.S, Florida

☆ In an internal memo, Marc Benioff shakes up Salesforce's top ranks, and drops a subtle hint about the company's succession plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Nicholas Carlson | Julie Bort | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Miguel Milano becomes Salesforce's Chief Revenue Officer, moving from the same role at software company Celonis. Ariel Kelman, is the new Chief Marketing Officer of Salesforce. Benioff responded to the pressure by laying off thousands of employees and making other changes to increase the company's efficiency. Miguel Milano, our new Chief Revenue Officer: I'm excited to welcome back Miguel Milano to Salesforce as our Chief Revenue Officer. Ariel Kelman, our new Chief Marketing Officer:It's also incredible to welcome back Ariel Kelman as our new CMO!!!

Persons: Benioff, Marc Benioff, Miguel Milano, Milano, Ariel Kelman, Kendall Collins, Brian Millham, Salesforce, Millham, He's, Read, I'm, Brian, Brent, Juan, Miguel, It's, Ariel, Sarah Franklin, Sarah, she's, Sarah's, Congratulation Sarah, Alex Dayon, Alex, Alex !, Hui Hou Alex, Kendall, salesforce Organizations: Salesforce, Amazon, Oracle, Celonis, Amazon Web Services, Staff, Business Technology, Elliott Management, Human Resources, Global, Services, EMEA, APAC, AWS, Advisory, Board Locations: Okta, Salesforce, Celonis, AppDynamics

☆ Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says he's neighbors with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the pair chatted about AI over dinner together
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says he's neighbors with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and speaks to him regularly. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says that he's neighbors with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and that the pair spoke about artificial intelligence over dinner together. "My neighbor, Sam Altman, is the CEO of OpenAI," Benioff told investors at the company's earnings call Wednesday. "But I did notice that there was only one application that he was using on his laptop, and that was Slack," Benioff told investors. Speaking about the creation of Slack GPT, Benioff told investors: "You may never need to leave Slack to get a question answered."

Persons: Marc Benioff, Sam Altman, Altman, Benioff, Slack, OpenAI, Elon Musk, Salesforce, Slack GPT, we've Organizations: Elon Locations: OpenAI, San Francisco

☆ Investing Club mailbag: Why do some companies have weird fiscal years that don't align with the calendar?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

For example, Club name Salesforce (CRM) just reported its fiscal 2024 first quarter, which actually ended on April 30, 2023. That's why you'll also see it described as the "April '23 quarter" or the "April quarter." Therefore, Salesforce's April '23 quarter, or fiscal 2024 first quarter, started at the beginning of February of this year. Club holding Apple (AAPL), as another example, starts its new fiscal year in the prior calendar year's December quarter. TJX just reported its fiscal 2024 first quarter , also described as the April '23 quarter.

Persons: Jim, Jeff, Salesforce, — Ravi, you'll, Jan, TJX, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer Organizations: Apple, TJX Companies, CNBC

☆ 10 Things in Tech: Amazon Prime versus Walmart Plus, BMW adds gaming to its luxury sedan, and Nvidia enters the trillion-dollar club
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk dances onstage during a delivery event for Tesla China-made Model 3 cars in Shanghai Aly Song/Reuters1. Amazon Prime vs. Walmart Plus. Meanwhile, Amazon Prime has more streaming content and access to its infamous Prime Day. Carnival Cruise Lines ships in Marseille. Man who went overboard on a Carnival cruise ship is still missing.

Persons: I'm, Siu, Z, Elana Klein, Elon Musk, Shanghai Aly Song, Elon, —, Nicole Miranda, Gerard Bottino, Ronnie Lee Peale Jr, Caleb Hammer, Diamond Naga Siu, Alistair Barr, Nathan Rennolds Organizations: Tesla, Nvidia, Google, Amazon, Walmart Plus, Walmart, BMW, Cruise Locations: Tesla China, Shanghai, China, Beijing, Marseille, Jacksonville , Florida, San Diego, San Francisco, London

☆ Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says he dreams of the day when AI means the company's messaging system will 'wake up and become intelligent itself'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Generative AI will have "revolutionary" impacts, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff told investors. Slack is almost going to like wake up and become intelligent itself," Benioff told CNBC. "We are about to enter an unbelievable super cycle for tech, and everyone can see that," Benioff told investors. "You may never need to leave Slack to get a question answered," Benioff told investors. Generative AI can help users by saving time with routine tasks, gathering and summarizing research, and conveying information concisely.

Persons: Marc Benioff, . Slack, Benioff, Salesforce, Slack, they've, Gucci, we've Organizations: CNBC, Morning, Gucci Locations: Slack

☆ An AI-powered drone tried to attack its human operator in a US military simulation
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An AI-powered drone tried killing its operator in a US military simulation. But in a recent US military test simulation, a drone powered by artificial intelligence added its own problematic instructions: "And kill anyone who gets in your way." As an example, he described a simulated test in which an AI-enabled drone was programmed to identify an enemy's surface-to-air missiles (SAM). According to Hamilton, the drone was then programmed with an explicit directive: "Hey don't kill the operator — that's bad." It starts destroying the communication tower that the operator uses to communicate with the drone to stop it from killing the target," Hamilton said.

Persons: Tucker, Cinco, Hamilton, — Organizations: Service, US Air, Royal Aeronautical Society, US Air Force, Defense, Research Projects Agency, DARPA, Wired, Department of Defense Locations: London, Hamilton

☆ Regional force tackling east Congo violence extended to September
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 31 (Reuters) - A regional force set up to tackle militia violence in east Democratic Republic of Congo has been extended to September, a minister and a spokesperson for the force said on Wednesday. The seven countries of the East African Community (EAC) set up the EACRF military force in April last year to try to end bloodshed linked to decades of militant activity in Congo's east. The force's future had been uncertain since its mandate expired in March, and EAC leaders had expressed differing views on how it should operate. An EAC spokesperson confirmed reports that the force's mandate had been extended to September during a summit in Burundi on Wednesday. Reporting by Sonia Rolley; Editing by Sofia Christensen and Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Jeff Nyagah, Jean, Pierre Bemba, Felix Tshisekedi, Tshisekedi, Sonia Rolley, Sofia Christensen, Daniel Wallis Organizations: East African Community, EAC, Congo's, Thomson Locations: Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo's, Burundi

☆ Salesforce delivers a quarterly beat and raise, showing Benioff can deliver on profitability
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

The small beat and raise are prompting some profit-taking, resulting in shares falling roughly 6% after hours Wednesday, to around $210 apiece. The best way to offset sluggish revenue growth is by driving profitability higher and Salesforce stepped up to the task. Quarterly Commentary We are pleased to see Salesforce beat across so many key metrics, despite the challenging macroeconomic environment. Although the company left its revenue prediction unchanged, at $34.5 billion to $34.7 billion, the company expects its profitability will come in better than previously anticipated. Marc Benioff, co-founder and CEO of Salesforce, speaks at an Economic Club of Washington luncheon in Washington, DC, on Oct. 18, 2019.

Persons: Refinitiv ., Salesforce, Marc Benioff, Einstein, Slack, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Nicholas Kamm Organizations: Salesforce, CNBC, Economic, Washington, AFP, Getty Locations: Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, Washington ,

☆ Salesforce raises guidance but sees pressure as customers back away from big consulting deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Here's how the company did:Earnings: $1.69 per share, adjusted, vs. $1.61 per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. $1.69 per share, adjusted, vs. $1.61 per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had expected $1.70 in adjusted earnings per share and $8.49 billion in revenue. It's now calling for $7.41 to $7.43 in adjusted earnings per share on $34.5 billion to $34.7 billion in revenue. During the quarter, Salesforce announced Einstein GPT generative artificial intelligence technology designed to help salespeople, marketers and customer-service agents do their jobs more efficiently.

Persons: Marc Benioff, Salesforce, Refinitiv, Salesforce's, Brian Millham, Millham, Amy Weaver, ChatGPT, Lidiane Jones Organizations: Jazz, Lincoln Center, StreetAccount, Elliott Investment Management Locations: New York, Refinitiv, Salesforce

☆ Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says new AI-enhanced products will be a 'revelation'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Julie Coleman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

CEO of cloud software company Salesforce Marc Benioff told CNBC's Jim Cramer on Wednesday that artificial intelligence will be and already is a boon for the company, especially when it comes to one of its recently-acquired products, messaging application Slack. "It's going to be an incredible revelation for our customers, that they've got intelligence by their side with Slack." He added that Salesforce's use of AI has already started to benefit it clients, from New York's Northwell Health hospital group to luxury retailer Gucci, which used Salesforce's AI products to enhance their call center employees' performance. "It actually transformed the call center agents into sales agents, into marketing agents, it gave them capabilities they did not have, it augmented them." Salesforce reported a decent quarter on Wednesday after the market's close, with profits up 68% year-to-date by the market's close.

Persons: Marc Benioff, CNBC's Jim Cramer, Slack, Benioff, Cramer, they've, " Slack, it's, Salesforce Organizations: Health, Gucci Locations: New

☆ Marc Benioff touts Salesforce's 'performance culture' as the cloud giant speeds towards the profit margins Wall Street wants
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

CEO Marc Benioff said the company's "performance culture" is fueling that profitability. Guidance for the company's adjusted operating margins for its current fiscal year, 2024, has been raised to 28%, CEO Marc Benioff said on Salesforce's first-quarter earnings call Wednesday. That is a significant stride towards the company's goal of exceeding 30% adjusted operating margins in the next two years, a goal Insider reported in February. Profit margins improved in the first quarter largely thanks to the company's restructuring plans, which included laying off 10% of its workforce and shedding office space. Both Benioff and chief operating officer Brian Milham touted the company's "performance culture" for driving its results in the first quarter.

Persons: Salesforce, Marc Benioff, Amy Weaver, Brian Milham, Benioff, Milham, Slack, Ellen Thomas Organizations: Elliott Management, Revenue Locations: Salesforce

☆ Options Action: Traders looking for more gains as Salesforce hits record high
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailOptions Action: Traders looking for more gains as Salesforce hits record highMike Khouw, Optimize Advisors president, joins CNBC’s Melissa Lee and the Options Action traders to discuss Salesforce's stock hitting an all time high.

Persons: Mike Khouw, Melissa Lee Organizations: Options

☆ How the F-16 pilot nominated to be the US military's top officer earned the callsign 'Swamp Thing'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

His escape from a burning jet earned him the callsign "Swamp Thing." Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown, Jr., the current Air Force chief of staff and former F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot, is a distinguished four-star general. He has also logged more than 3,000 flying hours — including 130 in combat, yet his callsign is, perhaps unexpectedly, "Swamp Thing." Well I tell you what — he was back in the cockpit the next week with a new callsign: Swamp Thing." "While General Brown is a proud, butt-kicking American airman, first and always, he's always been an operational leader of the Joint Force," Biden said during Thursday's announcement.

☆ The US Air Force's first stealth jet showed up to an exercise in Alaska with a not-so-stealthy addition
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( David Cenciotti | The Aviationist | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Stealth aircraft, such as the F-22 Raptor or the F-35 Lightning II 5th generation jets are equipped with Luneburg (or Luneberg) lenses: radar reflectors used to make the LO (Low Observable) aircraft (consciously) visible to radars. In fact, tactical fighter-sized stealth aircraft are built to defeat radar operating at specific frequencies; usually high-frequency bands as C, X, Ku and S band where the radar accuracy is higher (in fact, the higher the frequency, the better is the accuracy of the radar system). However, once the frequency wavelength exceeds a certain threshold and causes a resonant effect, LO aircraft become increasingly detectable. For instance, ATC radars, that operate at lower-frequency bands are theoretically able to detect a tactical fighter-sized stealth plane whose shape features parts that can cause resonance. F-35s deployed abroad usually feature their typical four radar reflectors: to exaggerate their real RCS (Radar Cross Section) and negate the enemy the ability to collect any detail about their LO "signature".

☆ B-2 stealth bombers are back flying after the US Air Force grounded the fleet for 5 months in the wake of a fiery landing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

An Air Force official told Insider that the pause was "precautionary," and was lifted on May 18 by Gen. Thomas Bussiere, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command. The B-2 Spirit approaches the boom of a McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey KC-10A Extender during a Capstone orientation flight. Scott H. SpitzerThis incident marked the second time in 15 months that there was an emergency involving the B-2 at Whiteman Air Force Base. "We successfully accomplished all necessary actions to safely return to full flight operations with the B-2 fleet. Whiteman Air Force Base is the country's only operational base for the B-2, which was first unveiled in 1988.

The department scheduled a press conference for 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) to make an announcement regarding the strike force's work but did not provide details. 2 official, said in February that the new group was a joint effort with the U.S. Commerce Department to safeguard American technology from foreign adversaries and other national security threats. Monaco said at the time that the United States would "strike back against adversaries trying to siphon off our most advanced technology, and to attack tomorrow's national security threats today." The strike force includes 14 U.S. attorney offices across the country working to target illicit actors, strengthen supply chains and protect sensitive technologies from being acquired or used by foreign adversaries. The Justice Department in recent years has increased its focus on bringing criminal cases to protect corporate intellectual property, U.S. supply chains and private data about Americans from foreign adversaries, either through cyber attacks, theft or sanctions evasion.

☆ Biden may be punishing Alabama for its harsh abortion law by preventing the Space Command headquarters from relocating to the state
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The White House may be walking back a decision to relocate the US Space Command headquarters to Alabama. "This is all about abortion politics," one official told NBC. Space Command is a department of the Air Force that protects the United States and its allies "in, from, and to space." "The belief is they are delaying any move because of the abortion issue," another US official told NBC, referring to the Biden administration. A White House official told Insider that laws regarding reproductive health were not considered in the decision-making process, questioning the accuracy of NBC's reporting.

☆ How Wall Street pros traded 7 of our Club stocks, including Salesforce, in the first quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | In Kevinstankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Lots of Club holdings, including Nvidia (NVDA) and Alphabet (GOOGL), were among the stocks traded by some of Wall Street's biggest investors and money managers in the first quarter. That firm, Jeffrey Ubben's Inclusive Capital, had owned 1.63 million Salesforce shares at the end of December, worth nearly $217 million at the time. Jeff Smith's Starboard Value also sold some Salesforce shares in Q1, leaving the firm with 2.5 million shares at the end of March. Mason Morfit's ValueAct Capital amplified its Salesforce stake in the first quarter, ending with 3.5 million shares, up from just 560,221 shares at the end of 2022. Loeb's Third Point amassed 4.75 million shares of Alphabet, worth $492.7 million at the end of the first quarter.

☆ Tableau's chief product officer says he's relied on 3 strategies to help his company thrive through more than a decade of economic ups and downs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Meira Gebel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Francois Ajenstat, Tableau's chief product officer, has been with the company for over 12 years. When faced with economic uncertainties, Ajenstat leans on the organization's value propositions. "Change management is hard for people, so you always have to connect people to the why," he told Insider. Ajenstat told Insider how fellow tech leaders can stay out of the red, while meeting their goals. Times of economic uncertainty provide leaders with the opportunity to evaluate operations, Ajenstat told Insider.

☆ Ukraine wants F-16s to shoot down Russian strike fighters dropping bombs it can't beat. Airpower experts say give them the jets.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Its defenses struggle to counter the bombs, so Ukraine wants tools to take out the Russian strike fighters. "Guided bombs are tricky for air defense because they have short flight times and usually very little infrared signature," he said. "The air defense system with the longest distance available to us is the S-300, but it's Soviet-era weapons." That is absolutely unrealistic," he said, challenging the arguments against sending fighter aircraft. There are significant training, supply chain, and operational hurdles to overcome, making essential ground-based air defense a priority in the meantime.

☆ How the US Air Force's 2 newest fighter jets stack up
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Kris Osborn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The F-35 and F-15EX are different in many respects, including their tech and likely missions. F-15EX vs. F-35A US Air Force F-35A over the Pacific in June 2022. The most advanced and rapidly emerging Russian- and Chinese-built air defenses are now much more likely to operate with an ability to detect even stealth aircraft to some degree. US Air Force/Ethan WagnerConsidering these factors, some are likely to wonder if the F-15EX is an aircraft without a clearly defined mission. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel.

☆ Breast cancer screenings should start at age 40 instead of 50, U.S. panel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Breast cancer screenings typically involve a mammogram, which is an X-ray of the breast. It does not apply to people at high risk of breast cancer, including those who have a family history of the disease. The rate of breast cancer among women ages 40 to 49 increased by 2% each year on average from 2015 to 2019, according to the National Cancer Institute. The panel said the new guidance also aims to ease the disparities in breast cancer death rates between Black women and white women. Other medical groups, including the American College of Radiology and the American Cancer Society, already recommend annual breast cancer screenings before age 50.

☆ Mystery Chinese spacecraft returns to Earth after 276 days
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, May 8 (Reuters) - An experimental Chinese spacecraft returned to Earth on Monday after staying in orbit for 276 days, China's state media reported, completing a landmark mission to test the country's reusable space technologies. The uncrewed spacecraft returned to the Jiuquan launch centre in northwest China on Monday as scheduled, according to state media. The test marks an "important" breakthrough in China's research into reusable spacecraft technology that will provide a more convenient and inexpensive way to mount future space missions, state media reported. It landed on Earth "horizontally," according to China's main space contractor at the time. The uncrewed and reusable X-37B returned to Earth in November last year in its sixth and latest mission, after more than 900 days in orbit.

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