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☆ The cloud uses massive amounts of energy. Generative AI will be way worse. A Microsoft data center veteran warns big changes are coming.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Training AI models in data centers uses up to three times more energy than traditional cloud tasks. A warning from a Microsoft data center veteranA Microsoft data center. MicrosoftTom Keane, who oversaw Microsoft's cloud data centers for about two decades, recently warned about this. An AI data center will need up to three times more power than a traditional cloud facility, he estimated. "The data center of the future is not in Virginia, it's not in Santa Clara, it's not in Dallas, Texas," Ganzi said.

Persons: Marc Ganzi, Cowen, Nammo, TikTok, Jack Clark, Matthew Barakat, Shaolei Ren, Microsoft Tom Keane, Keane, Bernstein, Mark Moerdler, DigitalBridge, Ganzi, it's, Ellen Thomas Organizations: Dominion Energy, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, McKinsey, Big Tech, Financial Times, AP, Nvidia, UC Riverside Locations: Northern Virginia, Manassas , Virginia, Virginia, DataBank, Santa Clara, Dallas , Texas

☆ Microsoft is developing cutting-edge AI chips to 'close the gap' with AWS, internal documents show
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft is betting on making its own AI chips for long-term growth, new internal documents show. Cloud market leader AWS is lagging behind Microsoft in AI efforts. Microsoft is betting on developing its own silicon chips to drive long-term growth for its cloud business, newly-released internal strategy documents confirm. It hopes the chip will outperform the ones it buys from vendors to save money on its high-cost AI efforts. Wall Street was less impressed by the AI efforts AWS touted on its earnings call a few days later.

Persons: We're, Satya Nadella, Bernstein, Ellen Thomas Organizations: Microsoft, FTC, Activision Blizzard, AWS, Federal Trade Commission, Companies, Apple, Google, Amazon Web Services

☆ Insiders keep saying that Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman could soon step down but Slootman says he's not leaving
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Frank Slootman became CEO of data cloud company Snowflake in April 2019. Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman tells Insider that ongoing rumors that he could soon step down are completely untrue. You are regurgitating competitive FUD," Slootman told us in his famously direct, no-nonsense style. "Frank Slootman is not leaving his position as Chairman and CEO of Snowflake," a spokesperson for the company told Insider. Slootman joined Snowflake as CEO in April 2019, ahead of its IPO in September 2020.

Persons: Frank Slootman, he'll, Mark McLaughlin, Snowflake, Slootman, McLaughlin, Bob Muglia's, Ellen Thomas Organizations: Palo Alto Networks, SEC, Qualcomm Locations: Snowflake, Las Vegas

☆ 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

☆ Marc Benioff says he has a successor. A leaked Salesforce org chart identifies the likely candidates.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Ashley Stewart | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Marc Benioff's succession plan appeared to fall apart when co-CEO Bret Taylor resigned on Nov. 30. "I always have a succession plan," Benioff told Insider. A leaked Salesforce organizational chart identifies the likely candidates who are next in line. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says he has a successor in mind and a leaked Salesforce organizational chart identifies the likely candidates who are next in line. "I always have a succession plan," Benioff told Insider in an interview.

☆ Bret Taylor was sidelined as Salesforce's co-CEO and resigned after a failed play to become sole CEO, company insiders say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Ashley Stewart | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Salesforce's co-CEO and heir apparent Bret Taylor shocked the industry when he resigned last year. It was a disappointment," Benioff told Insider. Salesforce's co-CEO and heir apparent Bret Taylor shocked the industry when he resigned on Nov. 30 — one year after taking the job. Taylor made an "abrupt" play to become Salesforce's sole CEO, according to a former executive familiar with the matter. Taylor joined Salesforce in 2016 after it acquired Quip, a productivity software startup founded by Taylor, for $750 million.

☆ Amazon is the growth laggard of the cloud industry now
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon said cloud revenue trended down by 500 basis points in April, suggesting year-over-year growth of 11%. The three largest cloud companies reported results in recent days and the growth picture for Amazon Web Services is, well, cloudy. Microsoft's Azure cloud unit grew sales by 31% year over year in the first quarter, while Google Cloud reported a 28% increase. So that suggests a year-over-year growth rate of just 11% for the early part of the second quarter. AWS is still the largest cloud provider, but if Microsoft continues to outgrow Amazon every quarter, the gap will narrow.

☆ Benioff vs. Benioff
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Ashley Stewart | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +29 min

Within Salesforce, Benioff riffs are at times met with backlash from an angry workforce. "You're not going to fire your family during times of need," a former Salesforce executive told Insider. "I don't think they understand Ohana," Benioff told Insider. "Look, we have to be the example of stakeholder capitalism," Benioff told Insider. A 'New Day' at Salesforce"I use the Japanese principle of shoshin, beginner's mind," Benioff told Insider in a phone interview in March.

☆ Salesforce employees blast low morale, lack of communication in internal messages as layoffs continue: 'It's like checking the missing bulletin board after a major disaster'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"There just has to be a better, more human way of doing this," one employee wrote. Salesforce conducted another round of layoffs this week as part of its plan, announced in January, to reduce its workforce by 10%, Insider has learned. It's like checking the missing bulletin board after a major disaster," one employee wrote in a message viewed by Insider. "6 of my colleagues were laid off this morning," one employee wrote in a comment viewed by Insider with hundreds of supportive reactions. Are you a Salesforce employee or do you have insight to share?

☆ Salesforce sheds hundreds of sales and marketing employees, part of a plan to cut 10% of its workforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Ashley Stewart | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Salesforce conducted another round of layoffs, mostly affecting sales and marketing. Salesforce conducted another round of job cuts, mostly affecting sales and marketing, part of a plan to reduce its workforce by 10%, Insider has learned. The layoffs affected hundreds of employees in locations including New York and Atlanta, according to one person's estimate. "This morning, I lost half my team to another round of Salesforce layoffs. Activist investors have been swarming Salesforce, including Starboard Value and Elliott Management.

☆ Marc Benioff has yet to satisfy the most powerful activist investor. Elliott Management demands a 'sustainable leadership plan' for Salesforce.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Ellen Thomas | Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Salesforce reported strong results, a huge new share buyback plan, and concessions for activist investors. That wasn't enough for Elliott Management, one of the most feared activist hedge funds. Benioff will have to fix Salesforce's succession crisis to appease activist investors. Salesforce reported strong results on Wednesday, announced an extra $10 billion in share buybacks, and scrapped its M&A committee, signalling no more big, pricey acquisitions. Company insiders, former employees and Wall Street analysts increasingly expect Salesforce to put a succession plan in place soon.

☆ Marc Benioff says every CEO in Silicon Valley has asked themselves if they 'need to unleash their own Elon'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Ashley Stewart | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Among them is Marc Benioff, who told Insider CEOs are asking "Do they need to unleash their own Elon within them?" "Every CEO in Silicon Valley has looked at what Elon Musk has done and has asked themselves, 'Do they need to unleash their own Elon within them?'" Benioff told Insider during an interview on Thursday. "That is an existential question that if you are any kind of executive in the company," Benioff added. "I had no choice but to step in and to guide the company's performance," Benioff told Insider.

☆ There are growing expectations that Salesforce is readying a succession plan to appease activist investors. 'There's not a lot of people sitting on the bench,' one analyst said.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Ellen Thomas | Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Analyst said any succession plan would be about giving investors "comfort" about the future. Company insiders, former employees and Wall Street analysts increasingly expect Salesforce to put a succession plan in place soon. 'If he's willing to work with the activists, then he can stay CEO'Analysts think that if a succession plan is announced soon, it won't include Benioff's immediate exit. "Benioff is Salesforce and Salesforce is Benioff," said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. Bret Taylor, former Salesforce executive SalesforceTaylor's departure in late November left Salesforce with a limited bench of potential successors.

☆ Starboard Value wants Salesforce to hit over 30% profit margins, closer to Oracle and Microsoft. Salesforce is working on it, leaked draft of a planning document shows.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Activist investor Starboard Values wants Salesforce to grow its adjusted operating margins above 30%. In September, Salesforce announced a goal of 25% adjusted operating margins by fiscal 2026, up from a target of 20% for fiscal 2023. Starboard found Salesforce's mix of operating margins and revenue growth averaged much lower than its peers, including Microsoft and Oracle. Starboard showed Oracle at a 10.7% increase in revenue with adjusted operating margins of 43.3% for its current fiscal year. It showed Microsoft's at a 10.9% increase in revenue and 46.6% increase in operating margins, Starboard said.

☆ Salesforce won't allow rank-and-file workers to attend its annual 'Company Kickoff', drawing criticism from employees, leaked messages show
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Ellen Thomas | Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Salesforce leaders will meet for the annual "Company Kickoff" event this week. "As we focus on a fast start to FY24, senior leadership will be coming together for Company Kickoff (CKO) this week," Unikel wrote. In previous years, Salesforce allowed all employees to watch the Company Kickoff livestream, insiders said. "It is the company kickoff after all," one person told Insider. Are you a Salesforce employee or do you have insight to share?

☆ As Expected, Salesforce's Latest Cuts Impact Sales Teams
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Ashley Stewart | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Insiders expected sales teams to be cut in February after the end of the fiscal year, they recently told Insider. Like most companies who sell software to businesses, the fourth quarter is traditionally its biggest sales quarter as sales people push their clients to sign contracts to make sales quotas. It's unclear how many employees Salesforce laid off this time. Execs have repeatedly told employees, through emails and all-hands meetings, to expect rounds of layoffs to last for weeks, Insider reported. Salesforce laid off a few hundred salespeople in November, a person familiar with the matter told Insider.

☆ If Marc Benioff is forced to sell Slack to appease activist investors, it would probably be worth less than half the $28 billion he paid just 18 months ago
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Julie Bort | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

He calculated Slack would be worth less than half what Salesforce paid for it, and could still be worth selling. Salesforce founder and CEO Marc Benioff has multiple activist investors with stakes in his company, circling him to demand changes. One possible outcome is that Benioff is forced to sell or spinoff Slack, according to analysts. It paid more than twice that — $27.7 billion — in an acquisition that closed just 18 months ago. Under siege from fearsome activist investorsWhen we say Benioff has multiple activist investors circling, we mean he's practically under siege.

☆ Salesforce employees fear deeper cuts now that a second activist investor has a stake. Elliott, the world's most feared hedge fund, has confirmed it wants changes.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Ashley Stewart | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Feared activist investor Elliott Management now has a multibillion-dollar position in Salesforce. This is the company's second activist investor after Starboard Value disclosed a significant stake in October. Elliott Management — the world's most feared activist investor — now has a multibillion-dollar position in Salesforce, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, and some employees worry Elliott's attention could lead to further layoffs. Elliott is Salesforce's second activist investor after Starboard Value disclosed a significant stake in Salesforce in October. Activist investor firms such as Elliott "are tough," another said.

Amazon, Microsoft, and Google announced layoffs of a total of 40,000 employees this week. Tech companies embarked on a massive hiring spree as the Covid-era made their products the backbone of the world's remote-working offices. The era of tech companies spending like rock stars is overOver the last decade Big Tech companies spent money "like 1980's rock stars," wrote Dan Ives, managing director at the investment firm Wedbush . On the other end, tech companies may look much different this decade as they did in the last. As companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft cut costs, they'll find ways to operate leaner, and their stock prices will stabilize.

☆ Salesforce insiders expect the sales teams to be hit with layoffs in February. Some say the company may cut an additional 10% later this year.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Ashley Stewart | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Salesforce insiders are expecting layoffs to sales staff in February, after the fiscal year ends. Employees told Insider there has been chaos and confusion since Salesforce announced layoffs. Execs have repeatedly told employees, through emails and all-hands meetings, to expect rounds of layoffs to last for weeks, Insider reported. So Salespeople were largely untouched by the company's first round of cuts earlier this month, sources told Insiders. In November, Salesforce cut hundreds of people, many of them in sales, for what it referred to as performance-based reasons.

☆ During a leaked all-hands meeting meant to discuss Salesforce layoffs, CEO Marc Benioff bemoaned leaks. Employees say they've been left without answers.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Ashley Stewart | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The day after Salesforce began informing thousands of employees that it was terminating their jobs in what will be weeks of rolling layoffs, some 47,000 employees tuned into a virtual all-hands meeting. "I have a thick skin after doing this for 24 years and I don't care what people say about me. Some days earlier, Benioff had also bemoaned leaks to the press in a company-wide internal Slack message viewed by Insider. "I hope you will agree it is also disappointing that our private conversations here were almost immediately given to the public media," Benioff wrote. "We are going to operate as a team and with integrity and transparency and open honesty going forward," Benioff said during the all-hands.

☆ Salesforce's Marc Benioff defends his statements that new employees — and possibly younger remote workers — are not as productive, in leaked all-hands meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Ellen Thomas | Ashley Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In leaked all-hands audio, he doubled down, then questioned if younger remote workers were less productive, too. And this time, he made a new suggestion — that younger employees not coming into the office may be less productive as well, according to leaked audio of the meeting shared with Insider. "When we look at some percentage of the employees, especially some of the folks that are new employees, are just not as productive." "Are we not managing our remote employees well enough? Employees who heard their CEO repeat these allegations on the productivity of new employees, younger employees, remote employees — particularly in sales — were less than pleased.

☆ Inside Salesforce's week from hell: Angry employees describe chaos, confusion and 'tone deaf' leaders as they fight for their jobs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Ashley Stewart | Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

"We can't sleep at night," one employee told Insider. Senior vice presidents who were not themselves impacted were invited to a mandatory meeting, Salesforce said. "Can execs commit to never referring to Salesforce employees as 'family' again? "Ohana is far gone," one employee told Insider. Are you a Salesforce employee or do you have insight to share?

☆ Slack is cutting 10% of its product and engineering org 18 months after Salesforce spent $27.7 billion to acquire it
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Salesforce has targeted Slack's product and engineering organization for layoffs, sources tell Insider. Slack is laying off 10% of its product and engineering organization, according to two people familiar with the matter. Yet some Salesforce managers, even senior managers and senior vice presidents, were blindsided yesterday as they had no forewarning when the layoffs would commence, Salesforce employees told Insider. In five Slack exchanges viewed by Insider, managers told direct reports they had learned of the layoffs from Benioff's company-wide email. Insider confirmed that roughly 1,000 Salesforce employees were notified on Wednesday of their terminations.

☆ In leaked all-hands meeting, Marc Benioff tells Salesforce staffers to expect staggered rounds of layoffs — but didn't say who will be next
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff held an all-hands Thursday discussing the company's ongoing layoffs. Benioff and other executives did not say which jobs will be cut or how many rounds there will be. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff addressed staff in an all-hands meeting on Thursday for the first time after announcing the company would be cutting 10% of the workforce. But after the nearly two-hour long meeting, which included a question-and-answer session, rattled Salesforce staffers were left with more questions than answers, three employees present at the meeting told Insider. "We just hired too many damn people in the last year and a half," Benioff told staffers.

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