Latest news with #Durn
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Adobe's CFO on product personalization, pricing, and what's driving growth
Good morning. The next evolution of personalization for customers is slated to be agentic AI—autonomous digital agents capable of independently performing tasks. For marketing software giant Adobe, that means a top priority is building out a collection of its own brand of creative agents. During the Adobe Summit last week in Las Vegas, I had a conversation with Dan Durn, CFO and EVP of finance, technology services, and operations at Adobe. The company is placing a big bet on agentic AI and announced 10 agents and an agent orchestration tool on its Adobe Experience platform. It's also designed to work with third-party agents and customer-built agents. 'Agents are a way to bring technology capabilities into the creative workflow to unload those tasks that are just slow and repetitive and require people to just grind their way through it,' Durn told me. For example, one such agent monitors the status of ongoing projects, streamlines approvals, and focuses on collaboration between departments or employees to accelerate workflows. Addressing content productivity and using real-time data, such as on Adobe's customer data platform, are the 'two pillars that are on the critical path of being successful with personalization,' Durn said. Boston Consulting Group predicts that over the next five years, $2 trillion in revenue will shift to companies that understand how to create personalized experiences and communication. And new AI capabilities provide more personalization, according to the firm. Regarding enterprise sales, Adobe (No. 210 in the Fortune 500) reported that in FY 2024 joint creative and marketing deals grew by over 100% year-over-year. 'It's a proof point of that dynamic we see, which is creative and marketing groups coming closer together in the enterprise,' Durn said. "The predominant driver of growth has been, and continues to be, new subscribers to the Adobe platform," he said. "Pricing is a lever for us. Every so often, we'll want to align the price that we charge our customers to reflect the substantial value that is in our products." He added, "We'll use pricing to make sure we're getting paid for the value we're delivering." In Q1 FY 25, the three months that ended on Feb. 28, Adobe earned record revenue of $5.71 billion, representing 10% year-over-year growth. For Adobe's standalone and add-on AI products, annual recurring revenue reached over $125 million for the quarter and, over the next nine months, the company expects that figure to double. Although there were better-than-expected results, Wall Street had concerns about monetizing AI growth. However, some analysts are seeing momentum toward the long-term AI strategy. Bank of America analysts wrote in a March 19 note following Adobe's investor meeting on March 18: 'No financial targets were provided to back momentum with top of funnel efforts, monetization and AI offerings. However, a few disclosures and product introductions suggest momentum is building." The analysts maintained a Buy rating and a price target of $528. 'This technology allows us to take content creation and production and monetize it in a way that's more customer value-based or more outcome-based,' Durn told me. And he sees innovation as part of Adobe's DNA. 'We've been at the core and foundation of some of the important digital trends that are shaping the digital economy,' he said of the company. Sheryl This story was originally featured on Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AI to become ‘increasing driver' of growth: Adobe CFO
This story was originally published on CFO Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CFO Dive newsletter. Web design software provider Adobe Systems is moving forward on its plans to 'infuse' artificial intelligence across its full suite of products, with the technology set to play a key role as a generator of future revenue and growth, executives said Wednesday during the company's investor day. 'I would say every dollar of revenue, we want that to be $1 of revenue that has an AI implication on it,' CEO Shantanu Narayen said during the Photoshop and Adobe Acrobat provider's investor day presentation. Prior to its investor event, the San Jose, California-based company on Tuesday released a fleet of new announcements related to its AI initiatives, including new products and partnerships surrounding its 'Firefly' platform — a suite of generative AI models which enable image and video generation, according to the company's website. Adobe is 'incredibly well positioned to capitalize on the massive AI opportunity on the horizon,' CFO Dan Durn said during the investor day presentation according to a transcript. 'Arguably, the best positioned.' As well as the new capabilities related to its Firefly platform, Adobe also announced new integrations with Amazon Web Services, and a move to bring AI agents into Microsoft's Copilot as part of an existing collaboration between the two companies. The aim to incorporate AI across all aspects of the company's products comes as the software provider looks to reassure wary investors that its investments in the technology will reap compelling rewards. Investments in AI contributed to surging revenues for its most recent quarter, with Adobe reporting $5.7 billion in revenue for its Q1 ended Feb. 28 — a 10% rise year-over-year, the company said last week. Annual recurring revenue for the company's standalone and add-on AI products reached $125 million at the end of the quarter, with Adobe projecting that figure will double over the next nine months. Despite strong results, however, the company's stock price slumped about 14% following its earnings report on March 13, as skeptical investors remained unconvinced Adobe was showing a clear path to AI monetization, CFO Dive previously reported. Both Narayen and Durn took pains to address AI monetization concerns in their Thursday remarks, pointing to growth and rising engagements for solutions such as its Firefly platform. 'We are seeing strength with creative and marketing professionals, and you can see it in usage and engagement,' Durn said. 'Customers, they are generating over 1 billion Firefly assets every month.' The question of AI's monetization or return on investment is looming large for many companies and their CFOs, as both AI vendors and users weigh the technology's present costs against its potential gains. ROI is at the center of the tug-of-war between executives contemplating AI's risk versus its rewards: a recent study by Big Four accounting firm KPMG found technology ROI is the main sticking point between the finance and IT functions, CFO Dive sister publication CIO Dive recently reported. Nearly one-third of CFOs stated technology innovation spending is excessive, according to the survey, compared to only 16% of chief information officers. Adobe's executives are confident that the technology will be a key driver of future growth, they said during the investor presentation. 'AI monetization, our innovation, it's infused across the breadth of our products, and it's influencing billions of ARR,' Durn said Wednesday. 'And you can see the impact. New users, more usage, better retention, more value. And that's only going to continue as AI becomes an increasing driver of Adobe's growth.' Sign in to access your portfolio
BBC News
18-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
Fleetwood: 'Our dream retirement is ruined by landfill site smell'
A couple who switched English coastlines for their dream retirement have said it is being ruined by a "terrible smell" coming from a nearby landfill site and they are forced to move out when it becomes Durn, 73, said the stench from the Transwaste site on Jameson Road in Fleetwood was "a living nightmare", while his partner, Christine Butterworth, 83, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), said there were days when she "just can't breathe".The couple moved to Fleetwood from Scarborough 15 years residents in the town have complained about a rotten egg smell since February 2024 but operator Transwaste said it was dealing with the problem. Ms Butterworth said: "I should have my windows open to help my condition but I can't."She said the smell from the site a mile-and-a-half away was "more chemical than organic". Mr Durn said the stink was all encompassing, and described its onset "as if a valve is released", adding: "It just hits you suddenly." 'Dizzy spells' Ms Butterworth said on one occasion she was on her way to the hairdressers when the smell filled the air. "It literally takes your breath away," she said. "I was talking about it in the hairdressers and one of the girls who works there said the same thing had happened to her."The 83-year-old said it made her cough repeatedly as well as causing headaches and dizzy things get too bad the couple escape over the Pennines to their former flat in Scarborough where their son both said: "It shouldn't have to be this way." Mr Durn, who worked for British Gas for 30 years, said: "If people took a sample and put it in a chromatagraph we might know what it is."Transwaste said it had stopped waste deliveries and was working to cap a section of the site "with a thick layer of clay in order to completely seal it". "We will then install 11 deep gas wells to maximise gas extraction from the cell and resolve the odour issue," it added. The Environment Agency (EA) said it had received 1,125 complaints in February compared to 270 in January and 21 in Neville, of the EA, said: "We understand the community's ongoing concerns around odours from the landfill site and we continue with our increased regulatory response. "This includes daily odour checks and regular site inspections."The EA had advised Transwaste, to voluntarily stop accepting landfill waste while it carries out further work to control the added: "We will take appropriate enforcement action if we do not see improvements." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
