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Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
2025 PGA Championship Signals What's Ahead For Tech Sports Partnerships
As the summer sports season heats up, technology companies are going beyond traditional sponsorships and leveraging high-profile sporting events to demonstrate their technical capabilities. Rather than merely paying a sponsorship fee and splashing the corporate logo around the venue, more tech providers are actually putting their know-how to work to help sporting events run better. It's a topic my colleagues and I have been covering for a while, and I got to observe it up close again this month with T-Mobile's involvement at the PGA Championship at the Quail Hollow course in North Carolina. The company deployed some of its most advanced 5G network technology to support both broadcast operations and fan experiences, which suggests how these partnerships can help tech companies position themselves with both businesses and consumers. Using T-Mobile and other companies I've studied as examples, let's dig into the implementation and impacts of these tech sports partnerships. (Note: T-Mobile is an advisory client of my firm, Moor Insights & Strategy.) To demonstrate the capabilities of its 5G solutions, T-Mobile has adopted a strategy in recent years of intentionally targeting challenging environments, and a major golf tournament like the PGA Championship definitely fits the bill. The business logic is clear: Live sporting events of this scale involve both complex behind-the-scenes functions, which are great for demonstrating technical chops, and prominent public-facing experiences, which are great for branding. In the case of an internationally televised live event that also welcomes tens of thousands of fans, a carrier like T-Mobile must coordinate connectivity for everything from back-office systems to broadcast infrastructure to ticketing operations to point-of-sale transactions. In the past, cellular networks were often considered insufficiently reliable or secure for these essential functions, but T-Mobile has a vested interest in changing that perception. Events that happen outdoors across a large area — golf tournaments, tennis majors, road races, and so on — present particular challenges. To appreciate the logistical impact of 5G at Quail Hollow, it's important to remember that a traditional (wired, not wireless) golf broadcast often requires laying miles of cable across 200-plus acres of terrain, including water hazards, bunkers and bridges, to enable the best camera shots. T-Mobile used its portable private 5G on Demand network and Standalone 5G architecture to help the tournament avoid such elaborate physical cabling; the high bandwidth and low latency of 5G enabled wireless cameras to transmit 4K video footage from all over the golf course and grounds. All of this gave the broadcast directors for CBS and ESPN more flexibility with the shots they used in their coverage. As with the AI-driven analytics that IBM supplies at The Masters and major tennis tournaments — more on that later — this is an instance where a partner can apply technology that transcends marketing and genuinely changes the way an event operates. Besides the benefits for broadcasters, photojournalists were able to use the private 5G network to upload high-resolution still images and video to newsrooms and digital platforms almost instantly. T-Mobile is positioning this latter capability as a potential future commercial offering for media and enterprise clients. Beyond these broadcast capabilities — and getting into the realm of experiential marketing — the more robust connectivity also enhanced the fan experience. On the course, T-Mobile customers received access to Club Magenta, an on-site lounge with amenities and special guests. Both on-site attendees and remote viewers benefited from features including 'T5G on 14,' which used augmented reality and AI-generated data to create real-time visualizations on the 14th hole. The PGA Championship app provided real-time shot analysis and highlight notifications, again making the most of T-Mobile's network infrastructure. All of this fits with T-Mobile's longer-term goal — and a broader industry trend — of providing richer fan experiences, as I pointed out in my coverage of the 2024 MLB All-Star Game. Given the focus on connectivity, it also reminds me in some ways of Qualcomm's ongoing partnership with Manchester United. For athletes and coaches, the T5G Range, also powered by the private 5G network, enabled the delivery of advanced analytics and live content. Multiple mobile cameras on the driving range provided up-close looks at warm-up routines, while coaches and expert commentators could access real-time data on ball speed, apex, curve and distance. This immediate feedback helps players adjust their performance and gives fans more insight into player technique. These features are integrated into the PGA Championship app and digital platforms, enabling fans to access live coaching insights, walk-and-talk interviews and live views from the T5G Range, whether they were on-site or watching remotely. As touched on above, T-Mobile's strategy is to use challenging, high-profile events to showcase its connectivity capabilities. In part this is because the company — despite having the largest 5G network in the United States — recognizes that it hasn't always been known for having cutting-edge solutions, and it wants to counteract any public perception that it isn't up to the task. As Grant Castle, senior vice president of systems realization at T-Mobile, told me, 'Before these events, we consult with our partners. We ask them what major problems we can solve on a large scale that will enhance the overall experience.' T-Mobile is moving forward with the clear idea that 5G should become the standard, not the exception, for powering everything from broadcast to back-office operations at major events and, by extension, across industries. The same 5G solutions used in major sports championships also support automation and real-time monitoring in manufacturing, continuous asset tracking in logistics and new checkout systems with real-time analytics in retail, to name just a few of the industry-specific applications. There are lots of other applications within sports as well. In high-speed racing, 5G's low latency isn't just about entertainment — it's a safety consideration. For example, at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, T-Mobile network slicing supported real-time telemetry for both pit crews and instant replay systems, allowing split-second decisions about cars traveling over 200 mph. At the United States Grand Prix scheduled for October in Austin, the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team will lean on its partnership with ServiceNow to help log, track and address incidents and service requests from anywhere on the track, with the aim of helping staff respond quickly to issues that could affect safety or operations. Technology companies recognize the value of live sports as a proving ground for their solutions. Both tech companies and sports organizations are now treating stadiums and event venues as high-tech hubs, integrating 5G, cloud and edge computing to support broadcast production, better connectivity, immersive fan experiences and more. For instance, Teradata has partnered with the L.A. Clippers to showcase its cloud analytics platform at the Intuit Dome, focusing on enhancing fan engagement and operations. Meanwhile, SAP has partnered with the 2025 Ryder Cup worldwide. This collaboration will use SAP's cloud-based software, including the SAP Customer Data Platform, SAP Emarsys Customer Engagement, SAP Datasphere and SAP Analytics Cloud, to unify fan data from multiple sources, personalize marketing content and provide AI-driven insights aimed at enhancing the fan experience both on-site and remotely. In some ways, these companies are following a path blazed by IBM, which has spent decades supporting marquee events including The Masters, Wimbledon and the US Open Tennis Championship. Sixty years ago, IBM was helping with timekeeping and recordkeeping at the Olympics. These days, it uses signature events to highlight its AI and data analytics capabilities, for example with its Slamtracker feature in the Wimbledon app, which I used last year to navigate the grounds of the All England Club and keep up with multiple matches at once. The investment must be worth it for IBM, considering how long it has been providing technology for high-level sporting events. So how's it going for T-Mobile? From my perspective, the 2025 PGA Championship effectively showcased 5G's performance in a demanding, large-scale public setting. I think that T-Mobile's willingness to take on a challenge like this under the scrutiny of a global audience is a good sign for both the company and the performance of 5G as a technology. These examples could also build confidence among enterprises in its B2B offerings. However, although such demonstrations are valuable for illustrating technological capabilities, the subsequent step requires T-Mobile — or any technology vendor — to build on event-specific successes. The longer-term challenge lies in translating public and more consumer-facing demonstrations into enterprise solutions that meet diverse operational needs across various sectors. For example, while I believe the advantages of 5G deployment at major events are evident, it's essential to consider the significant costs associated with deploying private 5G networks and to question whether this model is scalable or financially viable for smaller venues or less prominent events — or a given enterprise use. For stakeholders at customer companies, understanding the return on investment and the potential for adoption is critical to evaluating the long-term value of these solutions. And long-term uptake by these customers is in turn critical for tech companies evaluating the effectiveness of their investments in sports. I'll be keeping my eye on T-Mobile, IBM, Teradata, and the rest of these tech providers to see how effectively they perform in sports setting this year. And with upcoming events including Wimbledon, the US Open, The Ryder Cup and the United States Grand Prix, the summer of 2025 is shaping up as a real proving ground for enterprise technology.
CNBC
6 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Nvidia beats on Q1 revenue and earnings, stock climbs on results
CNBC's Kristina Partsinevelos and Patrick Moorhead, Moor Insights CEO & chief analyst, join 'Closing Bell Overtime' with Nvidia results.
Forbes
21-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Box Improves Enterprise Content Management With Advanced AI Functions
Last week at its virtual Content + AI Summit, Box announced significant AI enhancements to its platform, with the aim of significantly reshaping not only its own capabilities, but perhaps enterprise content management more broadly. By embedding advanced AI into its Content Cloud, Box wants to create an intelligent system to automate content processes, uncover insights from unstructured data, improve decision making and even uncover untapped business opportunities. It's an ambitious undertaking, but to its credit Box has a track record of capitalizing on major technology shifts to drive the company's growth and relevance. Years ago, Box successfully leveraged the rise of cloud computing and mobile adoption to transform itself from a consumer storage service into a leading enterprise content management platform. This enabled the company's subsequent rapid expansion in the corporate space and its deep integration into enterprise workflows. Now Box is applying the same strategy to artificial intelligence. Its latest moves in AI show how Box is continuing its pattern of strategic adaptation to unlock new value from unstructured enterprise content, and this could set the stage for a new era of intelligent content management, within the company and even beyond it. (Note: Box is an advisory client of my firm, Moor Insights & Strategy.) At its summit event, Box introduced advanced AI agents to automate tasks, analyze information and extract intelligence from enterprise content. Three specialized agents are designed to address distinct content challenges and unlock new insights and operational efficiencies: These tools are meant to extend powerful but user-friendly AI capabilities to business users across departments, including legal, HR and marketing, with the goal of integrating AI into daily workflows. Crucially, Box's strategy focuses on enabling users to do more with large files. The new product initiative extends beyond enhancing traditional search or automation, allowing users to, for example, query thousands of documents or images for instant answers, or to generate new drafts and reports from existing data. The new tools also empower users — including non-developers — to construct no-code, intelligent applications to manage sophisticated workflows and unearth insights from unstructured data, rather than merely streamlining repetitive tasks. Box has also introduced the ability to create custom AI agents within Box that can scrutinize, condense and respond to queries about content, regardless of its structure. Box is designing products that support its thesis that AI's primary value comes from enabling entirely new ways of working, creating and discovering, not just making old ways more efficient. As Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of Box, puts it, 'The real opportunity with AI isn't just about automating what we already do — it's about unlocking entirely new capabilities across work. The sooner we adopt an AI-first mindset, the faster we'll see people solving problems and creating value in ways we haven't even imagined yet.' I find this approach refreshing. Traditional productivity metrics often fail to capture the full scope of value created, particularly in knowledge work, and can leave employees feeling that gains accrue mainly to the employer. By leveraging AI to enable novel workflows and creative possibilities, Box can potentially help drive organizational innovation and empower employees to engage in higher-value, more fulfilling work. The new agents are meant to provide targeted AI-driven answers to everyday enterprise needs. These AI agents are natively integrated into the Box user interface and apps, including Box Hubs and Notes, to enable metadata extraction and workflow automation. For customization, Box offers an Extract API supporting models from OpenAI, Google and Anthropic, allowing organizations to tailor AI for specific document types while maintaining data control. The company also has Box AI Studio and developer frameworks for building entirely custom AI agents. Real-world applications include automated contract management, event data extraction, and renewal tracking. By automating these tasks, Box aims to turn manual processes into insight-driven workflows for its customers. In addition to the three ready-to-go agents, Box has added a Model Context Protocol server to its lineup. The MCP server provides a means for external AI agents to work harmoniously with Box content and services. This can help organizations leverage AI across different content ecosystems, including platforms such as Slack and Google Drive. Check out this short post from my colleague Jason Andersen to learn more about Box's new capabilities for AI developers. As touched on in Levie's quote above, a key aspect of Box's strategy is fostering an AI-first culture, driven by early adoption and experimentation. Levie, who is vocal on social media about the urgency and transformative potential of AI, encourages organizations to actively explore and implement AI technologies. 'We have the opportunity to drive an incredible amount of new experiences and ways that we work in the process,' he said during the Content + AI Summit. To help customers embrace this active exploration and maximize the value of their Box investments, the company has created the Intelligent Content Expert Certification program, launching this June. The self-paced curriculum, which covers deployment, collaboration and content management, is designed to help all levels of Box administrators enhance their technical skills and optimize Box deployments within their organizations. Building on the recent introduction of the MCP and expanded AI agent resources, this certification program aims to help Box users stay current with rapidly changing AI advancements. I've witnessed Box's push for continuous AI learning firsthand. In addition to the virtual summit, I recently attended the Box regional Content + AI event in Dallas, which provided a clear window into how Box prioritizes community engagement and education as it introduces new AI capabilities. The event brought together customers, partners and Box product leaders for hands-on workshops, live demonstrations and open discussions. The interactive setting encouraged attendees to ask questions, experiment with AI features and share real-world experiences with peers and experts. These events naturally create a feedback loop that benefits both Box and its community. Insights and questions from participants help shape future product development and ensure that Box's offerings align with real customer needs. Ultimately, this approach should support broader business objectives as AI becomes increasingly central to the content management landscape. Additionally, by opening these events to prospects as well as existing customers, Box creates an effective way to involve potential new users in its go-to-market motion, allowing them to experience the value of the platform firsthand. There may be some people who still view Box primarily as a document management company, but in my view its rapid AI innovation signals a noteworthy evolution in its platform. By embedding intelligence throughout the content lifecycle and fostering a supportive user community, Box wants to enable organizations to unlock much greater value from their enterprise data. Levie's thought leadership and public commentary also signal that Box isn't just following the AI trend. Rather, it is actively working to define what intelligent content management should look like for the modern enterprise. Given its history of successfully riding new technology waves and its AI-first ethos, I believe that Box is a company to watch as AI continues to reshape the enterprise landscape.
Forbes
19-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Motorola Expands Its 2025 Razr Lineup With New Phones, AI Partnerships
The Razr 60 Ultra series in the new Pantone colors and materials At a recent two-day event in New York City, Motorola announced its updated Moto Razr lineup, which features a new three-tier strategy that expands the range of foldables offered by the company. The new Razr lineup also introduces broader AI capabilities that enable the user to do more with less direct interaction with the phone; this includes features like Pay Attention, Catch Me Up, Explore with Perplexity or Remember this. Speaking of Perplexity, Motorola also announced a slew of new AI partnerships that are part of Moto AI that enable an even more capable AI experience on Moto's latest Razr devices. (Note: Motorola's parent company, Lenovo, is an advisory client of my firm, Moor Insights & Strategy.) To build on the growing success of the Razr line, Moto has introduced a high-end third tier for the Razr 60 lineup. This new tier has been given the "Ultra' distinction, and it incrementally upgrades many of last year's Razr+ capabilities in a similar stylish form factor, but with better materials and enhanced specs. I believe this is Moto's way of continuing the momentum it has built with younger and more female audiences for the Razr, which has earned the company arguably the biggest customer base of iOS switchers to Android — with 25% of its customer base coming from iOS. Switching between iOS and Android isn't very common, considering the maturity of both markets in the U.S., yet the 25% figure builds on last year's 20% figure, making the iOS switching an accelerating trend. Part of Moto's success has come from continuing to do things differently from the rest of the smartphone market. This has translated to more colorful designs that draw on Motorola's partnership with Pantone to research trending colors and offer them to its customers; Moto also uses Pantone to certify display calibration as well. For this year's Ultra model, Motorola is introducing Pantone Rio Red, Pantone Scarab (dark green), Pantone Mountain Trail (brown) and Pantone Cabaret (burgundy). The Rio Red will be offered as a pleather material, Scarab in an Alcantara synthetic suede material and Mountain Trail in a real wood finish. I'm glad to see that Moto cleverly chose a dark color for the Scarab Alcantara material, because it would stain over time if it were a lighter color. I also very much like the wood finish but am not sure how much I need a wooden finish on my phone — even if it is a callback to older Motorola wood finishes. Motorola has many other color options for the Razr+ and the base model Razr as well, which goes against the general trend that phones must be derivatives of black, silver or white. In terms of specs, there's a very clear scaling of performance across the Razr family. The new base model Razr 60 has been upgraded to the MediaTek Dimensity 7400X from last year's 7300X. The Razr 60 Plus gets last year's high-end Razr chip, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8S Gen 3. The Razr 60 Ultra, the new high-end flagship tier, gets Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Elite, which matches Samsung's Galaxy S25 series and beats Samsung's current foldable lineup, which features last year's SoCs. Motorola is also scaling memory across its good, better, best lineup with 8GB, 12GB and 16GB of RAM. Storage is 256GB for the Razr and Razr+ models and 512GB for the Ultra. Motorola has also scaled charging speeds to match the tier of the device, with the base-model Razr offering 30-watt charging, the Razr+ offering 45-watt charging and the Razr Ultra offering 68-watt charging, the fastest of any foldable available in the U.S. Battery capacities are a bit inconsistent, with the Razr+ having the smallest 4000 mAh battery, followed by the 4500 mAh battery in the base model Razr and 4700 mAh in the Ultra. This likely means that the base model Razr 60 will have the longest battery life thanks to its smaller screens, but also that the Razr 60 Ultra will have very competitive battery life even with its larger 4-inch cover screen and whopping 7-inch internal foldable display. Getting into the camera capabilities, all three cameras come with Moto's new AI-enhanced Group Shot feature, which captures a burst of images and generates the best single picture out of all those images. The camera hardware configurations scale up from the base Razr 60, which has a 50MP main camera, 13MP ultrawide and 32MP selfie camera, which is fairly competitive. The Razr+ features dual 50MP main and telephoto cameras along with a 32MP selfie camera, matching the specs as last year's Moto Razr+. The Razr 60 Ultra, however, changes things up by offering a triple 50MP camera configuration with a 50MP ultrawide, 50MP main and 50MP selfie camera. This will likely result in better group shots and macro photography. Motorola reaffirmed the brand's durability by gaining IP48 certification across all three devices. Moto has also touted the new titanium hinge for the Razr lineup, which it claims is up to 4x stronger than last year's surgical-grade stainless steel. Motorola has also detailed the Razr Ultra's outer screen with Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic, the first flip phone to come with this durable glass technology. Motorola says that it also optimized the ultra-thin glass inside the foldable display to reduce the bend radius of the hinge, reducing the crease by 30%. Motorola is charging an entry price of $699 for the base-model Razr 60, while charging $999 for the Razr 60 Plus and $1,299 for the Razr 60 Ultra. The first two prices are the same that Motorola offered on last year's Razr 50 family. The $299 price increase for the Ultra seems justified to me when you consider the 4GB increase in RAM, doubled storage, faster and higher-tier processor, slightly increased inner display and improved camera configuration. Pre-orders began May 7 in the U.S., and the phone went on sale on May 15. Motorola leaned heavily into AI capabilities with the new Razr lineup, partnering with Google for Gemini, Microsoft for Copilot+, Meta for Llama and Perplexity for Search. Motorola says that Moto AI will help the user decide which AI model or framework to use for each task; for instance, Catch Me Up is powered by Llama. Motorola didn't say which AIs power its Look and Talk, Next Move, Playlist Studio or Image Studio features. Motorola also didn't give many details about its Copilot+ integration, other than saying that users would be able to access it directly via Moto AI, which should give users more choices of which models they want to interact with. Motorola President Sergio Buniac talking about Motorola's successes with Razr What Moto did announce at the event was Perplexity's AI-enhanced search, which it calls Explore with Perplexity — the first time a smartphone OEM has integrated Perplexity into a device. Motorola is also bundling three free months of Perplexity Pro, showing the deep relationship between the two companies. During the announcement event, Perplexity's CEO Aravind Srinivas came onstage to announce the partnership. I'm a big user of Perplexity, so I'm glad to see it getting more recognition, and happy with Moto for recognizing the company's fast-growing user base. In a twist of 'coopetition,' Perplexity launched its own AI assistant for the Perplexity app on the same day as its announcement with Motorola. With Google, Moto continues to draw on Gemini for enhanced AI functions, including a new Google Photos experience that enables Google Photos from the cover screen. Gemini Live is still an integral part of the device and can be activated via the AI button on the Ultra, which was previously used as the power button. Motorola is also bundling three months of Google One AI Premium, which includes 2TB of cloud storage as well. Motorola was the second OEM after Samsung to get deep Gemini integration last year with Gemini Live and is clearly a strong part of Google's strategy to enable better AI on more devices outside of Google Pixel. In addition to Meta's involvement with Llama for its Catch Me Up feature, the company is also deepening the XR integration of Moto devices into the Quest family via the Smart Connect app on Lenovo PCs. This will result in smartphone virtual mirroring inside Quest headsets, enabling a better user experience for Motorola users and a less isolated experience for anyone in mixed reality or VR. This has been a long time coming, but I believe it's one of the best ways to ensure that people in VR or MR don't feel like they are being entirely cut off from the real world while inside a headset. I'm surprised that there weren't also deeper integrations with WhatsApp or Instagram, since those are also quite relevant for Meta. Last but not least is Motorola's continued expansion into wearables designed to complement its smartphones. The biggest surprise was Motorola's new Buds Loop earbuds, which it designed with Bose and Swarovski to offer a more fashion-forward design that people might want to wear like jewelry. Motorola hasn't given these earbuds a price or a release date yet, but I expect that they will carry a bit of a premium with the Sound by Bose designation and Swarovski crystal encrusting. I would love to see Motorola deepen its partnership with Swarovski to offer wearables that are also fashionable and complement the wearer's outfit. In addition to the Moto Buds Loop, the company talked about the Moto Watch Fit, a fitness-focused watch that runs an RTOS rather than WearOS, which simplifies the software experience. It also enables an ultra-long battery life, as evidenced by the company's claim that the Moto Watch Fit can run 16 days on a single charge. The watch uses Gorilla Glass 3 and has an IP68 rating for an active lifestyle. It comes with more than 100 sports modes and includes heart-rate monitoring, calorie tracking and sleep data. The watch has a 1.9-inch OLED display with up to 1000 nits of brightness, which should work well for outdoor use. Motorola hasn't given a launch date or pricing for this watch, but I would expect it to be fairly inexpensive as Motorola eases its way back into the smartwatch market. I expect that Motorola's push into wearables will continue with more earbuds and watches that build on these new product offerings. Perhaps we'll even see it offer a WearOS-capable watch one day, or high-end headphones to compete with the likes of Apple. I believe that Lenovo and Motorola want to have wearables that complement their smartphone capabilities and enhance the AI on the device. Indeed, I believe this will be necessary if the company wants to compete in AI-driven wearables — the direction that the market is moving in. I am very happy to see Motorola's new Razr 60 lineup and the upgrades we're seeing across the board. Motorola clearly grasps the importance of AI-driven functionality that enhances and simplifies the user's daily interactions with their phone via hands-free features such as Pay Attention or Look and Talk. I think Look and Talk is really an interesting feature because it uses the phone's camera to verify the user is looking at the device and enables the user to interact with the phone hands-free, which I can see being useful in a lot of ways. Motorola's continued push into new colors and materials is also a great way for the company to differentiate from the rest of the smartphone industry, which is mostly focused on metal and glass. I think Motorola can use its differentiated design and AI approach to supercharge its growth in the foldable market, expand into more markets globally and continue to capture more iOS users on Android as well.
Forbes
15-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Has IBM's IT Automation Software Gotten Better?
IBM Instana dashboard IBM There are two ways to answer the question posed in the headline. The simple answer is yes, IBM has continued to invest in acquisitions including HashiCorp and DataStax, leading to a more robust portfolio of products for enterprise IT shops. But, after attending IBM's Think conference in 2024, I walked away with concerns about this emerging portfolio of software. In particular, it seemed that IBM was struggling to develop an integrated product and go-to-market strategy. I was left scratching my head in terms of what advice I could give customers on how to engage with IBM and get some joint value out of these related but different solutions. Heading into last week's Think 2025, I wanted to be convinced that things were different despite more acquisitions. For the most part, I got what I was hoping for. (Note: IBM is an advisory client of my firm, Moor Insights & Strategy.) Last year I didn't think that IBM's software wasn't good or that it was lacking features. My concern was that IBM did not have a clear message about what made a number of point-products better together. For example, why would a longtime Apptio (IBM) customer consider switching to Instana (IBM) when they were perfectly happy with Instana competitor Dynatrace? Additionally, at Think last year IBM announced a new product called Concert that sounded kind of like Instana in some ways. So even if I did not already use a competing product, which IBM product should I buy? This year was quite different, and IBM was very clear about what it needed to change and what it ended up doing. I walked away from Think 2025 feeling much better than the previous year. But, I also think that for anyone evaluating IBM's IT Automation software, all factors need to be considered. Three of these stand out to me. As I stated earlier, I feel that a year has made a big difference in IBM's IT Automation software. And I think IBM gets what it needs to do to attract and satisfy customers. There were many more demos this year. The conversations were frank about how customers are using the technology in the real world. And I heard quite a bit about how much IBM has learned from these acquisitions, suggesting (I hope) that newer acquisitions may go smoother. On that front, I'm excited to see where we stand in another year with HashiCorp — which I'll be writing more about soon.
