WEBVTT - Bill McDermott 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:05.720 One of the most successful business executives in the world 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:08.480 over the past ten years has been Bill McDermott. He 0:00:08.560 --> 0:00:10.960 took SAP to record heights and now is doing the 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:13.600 same with Service. Now had a chance to sit down 0:00:13.600 --> 0:00:16.079 with Bill McDermott and his offices in New York and 0:00:16.160 --> 0:00:18.239 had him described to me how he came from very 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:20.880 modest roots to the top of the corporate world, and 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:24.360 how he inspires his troops, inspires his customers, and loves 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:29.120 his job. So in October of twenty nineteen, you surprised 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:33.320 the business world by stepping down as the CEO of SAP, 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:36.680 a very very large company whose value had more than 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:40.720 double during your co CEO position and CEO position, and 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:42.879 you took a position with a much smaller or less 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:46.440 known company Service Now. Usually people when they leave a job, 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:48.159 they go to a bigger company. Why did you go 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:49.280 to a smaller company? 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:52.480 Well, I saw the future and where it was going. 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:54.520 First of all, I want to say I had a 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:57.160 great run at SAP, and it was a pleasure taking 0:00:57.200 --> 0:00:59.760 him from thirty nine billion to one hundred and sixty three, 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:02.400 really inspiring lots of people in customers, and it was 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:06.319 a wonderful experience. But after seventeen years nearly ten as CEO, 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:08.920 I was already to do something different. And when I 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:12.280 saw a service now in the marketplace, I knew what 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:15.920 it was, and I knew what it could do, and 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:18.680 I knew with my background, I was a pretty good 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:21.520 cultural fit for what Service now needed to scale it. 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:24.720 So let me ask you what does service now really do? 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:28.399 Tell me, in simple English language, everybody can understand what 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:29.280 do they actually do? 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:34.360 Yeah, it's a very good question, David. It basically drives 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:42.000 productivity in work. So think about tech today. Every CEO 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:44.280 you talk to is going to tell you I have 0:01:44.319 --> 0:01:48.680 to digitize to survive. Forty percent of the CEOs say today, 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:52.120 if I don't digitize my operations, my company will no 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:55.680 longer be viable in less than a decade. So we 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:59.200 were the it backbone for companies all over the world. 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:02.120 How do they manage their assets, run their operations, secure 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:06.680 their operations, all things digital having to do with it. 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:10.000 That's what we started. But then, as you know, the 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:14.920 employee experience, hybrid work, all of these concepts became so important. 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:18.480 How do I hire people, how do I onboard them, 0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:21.600 train them, provide them all their services? On a mobile device. 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:22.480 We do it. 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:25.079 Now about two years and two and a half years 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:27.359 ago when you took over your position now as the 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.960 CEO and you're the CEO Chairman of Service Now. During 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:32.800 that period of time, the technology world has had some 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:35.359 challenges for sure, and there's been layoffs and other things, 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:39.000 but you have more than doubled the value of service 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:42.639 Now during this period of time, the revenues are more 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:46.640 than doubled, operating earnings are up about eight times, and 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:49.000 you've doubled the number of employee based So what was 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:51.160 your secret sauce When everybody else was going this way, 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:52.000 you were going this way. 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:54.760 Well, I give all the credit to the original founder, 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:57.760 Fred Luddy, because he had the idea and he built 0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:01.760 the platform, and lots of people came into the company 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:05.200 and expanded on that platform. But the original idea was 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:09.240 to give people technology that truly enabled them to do 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:12.600 things they could never have done before. So it's really 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:18.040 a product centric engineering company at its soul. What I 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:21.600 tried to bring to the company is continue to expand that, 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:25.679 continue to build innovation into that platform, but at the 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:31.320 same time, build a truly global software market leader where 0:03:31.400 --> 0:03:36.040 everybody understood the brand, the hungry and humble nature of 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:39.280 how we focus on the customer at customers everything here, 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:42.160 and ultimately the value that we deliver. 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:45.360 Somebody watching this should they say that should buy this 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:48.200 guy's stock because he can do another next couple of 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:50.160 years as well. Or is it you kind of plateaued, 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:52.560 you can't keep going at the rate you've been going. 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:54.960 I assume I think we're just getting warmed up. You know, 0:03:55.800 --> 0:03:59.720 it's really interesting. Very few software companies ever make it 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:03.520 to billion, even less make it to five billion, even 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:06.040 less than that make it to ten. Will be the 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:10.680 fastest enterprise software company to have ever gotten to a 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:14.760 billion five and ten organically. In fact, it's never been 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:19.440 done before. The world we see is so bright because 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:24.280 we're like five percent penetrated in the enterprises even that 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:28.480 use our service now, so there's many that don't. And 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:32.960 I believe like NET New Brands, NET New logos that 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:35.039 are not doing business with us should see a show 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:37.360 and say, I got to get in touch with that guy. 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:40.200 And the ones that are already doing business with us 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:45.160 need to say he's talking about a completely different approach 0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:50.080 to digitizing my company. Are we looking at them closely enough? 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:52.840 If I've achieved that, then we'll go in places. Now. 0:04:52.920 --> 0:04:57.000 Sometimes people who run technology companies have a technology background. 0:04:57.000 --> 0:05:00.479 They're engineers. Yeah you have an MBA from Northway, but 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:04.400 you're not an engineer. So does the technology jargon go 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:06.840 past you? Or you can understand all what the engineers 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:08.520 are saying when they come up with some new product. 0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:11.520 I've been around it for a while now, so while 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:15.240 it's true that I'm not a coder, it's also true 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:19.880 that I understand where the idea can fit into a 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:24.400 customer's world. I'll give you an example with AI. The 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:28.279 expectation of AI is going to be the iPhone moment. 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:32.600 When the consumer begins using AI in the consumer world, 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:35.599 they're going to expect that the business leaders to bring 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:38.600 an AI in to make their world better in the 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:42.240 office environment. That is why this is the iPhone moment 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:46.359 for the enterprise. There's no doubt about that. So I 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:49.880 know that we have to be the market leader in AI, 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:52.720 which is why we started working on it. And the 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:56.000 first acquisition I did was LMNAI, which was an AI 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:59.520 company in Montreal, Canada, and we did that in two 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:03.640 thousand and twenty. We're working on it all twenty nineteen 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:05.960 as soon as I came in, But then twenty twenty 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:09.040 we actually executed that. And the reason for that was 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:14.280 they had a gigantic group of researchers, data scientists, and 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:20.120 engineers exclusively working on next gen AAI in large language models. 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:22.680 And that's how Calm we teamed up with Jensen and 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:25.360 in Video and we started building them on the now 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:28.840 platform and we saw what it could be. And now 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:32.000 that it's in the platform, we see the commercial sensation 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:35.120 it'll be for us, but more importantly, we see the 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:40.360 productivity and the cost savings and revenue growth that our 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:41.880 customers will get from it. 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:44.120 Is AI going to reduce the amount of jobs that 0:06:44.160 --> 0:06:45.520 people have now? 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:48.120 I don't believe so. I think if you look at 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:53.240 the market today, we have a seventeen year situation where 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.800 it was seventeen years ago when the job market was 0:06:56.880 --> 0:07:02.080 this type where the openings outpaced the opportunity for candidates 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:04.560 to jump in those jobs. Because the candidates aren't there, 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:09.120 so we rarely are capitalizing on technology to fill that void. 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:12.760 For example, I talked to a CEO just yesterday of 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:16.800 a major financial services company was interested in AI, but 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:19.440 he said, I just can't get enough people to do 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:21.520 what I need to have done. I said, well, how 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:23.680 many engineers do you have? He said, I have seven thousand. 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:27.000 What you need to do is AI enable them, because 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:30.920 now you can text to code, text to workflow automation, 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:34.720 or even text to new application development. So we can 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:38.360 make your engineers fifty percent more productive than they are today. 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:40.360 Look, you've done a great job, but why don't you 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:42.960 do something more important like running a private equity firm 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:46.200 in digital transformation? You could do very well financially. You 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:49.160 ever thought about that? And if not think about it, 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:51.120 I'm happy to figure out a way to get you 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:52.720 in the private equity world to. 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:54.520 Work with you. It'd truly be an honest So we 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:57.280 must think about different ways that I can help you. 0:07:57.720 --> 0:08:01.320 So let's talk about your past. It wasn't preordained that 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:04.880 you'd be the CEO of SAP or the CEO of 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:07.640 Service now and at the top of the technology world. 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:09.120 Where did you grow up? 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:11.760 I grew up in a place called Amnyville, Long Island. 0:08:11.800 --> 0:08:13.960 I was born in Flushing, New York. Grew up in Amneyville, 0:08:14.000 --> 0:08:17.520 Long Island, and you know it's that long island grip. 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:20.840 Now, when you were growing up. Were your parents' professional 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:22.560 workers or were they blue collar workers? 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:24.960 What did they do? I come from a working class family. 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:28.080 My dad worked for con Edison. He was a troubleshooter 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:30.720 for con Edison, meaning that you called him the Spider. 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:34.520 He went into the manholes and basically worked on those 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:37.760 high voltage lines to keep the electric on in New 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:40.000 York City, and a very dangerous job, and he was 0:08:40.040 --> 0:08:40.720 great at it. 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:41.680 Was that a safe job? 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:44.360 No, it was not a safe job, very dangerous job. 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:46.920 In fact, I always admired my father and the image 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:49.800 that stayed in my mind. He worked the midnight shift 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:52.960 most of the time, midnight to eight. I could just 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:56.600 see him in the driveway chiseling the ice off of 0:08:56.640 --> 0:09:00.240 his windshield, knowing that he was going into New York 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:04.160 to get into those manholes like the Spider and sod 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:07.360 of those cables. And that was to put food on 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:09.400 the table and give us a very nice life. 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:11.600 And I had a great life. But you always did 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:14.560 some working. From what time did you begin working for 0:09:14.960 --> 0:09:15.520 some money? 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:18.360 I think the first time was around ten or eleven, 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:22.240 when I was delivering papers door to door in Long Island. 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:25.480 As a matter of fact, I remember the paper was 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:28.000 Long Island Press. I don't even think they're in business anymore. 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:31.520 But my mom, you know, co signed for me because 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:33.760 you had to buy the papers and you got the 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:36.440 money back when you collected it. So she put up 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:39.000 the money for me, got me started. And I'll never 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:43.840 forget what it took to be successful as a paper boy. 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:47.440 Are the same things it takes to be successful today. 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.280 I had to know my customer. I had to know 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:52.680 how you wanted it. Is it in your door? Do 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:55.000 you want it wrapped in plastic? Do you get upset 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:57.120 if I throw it? You know, they were all kinds 0:09:57.120 --> 0:09:59.400 of techniques. But why did I do it? Because I 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:01.120 wanted them to be happy and I wanted them to 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:02.000 give me a good tip. 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:04.440 Well, you wrote a book about your life, and in 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:06.640 the book you talk about the fact that sometimes people 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:08.839 didn't pay you and you had to go and kind 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:10.680 of ask them to pay for two or three weeks. 0:10:11.040 --> 0:10:11.760 Was that hard to do? 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:14.520 It was because you know when I went there and 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:17.120 I asked them for ten bucks, and you know that's 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:19.560 a lot of money for paper. But I'm like, yeah, 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:22.320 but you know you three weeks in the arrears and 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:24.760 the technique there was not only to get to ten, 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:27.520 but hopefully get twelve so I would get a nice 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:31.120 tip as well. And you know, I kept very good records. 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:34.120 Wasn't too automated. It was a little book with check marks, 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:37.160 and I was just showing them the facts. And if 0:10:37.160 --> 0:10:39.200 I show them the facts, and you just you know, 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:41.480 hard to heart with people theyn't respect you. 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:45.959 Later, as a teenager, you bought a delicatessen. Yes, how 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:47.400 old were you when you bought a delicatest? 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:50.960 I think we're about sixteen and that sixteen turning seventeen 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:51.600 something like that. 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:53.520 Where did you get the money to buy a delicatessen? 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:56.400 I didn't have any I was working three jobs. I 0:10:56.520 --> 0:10:59.960 was working at an Italian restaurant VIP type of ten 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:06.200 iron restaurant, find a supermarket town of Amnueville. Always three jobs, 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:08.760 whatever I could fit in, and it was kind of chaotic. 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:11.520 And one day so I helped want It sign in 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:15.040 this deli and I traded in all those hours to 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:17.360 go to the Delhi because the owner said, I can 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:20.520 give you all the hours you need. But I took 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:24.360 my bow tie from the restaurant, my white shirt, my 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:29.120 tuxedo pants and upgraded the delicatessen to how we would 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:32.480 serve customers as a kid. Because I knew it worked 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:34.360 at the restaurant. I'm like, well, I wouldn't no work here. 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:38.679 And that led to very good relationship because when he 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:42.360 wanted to sell, he couldn't have any buyers because nobody 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:44.640 wanted to buy it because it was sun Mark Industries, 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:47.439 the Sunoco gas station actually owned the land. They'd only 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:50.200 give you a one year lease. He wanted twenty five thousand. 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:52.320 Everyone was like, why would I give you twenty five thousand. 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:54.920 They could take this lease away from me in an instant, 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:58.040 I said, look, after no one else came to him, 0:11:58.240 --> 0:12:01.360 I'll give you five thousand. He said seven thousand with interest. 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:03.320 You pay me back in a year. If you don't 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:06.920 make your payment, I automatically repossessed a business. I said, great, 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:10.480 so I still had the machine at that money. No, 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:13.720 I didn't. It was a loan from him, only alone. 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:16.040 It was only alone. It was only alone, and I 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:18.120 if I didn't pay him, I wouldn't have had the business. 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:23.000 But all of the people that brought the beer, bought 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:27.199 the cigarettes, brought the potato chips. All the vendors basically said, 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:30.960 we'll front you the first delivery on the arm, I said, 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:33.160 I don't want anything for free. I'll always owe you 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:35.720 that money. So the day I sell a clothes, you 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:37.880 get your money back. Meanwhile, you know how I got 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:41.600 done money back. That was early days of video games, 0:12:42.600 --> 0:12:46.080 and I put asteroids in pac Man and some dinosaur game. 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:49.360 My brother built the wall and I learned this at 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:52.720 the mall. I saw the kids plucking quarters Antiti's machines 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:54.839 one after another. I said, Wow, I'll build a game 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:57.240 room on the side of the store. We did that. 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:01.480 I made more money split the quarters with the guy 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:05.240 that actually owned the machines than I did slicing meat 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:06.240 and making sandwiches. 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:07.960 What did your parents say, you're supposed to be going 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:09.719 to high school? Did they say, how about going to 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:10.320 high school? 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:13.640 I'm so blessed because my mom, who's the best, and 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:15.880 people that I knew that were great friends of mine. 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:18.679 They actually worked in this store when I was at school, 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:21.160 holding the place up. And then when I came out 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:23.480 of school, I got right behind that counter and worked 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:24.079 till midnight. 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:26.559 All right, So you graduated from high school and did 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:27.360 you go to college? 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:30.760 I did. I went to Dowling College. In Oakdale, Long Island, 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:34.199 because I could do all my classes on Tuesday and 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:37.600 Thursday and then be in the store all the other days. 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:39.840 So when you graduate from college, were you're still owning 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:40.640 the delicatessen. 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:44.160 Yes, I was, and at that time I made a decision. 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:47.680 I got a job at Xerox, which was a dream job, 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:50.520 and at that time I sold it and then we 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:52.640 invested that money in a great beach house with my 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:54.319 parents down in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:57.120 So your job at Xerox was to be a salesman. Yes, 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:00.880 you're selling what was a complicated the time. 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:03.400 But at that time it was copiers, and it was 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:07.880 electronic typewriters and printers and fax machines and all that. 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:10.560 So you did that for seventeen years. 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:13.920 I was at Xerox for seventeen years. I sold door 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:16.280 to door for a couple of years and then got 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:20.600 promoted and ultimately became a division president and corporate officer 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:22.480 like my mid thirties at Xerox. 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:25.320 So one time you thought, maybe at the beginning, you 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:28.080 could aspire to be the CEO of Xerox. But you 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:30.280 had an offer to leave, and why did you take 0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:30.680 the offer? 0:14:30.840 --> 0:14:34.240 I did it because I stopped learning. You know, at 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:36.240 that time, it was like, what else am I going 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:39.960 to do? All I really want is the CEO job, 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:43.720 and this steps left before I'll get it, and I 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:46.680 started think that's not the right reason to stay. So 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:49.760 Gardner Group offered me a job to be the president there. 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:53.200 I was very excited about that, and I felt that 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:58.400 it advice and really meeting all the technology leaders of 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:01.560 the world and advising them would really get me sharpened 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:02.280 up for anything. 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:04.400 All Right, you took that job, but you didn't stay 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:05.440 there that long, right. 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:10.280 I didn't know I missed the big technology stage. That's 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:12.000 kind of what I really wanted to do. So I 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:15.600 went to CBL Systems to run worldwide sales and operations 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:20.400 for SEBEL in California, and I learned the software industry 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:20.920 at CEBYL. 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:24.640 So after that, you then took a position as the 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:28.440 head of SAP's America. Is correct now SAP was a 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:31.080 software company. Well, what was its innovation that made SAP 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:33.480 such a strong company even at the beginning? 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:37.120 Yeah, they call it ERP. Just to break down ERP 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:42.479 running financial systems for the biggest companies in the world. 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:47.640 Connecting that based on the industry, to supply chains, managing 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:51.320 human resources. Put that into one bucket. You call it ERP. 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:54.960 And when I got hired by SAP, they were a 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:58.640 very fine company. But in the Americas they had missed 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:02.440 twenty four were out of twenty five quarters. So it 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:06.200 was really the operation that was bringing down the whole company. 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:08.240 So they had to fix that because they had five 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:11.560 CEOs in six years of SAP America. 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:14.120 You became the co CEO of the entire company at 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:16.440 one point, and then after five years of that you 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:17.640 became the sole CEO. 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:22.000 Yeah, I became the co CEO in twenty ten and 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:25.120 the sole CEO in twenty fourteen. And what I can 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:27.760 tell you is it's actually a very nice design. A 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:30.560 lot of people knock the co CEO model, don't think 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:32.360 it can ever work. But in our case, I had 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:35.120 a great partner, Jim Hagemann Snaba, who's a great friend 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:37.840 of mine still to this day, and we had a 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:44.280 great orientation around our partnership. We talked every day. Jim 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:47.720 was kind of like missed inside in terms of representing development, 0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:50.800 especially in Germany where we had very large engineering and 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:53.480 I was the guy on the front lines. You know, 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:57.200 moving the number and working with the worldwide operations. 0:16:57.280 --> 0:17:01.280 As you were working at SAP or the CEO. Things 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:04.200 are going well, the company's in good shape. What motivated 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:06.760 you really to do something else? I mean, most people 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:08.520 at the top when things are going well, they kind 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:09.280 of stay at the top. 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:12.880 Yeah, you know, I think I get like the seventeen 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:14.280 year itch. You know, I love. 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:17.440 Seventeen years at Zerox, seventeen years at the SUP right 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:18.720 at exactly. 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:21.920 I think after about seventeen years, you know, I kind 0:17:21.920 --> 0:17:24.040 of like feel like I need to do something else. 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:28.639 So those were two of my greatest experiences, and I 0:17:28.720 --> 0:17:31.400 need to change, you know. And I really did want 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:34.159 to take service now because I saw what it could be, 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:37.040 and I really did want to make it the best. 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:41.120 And I felt like my skill set and where they 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:42.879 were and what they needed was a good match. 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:45.880 So you'll be here until twenty thirty six. In other words, said, 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:46.280 I don't know. 0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:49.960 About twenty thirty six, especially with you and private equity 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:50.640 in my future. 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:53.879 Why has technology been so big as a part of 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:56.040 the US economy and the global economy. Is it low 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:58.080 interest rates? Is that going to change? Or is it 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:00.280 just that we're really good at inventing new kind of 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:00.959 the technology. 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:04.560 Well, low interest rates helped every industry flourish, and it 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:08.359 definitely helped tech because our customers had more capital to 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:12.360 invest in information technology, no doubt. But for our company 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:16.400 and for technology companies, it's all about innovation and what 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:18.840 we're bringing to the world is an end to end 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:23.080 platform for digital transformation. If you look at the twentieth century, 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:28.040 everything was top down, vertically integrated companies, where one function 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:34.040 drove functional behavior. Now everything is cross functional. Companies were horizontal, 0:18:34.359 --> 0:18:37.760 and we brought a platform for end to end digital transformation, 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:42.240 so companies can collaborate, work in teams and get stuff done. 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:45.879 So for those who aren't experts in digital transformation, what 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:47.560 actually is digital transformation? 0:18:47.720 --> 0:18:51.040 Think of it this way. For a half century, companies 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:55.760 have been buying technology to digitize their businesses. But all 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:59.480 these companies are locked down in silos now, so they 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:03.520 optimize for functions, but they never understood that the world 0:19:03.600 --> 0:19:08.520 would go for complete teamwork, a team orientation. Everything has 0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:11.960 to come together in a horizontal stream of innovations. 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:15.480 So you're obviously a very good salesman. What is the 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:17.000 secret to be a good salesman? 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:19.879 You can get anything in this life you want if 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:23.359 you help enough other people get what they want. I 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:27.080 care about what you want. I care about what you need, 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:32.159 and when I understand that, I can compose solutions thanks 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:34.720 to the great team that I'm fortunate to work with, 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:38.199 that matter. And if I say something to you, if 0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:41.439 I make a promise to you, no matter what, you 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:45.200 will get that promise kept. I'd never break my word. 0:19:45.400 --> 0:19:47.359 And I think that's what it's all about. 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:50.280 So in your business career, what's been the best advice 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:51.600 you've ever received. 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:54.560 I think the best advice I've ever received is just 0:19:55.880 --> 0:19:59.359 in the long run, play the long game. You know, 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:03.920 people grossly overestimate what they can do in the short 0:20:03.960 --> 0:20:07.040 run and grossly underestimate what they can do in the 0:20:07.119 --> 0:20:09.800 long run. So I've always tried to take a long 0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:14.600 view and not be so focused on just here and now. 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:17.439 So today I'll have a very complete day in New 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:19.879 York City. I'll meet some of the biggest CEO business 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:22.560 cards in the world. But as I make those trips, 0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:25.840 I'm constantly thinking, what do we got to look like 0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:28.960