>>from around the globe. It's the Cube presenting Cuban cloud brought to you by Silicon angle. The cube on cloud continues. We're here with Anna Pinza, who is the chief development officer and Anna Plan. We've been unpacking the future of Cloud. We've heard from a number of CEOs how they're thinking about Cloud in the coming decade. And first of all, Anna, welcome back to the Cube. Thanks for participating. It's great to see you again. >>It's great to see you, Dave. And I'm so excited to be here with you again, so hopefully we'll be doing this soon. >>I hope in 2021 will be able to be face to face everybody. Oh, no. A lot of respect. You think about the CEO role, something that you're intimately familiar with its unique because she or he has a very wide observation space across the company. You know, where is the GM or a business line manager there, You know, most concerned with their respective business, the CEO, they're gonna worry about the whole enchilada. And we've heard a lot in this program about digital transformation. We've heard a lot, of course, in the past couple of years, a lot of it was lip service, but but digital transformation, it's no longer optional. What's changed, in your view, in the way that businesses air going about it? >>You know, Dave, I mean, from my perspective, it's interesting. And this year in particular has been really telling for us, right? So I think before many companies were thinking about Hey, I wanna be online, I wanna grow my revenues, you know, with with digital I wanna have a presence. But what's happened actually this year with covert in particular, is that it's gone from being kind of a good to have, you know, to really ah, fundamental necessity. We must have it. And so when I talked to CEOs today, they're really thinking about different kinds of things than before, not just going digital, but how do I enable um, my people toe work remotely right? I've got to enable that how doe I bring the agility and the flexibility that I need in our business, especially with these new ways of working right? How do I look at business resiliency? You know, not just from a you know, something happens, and then how do I recover from it? But also how do I help our, You know, our company and our people then actually spring forward and grow from where we are. So it's gone from a a topic that was happening at the CEO, maybe at the business level. But now it's really also a fundamental CEO and board conversation. And so now we're seeing the CEO is having to present two boards. You know, what is our digital transformation? Are our digital strategy. So I wonder what >>you've seen in that regard. I'm interested in what role cloud plays and supporting those digital initiatives. But more specifically, you know, cloud migration came, you know, off the charts in terms of interest because of co vid. But you had those that that were, you know, deep into cloud had a lot of experience of those maybe not as much. Are you seeing any kind of schism in the marketplace where there's maybe a great advantage to those who really had years of experience on may be a disadvantage to those who didn't or is there kind of an equilibrium you're seeing in the market place? How do you see that playing out? >>Yeah. I mean, you know, What I'm seeing is that I think there used to be a spectrum of CEOs and effect, you know, the ones that were kind of a little bit, you know, you know, forward, ahead on the cloud, both on cloud infrastructure as well, Assassin. Right. And what are the services that we have? And then there were some that were really, um, you know, trying to think about what's the security, you know, implications of the cloud. And, you know, is it more expensive? And you know, So there was this spectrum of CEOs and I think now what's happened is there's such a business imperative that I think CEO s air saying, Look, I'm either gonna survive, you know, in this new world with the agility and the flexibility that I need And so cloud, you know, I'm seeing a lot of CEO is really saying Okay, Cloud is not just fashionable, but it z in and a necessity, right? And we must on we must do it. And I think frankly, the c e. O. S that don't embrace the cloud and that level of agility are going to struggle, right? It's a it's really a personal imperative. for a CEO in addition to sort of for the company. So >>a lot of times we talk about, you know, the three dimensions of people, process and technology, and I'm interested in your thoughts on how cloud has affected those traditional structures and the value chains. I mean, you've got some people are really good a text. Some people are really good at people. Some people are really good at process. Has the cloud affected that is, it upended? It changed it in any way. >>Yeah. I mean, let's let's, like, unpack that a little bit. You know, Dave, because if you think about process, I mean, one of the interesting things about the cloud is that And if you think about the cloud as going all the way from, like I as their sort of infrastructure all the way up the stack toe, actually providing business processes embedded, you know, in in a fast service, then from a process perspective and for CEOs, it's really upended how they think about business process reengineering in their companies. Um, if I think even, you know, five years ago, where you would have ah whole organization, that's, you know, focused on business process reengineering You do that? It takes a long time. You know, you get a consultant, maybe to help you, and then you work through that process. If you look at a SAS service like Anna plan today, where we our goal is, for example, toe orchestrate business performance. We were assassin business planning platform. We've incorporated into our platform that business process. Right. So the role of the CEO relative to business process and effect changes Right now, it's about how the leverage, ah, cloud infrastructure, and then how do you enable the customization is on top of that. But generally speaking, that's a lot easier than having to think about re engineering the whole company. Um, if you think about the technology stock, obviously the cloud, uh, embeds a lot of technology, you know, in the cloud. Right. So you have a lot of native services that are available to you. Um, that is awesome from a talent perspective, you know, because before, maybe you need to have, you know, needed to have database experts or, you know, kubernetes experts. And not that we don't need those today. But many of those capabilities come native in the cloud today. So, in effect, how it helps the CEO is to provide sort of this ecosystem of talent kind of embedded in what the cloud provider does. Right? So >>I wondered. So stay on that for a minute. So remember, before Amazon announced a W s and whether 2006 it was CEO said to me, >>Yeah, I'm thinking >>about maybe I don't need to run my own email, right? So because you have to have seen the SAS ification of of of businesses, which to your point, you know, makes things, uh, simpler and that I can focus on other areas and not to worry about, you know, managing infrastructure to support APS. At the same time you've had this proliferation of cloud you mentioned, of course, that you're with Anna Plan. You see, you got work day, you got Salesforce. You've got service now Oracle, APS and and people struggle. Okay, how do I get these things Talking to whether there's that worried about that data layer. So there's this new level of complexity. How do you see that playing out in the next decade? >>Yeah. You know, we used to say that, you know, we sort of, um, shift. What we do at a certain level and now is an organization we start to look at kind of higher value outcomes, right. And so I see that happening. And you're absolutely right. The conversations that I have with customers now are Hey, um, you know, there's things that are enabled by the cloud, and then on top of that, you need a set of a P i s or connectors or ways to get data in and out, you know, in and out of a particular system or ways to link. In our case, we're linking with Salesforce toe, Anna plan, toe workday or other tools, right? And so you start to think more about the business outcome that you want. The CEO needs to be focused on that, um, instead of maybe, uh, sort of the fundamentals of the technology. Those come, you know, those come for you, and then it's really more about the partnership with the business side. Right to say Okay, what is it that you're trying to do and can I enable that through my you know, cloud architectures, the work days, you know, the adobes or or the sales forces of the world. So I think the conversation is changing. And from my perspective, what's really cool about that is, um it brings the CEO Thio, you know, really makes the CEO of business and thought leader a strategic leader, right, Because, uh, the I t shop is not just talking tech, you know, the top shop has toe talk a lot more about the outcome that they're trying to deliver. >>So I mean, in the early days of cloud, I just wanna pick up on what you just said. I mean, a lot of people in I t's saw the cloud is a threat to their livelihood. And e think I'm inferring from your statements that were largely through that dynamic. And the CEO is now really trying to make the cloud platform for transformation and monetization or whatever other organizational goal might be saving lives or better government. Is >>that sort >>of how you see it, that the role has changed to that? >>I know. I mean, I talked to so many companies, and it's still we're still going through that transition, so I don't think we're completely over the hump of, you know, cloud all day everywhere but a same time. Um, I think what the CEO so really focused on these days is really around business, agility and business outcomes for their partners. By the way, that's one of the things. The second thing, especially these days, is around people, you know, collaboration, communication. How do we, you know, facilitate interaction of people, whether inside or outside of the company on DSO? You know, that's, um that's a very different conversation for the CEO. It doesn't mean that we're not still having the basic conversation of how safe is the cloud. What security do you have built into the cloud, Right, Andi? But I think, frankly, Dave, that we've across the chasm where before it used to be. Hey, I'm a lot more secure on Prem and, you know, given the tremendous focus of the cloud providers and says companies have put on security, um, I see many more companies, you know, feeling very at ease and in fact, telling their organizations right, we actually need to switch to the cloud, including large. Um, you know, large companies that have compliance issues, you know, or like large financial companies. Many of those are making that switch as well. Well, >>it's interesting talk about security, but I think it's kind of a two edged sword, right? Because I think a lot of frankly, I think a lot of executives early days used security as a way to sort of kick the can >>down the road. But >>the reality was cloud, you know better. Worse you could make that argument is different. And so, you know, different concerns people. But it's still a the end of the day. Bad security practices Trump, >>you >>know, good security. And so that's what we've seen so many times that shared responsibility model on DSO. People are still >>learning there, so >>so security is almost this beast in and of itself. I'm interested in your thoughts on on the priorities. I mean, >>our >>customers are they streamlining their their tech investments? I mean, the major focus, as you pointed out on Cloud, has been it's a driver of agility and shifting. Resource is as we talked about. But there's this constant cost pressure, you know, the procurement. Looking at the Amazon Bill, Uh, do you see ah lot of the same going forward? Or do you think the value equation is shifting such that there'll be Maybe, you know, I t is less cost pressure is always gonna be cost pressure. I know, but But more value producer, >>I think I think you're right. I mean, I see it and I see it. Over the last six months, I've seen it really accelerate where CEOs are thinking about three things and one is business resiliency. When I talk about business resiliency, I talk about the ability to recover from crap that happens. You know, where you know, whether it's pandemics or, you know, global events and shifts that companies have to accommodate. Right? So that's one thing that I see them thinking about. The second one that we talked about a little bit is just agility. You know, I see them really focused on that. And the cloud enables that. And, you know, the third one in conversations is really speed innovation, because, um, you know, when companies air talking to cloud providers and particularly SAS cos what I see them talking about is Look, I've got this particular need and it would take me, you know, two years to do it with a legacy player because of, you know, I've got to do this on Prem. But you have the fundamentals built in. And I think I could do it with you in three months. So I think, you know, business Resiliency both to grow and toe recover from stuff. Um, agility and innovation are really three fundamental levers that I see for movement, uh, movement to the cloud. Right? Andi, any one of those that these days I mean, it's funny, uh, depending on who you talk Thio. Any one of those can propel a CEO to make a choice to make that choice. And when they have all of that together, um, they have a lot more, um, lift in effect As a CEO, they have a lot more leverage, right in terms of what they could do for their companies. Well, >>let's stay on innovation. I mean innovation. I've said many times in tech, >>you >>know, for decades it came, came from Moore's Law, it seems, seems so nineties to even say that it's true. So what's going to drive innovation in the in the coming years? I'm interested in your perspective on how machine intelligence and a I n m l on cloud, of course, play into that innovation agenda. >>Yeah. I mean, it's it's interesting, You know, I see it a lot in our business with Anna plan. Um, innovation comes from the ability to bring instead of what you do internally and match it with what's available in the external world. Right? And you mentioned it earlier. Data, You know, data is like the new currency. That's that's, like software, you know, eats the world. Now we talk about data, right? And, um and I think what's really going to drive innovation is being able to have access to the world's data once the company builds this digital DNA, You know, this digital foundation and puts, you know and is able to have access to that data, Then you start to make decisions. You know, you start Thio offer services. Um, you start thio, bring intelligence. Um, that wasn't available before, right? And, um, that's a really powerful thing for any company, whether you're doing, you know, forecasting. And you need to sort of bring the world's data. Whether you're a agricultural company, we talking. And in these days, um, innovation comes in the form of speed, you know, being able to just deliver something new to an audience faster. So to me, the cloud enables, You know, all of that the ability Thio bring in data. And then on top of that, I mean, think about all the A i m l innovation that's happening around the world. We we just launched an offer, actually, um, to be able to dio forecasting intelligent forecasting on top of the cloud we partner with with a W s forecast for that, Um, if we didn't have a cloud platform, you know, to do that and instead of a p i s you know, being digital that way really enables us, uh, the opportunity Thio toe match. You know, one plus one equals one, you know, 100. Really? And bringing the power of that to get to companies together to be ableto enable that type of innovation. >>Well, that that that's interesting. It reminds me of my friends. Ed Walsh is the CEO of a startup called Chaos Search. And you use the statement. He said, where we're standing on the shoulders of the giants, you know what you know, trying not trying to recreate it. And I think you know, you got what you just said is the same thing. You're sort of relying on others to build out cloud infrastructure. So there's a totally left field question. When you hear all the talks about breaking up big tech I >>want Is that a >>relevant to you? Because you figured okay, the clouds gonna be there. It's maybe more about search or it's about, you know, Facebook or, you know, Amazon's dominance. Interestingly, Microsoft's really not in those discussions anymore. They were the center of it >>back. No, no. >>But as a head of development for a company, does that even factor into the equation? And you're kind of not worry about that? >>No. I mean, I'll be honest for me personally. What I do is I compartmentalize my world, right. In a sense, I view I view the partnerships and we have partnerships with Google and AWS and Microsoft and others, Right? So, um, I view those as part of a non opportunity to really provide on ecosystem set of solutions right to customers and those air very powerful. I think those partnerships enable companies like ours, like Sasse companies, to innovate faster, right? And so I compartmentalize and I say those things are are wonderful. I don't know why you would want to break up those companies at the same time. Um, you know, part of what you're referring Thio, you know, has to do with, um more the social and the consumer elements of what's going on. But as a business leader, um, I really I really focused on what the power is, particularly in the enterprise. What is it that we can do for global enterprise companies? And at least in my mind, those two things tend to be separate. >>Couple of things, you said they're triggered my mind. One was ecosystems. We've been talking about data. One of our guests on this program, Alan Nance, has been talking about ecosystems and the power of ecosystems. And I definitely see Cloud is a platform to allow data sharing across those those clouds and then to form ecosystems and share data in ways that we really couldn't have, you know, half a decade or even you no longer ago. And that seems to be where ah lot of the innovation is going to occur. Some of the people talk about the flywheel effect, but it's the power of many versus the resource is of, you know, a few. >>And I'm such a big believer in the ecosystem play. And part of that is because, um, frankly, even over the last 20 years, that the skills that are required and the knowledge that required that is required is so specialized. Dave, you know, if you think about, you know, a I m l and all the algorithms that we need to know when the innovation that's happening there. And so I really don't think that there's any one company that can serve a customer alone, right? And if you think about it from a customer perspective, you know they're made up of their business is made up of needs from a lot of different parties that they're putting together, you know, to accommodate their business outcome. And so the only way to play right now in tech is is in a collaborative way in an ecosystem way. I think the mawr that companies like ours worked with other companies on these partnerships. And frankly, by the way, I think in the past, many companies that have made bold announcements and they would say, Oh, you know, I'm partnering with so and so and I've got this great partner, you know, partnership. And then nothing would happen. You know, like it was just a lot of, you know, talk. But I think what's actually happening now and it's enabled by the cloud, is, um, we have much more of a show me culture, right? We can we can actually say. Okay, well, let's say, uh, Anna plan is partnering with Google. Show me. You know, show me what you're actually doing. And I see our customers, um, asking for references of how these ecosystem partnerships air playing. Um, and, uh, because these stories air out there mawr, I think partnerships are actually much more feasible and and really and pragmatic. Yeah. >>Anna, we call those Barney deals, you know, I love you. You love me, would do a press release, and then nothing ever happens. >>That's right. That's right. And I think that Z that's not gonna work. Going forward day, right? People are asking for a lot more transparency. And so when we think about ecosystems, they really want the meat on the bone, right? They don't want just, uh, announcements that don't really help their business move forward. Yeah, >>And you know the other thing to the come back to data. It's always comes back to data, right? Every conversation. But the data that's created out of that ecosystem is gonna throw off, you know, new capabilities and new data products, data services. And that, to me, is a really exciting, you know, new chapter, I think of cloud. >>Yeah, and it's interesting. You know, the conversations I'm having now are are about data and believe it or not, also about metadata, right? Because people are trying to analyze what's happening with the cloud. You know, among cloud providers what our customers doing with the data, right? How are they using data? How often are they accessing data? Um, security. You know, from that perspective, looking at who's accessing? Accessing what? So, um, the data conversation in the metadata conversation are truly enabled by the cloud and their their key. And they weren't that easy to do in a prior, you know, legacy sort of environment. There's >>a great point. I'm glad you brought that up, because legacy, environment, all the all that metadata that data about the data is locked inside of these systems. And if you're gonna go across clouds and you're gonna have it secure and govern. You've gotta have that metadata visibility and a point of control that actually can see that and and can manage it. So thank you for that at that point. And thank you for coming on the on the Cuban participating. The Cuban cloud has been great having you. >>Thank you so much for having me. It's been a pleasure. >>Alright, Keep it right there. Everybody mawr from the Cuban cloud right after this short break.