>> From New York City, it's theCUBE. Covering Automation Anywhere Imagine. Brought to you by Automation Anywhere. >> We're in midtown Manhattan at Automation Anywhere Imagine 2019. It's about 1,500 people talking about RPA which is part of the story but it's really a much broader story than RPA. It's about the ecosystem, it's about new ways to work, and really, RPA is an enabler but that's not the story in and of itself. It's really about helping people do their jobs better like a whole bunch of other tools that've come out over the years to help us out. We're excited to have a return guest who was here with us last year. He's Ankur Kothari, co-founder, another co-founder and chief revenue officer of Automation Anywhere. Great to see you again. >> Always good to see you, Jeff. >> So, it's been a year since last we spoke in June. >> We've been way less on ground, a lot on the flight. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> And, you brought in a bunch of money. You got a lot of resources really to support you now. So, how has that kind of changed? You know, you guys have grown a lot. You've put $500 million in the bank. How's that changing what you're working on now? >> Well, we are deploying that capital in three major ways. One is global expansion. We have now grown into, we have offices now in more than 30, 35 countries, 30 plus countries. So we are getting closer to all our customers worldwide in all top 30 economies and major business hubs where we are now we have opened offices, so, that's one. We are using this capital to build our ecosystem with our partners and all the developers. And, obviously we have invested a lot in our product. Taking the product stack more and more broader which allows us to automate any process that can be automated. >> Yeah, I mean, it's a great resource that you have at your disposal now. And Mihir talked about a lot of kind of higher level topics which I found really good in the keynote, really reframing RPA and personal digital assistance, if you will, around it's just another tool to help people get their job better. And he had some ridiculously sad stats about how much time that people are being asked to do robotic tasks which they really shouldn't be doing those tasks. >> Yes. >> There's much higher value stuff. It's not really rip-and-replace, it's really augment and help people do better. >> Augmenting, yes, yes, absolutely, generally most of these journeys start with this goal of productivity and rightly so. There's nothing wrong with that but as you scale in this journey and you start working, as you onboard more digital workers, digital colleagues as we like to call it, you find that the conversation in your organization changes from productivity to progress because that's what any technological transformation is about. It's not just about productivity, it's truly about progressing your team, your company, your industry, your customers forward. >> Right. >> So, that's what you face. And the second big prize on that front is it allows you to make work human. The moment you start automating every process that can be automated, we start using computers what they were designed for, to process things and not just to be used as a system of records. >> Right. >> So, we can do what we are good at. Solving complex problems using our creativity and empathy. >> Right, one of the things I thought was really interesting was the launch of the community addition, which is free. Free for small businesses, free for developers. I can't remember if there's an academic component-- >> Yes. >> Or not, but, you know, you're the guy who's puttin' money in the cash register. I'm sure there were some interesting conversations about having a free community edition. I wonder if you can share some insight 'cause, you know, that's taking money out of the bank, but obviously there's a much larger strategic goal. >> There's a strategic goal. The problem that we are falling in love with is that what would it take for us to accelerate the journey of every company to become a digital enterprise? How do we share in this new bot economy? And, in order to do that, we have to have every person participate in this whole phenomenon. An idea as big as this can not be one company or a few individuals' ideas. So, we have opened up that whole thing for everyone to participate. The community edition allows students, developers, small businesses, everyone to download. They go to our Automation Anywhere University and they can get freely trained and certified. And they can work with a bot. And they can build a bot and form their own opinion. >> Right. >> And have their own point of view. And the belief behind that is that a good idea can come from anywhere or anyone. And those ideas, once they use our product, they can monetize it in our marketplace which is the Bot Store. >> Right. >> So, that it allows everyone to form an opinion, and contribute to this new bot economy. >> It's pretty interesting. One of the topics Mihir touched on in the keynote was that we often think of, you know, kind of applying new technology to today's world, but we often miss, you know, as he said, that now is not the station, it's the train, and it's moving. And by opening it up to developers now, as you said, you're expanding the width, the breadth, and the potential applications of your technology to problems that you guys have never even thought about before. >> Exactly, that's the real thing. We are automating processes that we are doing now but generally it's about automating what we have not even seen. >> Right. >> These processes were designed for people to do. How would a process look when bots are performing there? I live in Silicon Valley and pretty much a computer science guy working on cutting edge. If you asked me 10 years ago would I let any of my family member live in a stranger's house? I would say, no way. Airbnb is one of the largest hotel chains in the world right now. >> Right, right. >> What that tells you is that human brain mind thinks linearly unless you give them something that allows humans to think exponentially. >> Right >> And that's the whole idea of beauty of technology. It allows us to think exponentially, and once our brain stretch there, then it's not possible to go back. >> Well, the other thing I think is really smart on your play is the competition for developers' attention, right? The developers these days have a lot of power and they can choose of a myriad of technologies in which to apply themselves. So, by having this community edition and opening it up is one part, but the other piece that I think is interesting is the whole bot economy. And I think you opened up the store last time we were here last year. >> Yes. >> Now you're putting money behind it so people can sell. In fact, we had a customer on earlier who's developing some stuff but they can augment that investment by actually selling those bots into this store. >> On the Bot Store, yeah. >> So, I wonder if you can talk a little bit more about how that is evolving? Is it kind of matching your vision? Has it accelerated past your vision? >> It is accelerating much faster than what we imagined first. When we one year ago we launched our marketplace, that is Bot Store. We opened up our University for everyone to get freely trained online. Then we started our community online, which is eight people. And with this community edition, everyone is now participating in it. What that is doing is we believe that more, the one thing that all developers want, is to contribute. Their work to be used by others. >> Right. >> And then, in a Bot Store, it allows them to even monetize it. It allows them to productize it so that personal satisfaction of solving a problem is what the developers get. And such new, creative ideas we are getting once we did that. Yesterday we had Bot Games and more than 250 to 300 developers participated in different games. And they were building these bots on fly, and they were competing. And we believe that when we bring all these people together and we give them a problem, genius comes out. >> Right. >> And it has been true. >> (laughs) So the ecosystem is huge and that's part of why you have your own show. And we go to a lot of shows. We were at Google Cloud a couple weeks ago. So, there's really two components of the ecosystem, traditional ecosystem. You've got the devs we talked about. There's the system integrators and you've got them all here in force. And they don't come out unless they really see a big opportunity. >> Yes. >> And the other part is the ISVs, right? To add all these different components. So, how is that evolving? Where do you see it going over the next year or two? >> It's interesting, you saw today that there was IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle all went on stage with software partnerships, you know Workday. So, we are forming large partnerships with software and how our product works with theirs, and the digital workers are part of that whole equation. And all our service providers and SIs and advisories that've been on this journey with us for the last five to six years and they are ramping up their entire practices to get their customers to become a digital enterprise. So, you see these two different worlds coming together and all the three worlds are working together for the customer to become a digital enterprise. >> Right. >> And, that's the best part. The digital native companies like Amazon, Airbnb, they have got this right. But what about the companies who have been there for 50 years, 100 years? How do they become digital? >> Right. >> And that's a more interesting problem. If you look at the software, and all the service partners and we are working together to solve that problem. So, it's a very interesting mix, an interesting time. And add to that this whole bot economy of developers bringing all these new digital workers. We are seeing the consumption of bot, growing in an exponential way. We are growing multi-force in few months. It's been a great, great ride. >> Right, well, I want to close on that in the last question 'cause you are one of the co-founders. I think there was four founders, if I'm correct. >> Yes. >> And you guys did it a very different way. You basically funded it the best way to fund a company, which is with revenue. >> Yes. >> And customer funded and you didn't go out and get outside money and now you've got this huge round which is actually an A round. >> Yes, it's a... >> So, how does that change the game? I mean, it puts you in a very good spot 'cause you don't have to take that money 'cause you were operating fine. But how does it, from a co-founder point of view, change the trajectory of your journey? >> There is obviously a value that that kind of capital brings because you can grow asymmetrically as well. >> Right, right. >> But the real value, for me, is the five investors who are such tier A, top-tier investors, who are the right partners we have got on this journey. If you think about Goldman Sachs, and NEA, and SoftBank, and General Atlantic which is one of larger growth-- >> Pretty good roster. >> Right. So you get that expertise and you get those partnerships that allows you to think exponentially and grow very fast. So, that's the real value for me in addition to the capital. >> Well, Ankur, thanks for sharing your journey with us. It's really been fun to watch and we're just at another inflection point I think. >> Always great to see you, and again next year. We ought to do this every year. >> All right, very good. >> Bigger and bigger. >> Absolutely, thanks again. >> Thanks a lot. >> He's Ankur, I'm Jeff, you're watching theCUBE. We're at Automation Anywhere in midtown Manhattan. Thanks for watching, we'll see you next time. (upbeat electronic music)

>> From Times Square in the heart of New York City, it's theCUBE, covering Imagine 2018. Brought to you by Automation Anywhere. >> Hey welcome back everybody. Jeff Frick here with theCUBE. We're in downtown Manhattan, actually midtown Manhattan, at Automation Anywhere Imagine 2018, 1100 people talkin' about bots, talkin' about Robotics Process Automation, or RPA. And we're excited to have the guy that counts the money at the end of the day; it's important part of any business. He's a co-founder, Ankur Kothari, Chief Revenue Officer and Co-Founder, Automation Anywhere. Ankur, great to see you. >> Great to be here, Jeff, thanks for having me. >> So, first off, as a co-founder, I think you're the third or fourth co-founder we've had on today. A little bit of reflection since you guys started this like 14 years ago. >> Yeah. Here we are, there's 1100 people, the room is packed. They had the overflow, they're actually all over us out here with the overflow for the keynote. Take a minute and kinda tell us how you feel about how this thing has evolved over time. >> It feels like a great party to be part of. Always, you're always happy. >> Right. >> One of the traits that you'll find a lot of co-founders is that they are always happy, never satisfied. They're always looking for the next big one. >> Right. >> But it's amazing to be part of Imagine because we learn so much from our customers and our partner as well. It's not just that we bring them together and we're talking. We're learning every time. It's becoming a big ecosystem. >> Right. >> And, an idea as big as a bot or a future of work is too big an idea for one company to continue. You want as many people to come. >> Right. >> So, our idea of Imagine was a little bit like Field of Dreams, you build and they'll come and they'll collaborate and it'll become bigger and bigger. >> And look all around us. I mean, we're surrounded by people and really, the ecosystem. >> And the bots as well, there are bots on the walls and everything else. >> Bots on the walls, partners everywhere. So let's dive into it a little bit. I mean, one of the ways that you guys participate in the ecosystem, and the ecosystem participates, is the Bot Store. >> Yes. >> So it's just like any other kind of an app store. >> Exactly. >> You've got people contributing. I assume you guys have contributed stuff. But we saw earlier in the keynote by Accenture, and EY, and Deloitte. And all types of companies are contributing bots into this ecosystem for lots of different functions or applications. So really, an interesting thing. How's that workin' out? Where'd you come up with the idea? And why's that so important? >> At Automation Anywhere we like to ask ourselves hard questions, as the leaders in this space. And we asked ourselves this question, "What can we now do to further accelerate our journey of all our customers to become a digital enterprise?" The answer came that we are to share in the new bot economy. Now once that answer was clear, every economy requires a marketplace. >> Right. >> And that's where the Bot Store came. It's a marketplace where producers meet the consumers, and you connect them. All we do is, we curate and make sure that the right things go up. But other than that, it's just like any other marketplace. And we thought that if we'll build the right marketplace where the producers meet consumers, we have thousands of customers and large companies looking at it. It will allow perfect place where all the right ideas get converted into product. >> Right. >> We have tons of partners who have domain expertise, functional expertise, vertical expertise; they can prioritize their expertise, they can convert it into IP. >> Right. >> They can do it for free, they can monetize it. So there's lots to gain for producers of all these bots. And if I am a consumer, now suddenly my time clock to make further shrinks, because instead of creating these bots all from scratch, I can download them from this Bot Store and snap them together like a Lego block. >> Right. >> So that's how the whole idea came. We launched it just two months ago and we have hundreds-- >> You just launched it two months ago? >> Yeah! And we have hundreds of bots in it. More than 80-100 partners have participated. We are getting at least 20-30 more submissions coming every day, and we have few hundred submissions coming every week. So, just like any free marketplace, it has an exponential nature. And that's the thing we are counting on. >> That's amazing, that you've got that much traction in such a short period of time. >> Thousands of downloads on a daily basis. Thousands of users just in two month's time. >> You know, we go to a ton of shows. We do over a hundred shows a year. And once shows get to a certain size, it starts to change a little bit. But when they're small like this, it's a very intimate affair on a couple floors here at the Sheraton, everyone is still really involved. They're really sharing. >> Yes. >> There's so much sharing of information. Not so much, you know ... Because they're not really competitors. Within their own companies, they're all part of this same team that are trying to implement this new thing. >> Exactly. >> And you really feel it. >> Exactly. >> So, the store's cool, but the bot economy. When you talk about the bot economy, we talk about API economy a lot. >> Yes. >> How do you see the bot economy? What are the factors that drive the bot economy, and how's it gonna evolve over time? >> We look at it as a few elements. The current version, we think that bot economy, like any economy, has a marketplace, which is our Bot Store. We have a program which we call Bot Games, because any good economy, any new economy, one of the trait is that the good idea can come from anyone. >> Right. >> It can come from anyplace. Like, any customers, any partner, anyone can bring. A good economy, what it does is it brings that idea from anyone, and it gives these vehicles for good ideas to take flight. If the idea is good, it becomes viral, and it has vehicles where those ideas can go to market. What we did was, we created a program called Bot Games. Yesterday on May 29th, we had the 1st Inaugural Bot Games. We invited developers, people who are part of these programs and their companies. And we gamified and created different games. And we thought that if we bring all these champions and pioneers and like-minded people in the same room, give them certain same problem, and then gamify it, put a clock on it, a lot of great ideas will come out of it. >> Right. >> And that came. And some of those ideas will make it to the marketplace, like a Bot Store, like an Imagine. >> Right. >> So that's where all the ideas connect to the customers. And the people who bring those ideas, they also come up. So that's the other aspect. So the Bot Games is where the ideas, you can crowdsource from places. Bot Store is where they go to the market. In between there is a gap. And we are trying to remove that gap by creating a stimulus package for this new bot economy. Like any economy time and again requires a stimulus pack, and we have created one. What we have done is that if you want to learn Automation Anywhere, right? If you want to understand, because that gap is you're to understand Automation Anywhere. We have created Automation Anywhere University a year ago. And now anyone can take courses for free to learn how to create bots. Whether they are customers or partners. And then, if you purchase these bots through one of our certified partners, the first three bots in year one are free. So we are removing the friction in between. If you have not started on this journey, your learning is free, you get ideas from different places, we can get these prebuilt bots, and the first three bots, if you purchase it through our partners, they are free. So we are removing that friction. And then, we are supporting that whole economy with the industry's largest customer success program. >> Right. So I'm curious if you know, maybe you don't know, of the bots in the bots store, how many are free and how many are paid, as a percentage? >> Interestingly, I don't have that stat because we don't actually worry about that. We let all our partners and people who are contributing to this Bot Store decide that. >> Right. >> Some bots they may decide to monetize, some they may not. It's listed on the Bot Store. Offhand, I would say-- >> Take a guess. Is it 50/50? A third? Two-thirds? >> The nature of it looks like 50/50. >> That's a good guess. Full caveat, it's a guess. We didn't do the analysis. >> Exactly. But here is the unique aspect. Yesterday we had a Bot Game, and the winner had an amazing idea that none of us had ever think of. He created this bot that automates the COE of all these programs. Now, we are talking. He is thinking of putting that on Bot Store. That's the power of bringing multiple people together. >> Right. >> That's the power of free economy, where the exponential nature of it is what we are counting on. And we are getting on a daily basis these new bot ideas, these new bots that are making it to the Bot Store. Just like your App Store. I go to App Store to get ideas what I can do on my phone. >> Right, right. >> Just like that, now we are finding our customers are going to Bot Store to figure out what else can they automate. >> Right, right. >> And that's been another amazing part of it. >> You know, it's so consistent. All these shows we go to, right? How do you unlock innovation? There's some really simple ways. One is, give more people the power, give more people the tools, and give more people the data. >> Exactly. >> And you'll get stuff out of it that the small subset of people that used to have access to those three things, they never found. They just didn't think of it that way, right? >> Exactly. And then we firmly believe that any technology, anything, once you democratize it, you give it in hands of everyone-- >> Right, right. >> You can't have a thriving economy unless everyone forms their own point of view. Unless everyone creates their own perspective. And that's our vision of this bot economy. We are bringing everyone and giving them these vehicles to try it out. Look, the technology has reached a stage where it's cheaper to try it out than talk about it. >> Yes. >> And we are doing that so that everyone forms their own unique point of view, and then they express that point of view and we connect those points of view to these thousands of customers worldwide. >> Right. >> Good ideas take flight, and all we have to do is create vehicles for those good ideas to take flight. >> Alright. So, Ankur, I gave you the last word before we wrap up here. If we come back next year, a year from now, inspired 2019, what are we gonna be talking about? What's on your roadmap? What're some of the priorities that you guys are workin' on over the next 12 months? >> We are talking about ... The next 12 months, we are looking at how to further accelerate this journey. Because what people are in this, the real problem people are trying to achieve is how to become a digital enterprise. Not just to automate, but how do you create a digital enterprise? You cannot become a digital enterprise unless your operations are digital. You cannot make your operations digital unless your processes are digital. And you cannot do that unless your workforce is digital. So we are trying to create technologies, vehicles, platforms, so that everyone can scale their program. Where pretty much everyone should have a digital colleague. Everyone should be able to create a bot. Everyone should be able to work with a bot. Every process, every department, every system should have a digital workforce working in it and that can allow you to create a digital enterprise that can scale up and scale down with the demand and supply. >> Alright-- >> That's what we are trying to start. >> Well, we look forward to gettin' the update next year. >> Exactly. >> Alright, Ankur, thanks for taking a few minutes out of your busy day with us. >> Thanks for having me here, and I appreciate and enjoy the conversation. >> Alright, he's Ankur, I'm Jeff. We're at Automation Anywhere Imagine 2018. Thanks for watching theCUBE. See you next time.