In this special report, John Siefert and Bob Evans get together to discuss the Cloud Wars CEO of the Year. Throughout the week, Bob has been dropping daily hints on LinkedIn as to who the top contender is. In terms of criteria, the CEO of the Year…
- Has a first language that is not English
- Has been a CEO/Co-CEO in the tech industry twice
- Is running a company that’s experiencing record growth in cloud revenue
- Does not come from a sales background
Any guesses?
Highlights
00:29 — John asked Bob to spend a few minutes with him to help narrow down who the CEO of the year is. Off the bat, John eliminates process mining stalwart Celonis Co-CEO Alex Rinke because the CEO of the year is from a Cloud Wars Top 10 company.
02:20 — What makes somebody the Cloud Wars CEO of the year?
03:09 — The main criterion for picking the CEO of the year is leaders who impact not only their company but the entire industry. Overall, this CEO is a thought leader in innovation, new directions, and new capabilities for customers. High growth, a strong focus on customers, and a sense of fearlessness — these are all qualities that are used in determining the top Cloud Wars CEO of the Year.
04:20 — Many of these Cloud Wars CEOs have these qualities, says John. He thinks about the fearlessness of Snowflake’s Frank Slootman and the customer focus of Microsoft’s Satya Nadella.
05:07 — Bob put the hints he has shared on LinkedIn into context. The first hint was that this CEO’s first language is not English, which rules out Adam Selipsky of AWS, Marc Benioff of Salesforce, and Bill McDermott of ServiceNow.
06:47 — Workday’s CEO, Aneel Bhusri, has created immense growth for the company, especially in its cloud ERP business, but his first language is English. Frank Slootman stays on the list, as does Arvina Krishna of IBM.
07:55 — The Cloud Wars CEO of the year has been a co-CEO or a 2x CEO in terms of their professional experience.
08:10 — Arvind Krishna and Frank Slootman are first-time CEOs, which likely takes them off of the list of contenders.
08:44 — Oracle’s Safra Catz and SAP’s Christian Klein have both been CEOs in the past, which makes them stronger contenders.
09:17 — Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian has been president of a company, but never a CEO, which likely takes him off the list. “So, Thomas, sorry, sir. Again, we love you.” says John.
09:49 — There are two remaining CEOs that could take the title of Cloud Wars CEO of the Year: Safra Catz and Christian Klein.
10:27 — The next hint? The CEO of the Year did not come up through a sales organization.
11:02 — Neither Safra nor Christian came from a sales organization.
11:49 — John, who is on the edge of his seat, asks for another hint.
12:10 — Both of the remaining candidates exemplify all the traits that constitute a Cloud Wars CEO of the Year. The next hint: the top CEO has led their company to record financial performance in the cloud.
13:33 — When will listeners find out who the top CEO of the year is?
13:36 — Bob will be unveiling the answer on Tuesday, Dec. 13. He will have both a Cloud Wars Minute and a Cloud Wars News article that announce the winner. Bob notes this was not an easy choice, since all of the Cloud Wars CEOs have demonstrated their passion for their customers, employees, and what is going on in the market.
15:22 — The greatest growth market the world has ever known is about more than just a replacement of a type of technology. The cloud represents an entirely new way for businesses to operate — many people get to live a better life based on the application of this extraordinary technology.
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