"Like a marathon tennis match with plenty of volleys and lobs and aces, the back and forth was something to watch."
I wrote that in August 2010 when Workday hosted its first Technology Summit for analysts. "Rarely though 20 of us are we in a room for a whole day - many of us have competitive business models, others honestly cannot stand each other. So, it is even more unusual we would (mostly) agree about - and even admire what was on display."
A decade later, Workday could easily invite over a hundred analysts interested in its rocket ship progress. It now tops the Fortune Future 50 list. It's cloud handles 12+ billion transactions a month. But it keeps the invitee list small, and instead varies the content to keep up with its growing product mix and market trends. The "faculty to staff" ratio keeps improving.
CEO Anil Bhusri and his team remain remarkably open. One of the slides summarized his changing role (and changing market emphasis on machine learning). He had no reason to say so, but he apologized for not spending enough time with analysts. He has had family issues including the passing of his father so it was especially gracious of him.
Workday's pioneering format has led other vendors to follow suit. They realize user conferences are intended for customers and a separate forum works better for analysts. Plex combines them with plant tours and customer advisory board meetings. SAP recently used its summit to introduce us to its Qualtrics acquisition.
Of course, some vendors avoid the summit format - too much executive time in front of pesky analysts:)
A setting on the water in Marin County gave this one a unusual advantage over others. A decade later Workday continues to raise the bar.
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