C3 AI's Billionaire CEO on How AI Will Change Our Lives | At Barron's

Summary

In an insightful interview, Tom Siebel, CEO of C3.ai, discusses the evolution of his enterprise AI software company from its inception in 2009. He highlights its role in optimizing complex industries like energy and finance with 90 AI applications. Siebel emphasizes the transformative impact of AI on various sectors and shares his bullish market outlook. He candidly addresses C3.ai's stock performance, the company's strategic focus on market share over short-term profitability, and shares personal anecdotes, including a dramatic encounter with an elephant during a safari.

Takeaways

• 🚀 C3.ai is an enterprise application software company that focuses on AI applications, with a history that dates back to 15 years ago before major cloud providers and GPUs were widely used.
• 💡 The company was founded with the vision that the future would involve elastic cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things, and predictive analytics, which led to the development of a comprehensive software stack.
• 📈 C3.ai has developed 90 enterprise AI applications addressing various industries such as utilities, energy, oil and gas, defense, and financial services, giving them a significant market advantage.
• 🔭 The company's early focus was on the energy sector, optimizing the power grid's value chain and enabling safer, cleaner, and more reliable energy delivery with lower environmental impact.
• 🌍 An example of C3.ai's application is Shell, which uses the software across its entire value chain, from predictive maintenance to refinery operations, resulting in a significant economic benefit.
• 📊 The stock performance of C3.ai has experienced fluctuations, initially surging post-IPO due to market hype, then cooling off as the company transitioned its pricing model, and now showing signs of growth as the market recognizes the value of enterprise AI.
• 🌟 Tom Siebel, CEO of C3.ai, emphasizes that the AI application software market is a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity, and C3.ai aims to establish a clear market leadership position in enterprise AI.
• 🛠 AI is transforming every aspect of life and business, from communication and job performance to medicine, product design, manufacturing, and knowledge work, as highlighted by Tom Siebel.
• 🤖 Tom Siebel praises Microsoft's use of AI, particularly in its productivity tools, for enhancing user experience without requiring them to have data science expertise.
• 🏆 Siebel discusses the importance of assembling bright teams to help governments and corporations use information technology to improve services and products, which he finds fulfilling.
• 🦣 A personal anecdote shared by Tom Siebel is his encounter with an aggressive elephant during a safari in Tanzania, which resulted in severe injuries and multiple surgeries, demonstrating his resilience.

Q & A

What is the primary function of C3 AI?

C3 AI is an enterprise application software company that provides a software stack enabling companies to design, develop, provision, and operate massive scale enterprise AI applications across various industries.

How did C3 AI start and what was its initial focus?

C3 AI began 15 years ago with a vision for the future involving elastic cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things, and predictive analytics. Initially, it focused on applying predictive analytics to the power grid value chain, optimizing energy delivery and carbon footprint management.

How many enterprise AI applications has C3 AI developed and what are some examples of their use?

C3 AI has developed 90 enterprise AI applications that address various value chains, including utilities, energy, oil and gas, defense intelligence, consumer packaged goods, and financial services.

What is an example of a company using C3 AI's software and how does it benefit from it?

Shell, a nearly $400 billion business, uses C3 AI across its entire value chain for predictive maintenance, hydrocarbon loss accounting, production optimization, and refinery operations, resulting in $2 billion a year in recurring economic benefits.

How has the perception of enterprise AI changed since November 2022, according to Tom Siebel?

After November 2022, the world recognized the importance of enterprise AI, leading to a hype cycle. Tom Siebel believes this interest is not ephemeral but legitimate, as the market potential is significant.

What was the initial stock performance of C3 AI after going public, and what changes affected its growth rate?

C3 AI's stock opened at $101 after pricing at $42 and quickly rose to around $190. However, after changing the pricing model from subscription-based to consumption-based, the growth rate declined significantly before recovering and accelerating again.

Why does Tom Siebel believe that the current AI application software market is not a flash in the pan?

Tom Siebel sees the AI application software market as a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity, with C3 AI having a significant first-mover advantage, which he believes will lead to the establishment of a clear market leadership position.

How does Tom Siebel view the impact of AI on various aspects of life and business?

Siebel believes AI will change everything, from communication and job performance to medicine, product design, manufacturing, and entertainment. It will enhance and accelerate all aspects of life and work.

What is Tom Siebel's perspective on the influence of companies like Microsoft and Open AI in the AI market?

Siebel appreciates Microsoft's use of AI in its products but does not believe that any single company, including Open AI, will dominate the market. He suggests that the real winners may emerge from lesser-known companies.

What is Tom Siebel's opinion on the current state of Silicon Valley and its relationship with Wall Street?

Siebel sees Silicon Valley as being busy with a hype around AI, where many companies are rebranding with AI stickers. He criticizes analysts for not conducting thorough research and for swinging between trends of prioritizing market share and profitability.

What personal motivation drives Tom Siebel to continue leading C3 AI, and what is his philanthropic focus?

Siebel is driven by the enjoyment of building companies and working with talented professionals on difficult problems. His philanthropy focuses on education, scholarships, research, public health, and homelessness.

Can you summarize Tom Siebel's encounter with an elephant during a safari in Africa?

During a walking safari, Siebel and his guide were charged by an elephant. The guide missed a shot, and the elephant attacked Siebel, severely injuring him. After multiple surgeries and a long recovery, Siebel was able to walk again and continue his active lifestyle.

Outlines

00:00

🤖 Introduction to C3 AI and Enterprise AI Applications

The video opens with Andy Serwer welcoming viewers to the show and introducing Tom Siebel, CEO of C3 AI, a company specializing in enterprise application software. Siebel explains that C3 AI was founded 15 years ago with a vision for the future involving cloud computing, big data, IoT, and predictive analytics. The company has since developed a software stack that supports the design and operation of large-scale enterprise AI applications, which are now being used in various industries such as utilities, energy, defense, and financial services. C3 AI has 90 such applications in the market, which is significantly more than any other company. The conversation also touches on the recent surge in interest in enterprise AI and Siebel's belief in its lasting importance.

05:01

📉 C3 AI's Market Performance and AI's Impact on Business

Siebel discusses the stock performance of C3 AI, which saw an initial surge after going public but later experienced a downturn due to a shift in the company's pricing model. He emphasizes the long-term growth potential of the enterprise AI market, which he believes will be one of the largest in history. Siebel also talks about the transformative impact of AI on various aspects of business and life, including communication, job performance, research, and the legal and medical fields. He highlights the importance of generative AI and its ability to enhance productivity and effectiveness across different sectors.

10:01

🚀 Tom Siebel's Vision for C3 AI and Reflections on Silicon Valley

In this segment, Siebel shares his outlook for C3 AI, emphasizing the company's first-mover advantage and the massive market opportunity in enterprise AI applications. He also reflects on his experiences in Silicon Valley, including his time at Oracle and his views on the current state of the tech industry. Siebel critiques the short-sightedness of market analysts and the cyclical nature of tech bubbles, suggesting that true innovation often comes from unexpected sources rather than established tech giants.

15:02

💼 The Role of Market Share and Profitability in Tech Companies

Siebel delves into the strategies of tech companies, particularly focusing on the importance of market share over short-term profitability. He cites examples of Amazon and Salesforce, which took years to become profitable but ultimately created significant value for shareholders. Siebel argues that the current market's obsession with immediate profitability is misguided and that investment in market share is crucial for long-term success. He also discusses C3 AI's financial health and its commitment to investing in growth rather than short-term profits.

20:05

🏆 Tom Siebel's Passion for Innovation and Philanthropy

The conversation turns to Siebel's personal motivations and achievements. He expresses his passion for building leading companies and the joy of working with talented professionals to solve complex problems and innovate in the enterprise AI market. Siebel also talks about his philanthropic efforts, focusing on education, research, public health, and homelessness, as well as his commitment to the University of Illinois and the integration of data science with engineering.

25:06

🐘 A Harrowing Safari Experience and Resilience

In the final paragraph, Siebel recounts a traumatic event from a safari in Africa, where he was attacked by an elephant. He describes the incident in vivid detail, from the initial sighting of the elephant herd to the moment of the attack and its aftermath. Siebel shares the long and painful journey of recovery, including numerous surgeries and his determination to walk again, which he eventually achieved. The story underscores his resilience and determination in the face of adversity.

Keywords

💡Enterprise AI

Enterprise AI refers to the application of artificial intelligence within an enterprise setting, typically involving large-scale data processing and predictive analytics to optimize business operations. In the video, Tom Siebel, CEO of C3.ai, discusses how his company has been building enterprise AI applications for various industries such as utilities, energy, oil and gas, and financial services, emphasizing the transformative impact of AI on these sectors.

💡Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services, including storage, processing power, and software, over the internet. It is a foundational technology for C3.ai, as mentioned in the script where Siebel talks about the company's foresight in building a software stack for elastic cloud computing, which allows for scalable and flexible resource use, crucial for handling big data and AI applications.

💡Big Data

Big Data refers to data sets that are so large and complex that traditional data processing software is inadequate to deal with them. In the context of the video, Siebel highlights that C3.ai's software stack was designed to handle big data, which is a core component of the enterprise AI applications they develop, enabling companies to analyze vast amounts of information for better decision-making.

💡Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics is the use of data, statistical algorithms, and machine learning techniques to identify the likelihood of future outcomes based on historical data. Siebel explains that C3.ai's software stack enables companies to leverage predictive analytics to anticipate future trends and make proactive decisions, which is a key feature of their enterprise AI applications.

💡Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances, and other items embedded with sensors, software, and connectivity that enables these objects to connect and exchange data. In the script, Siebel mentions IoT as one of the areas that C3.ai's software stack was designed to support, indicating the integration of IoT data into their AI applications for enhanced functionality.

💡Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California known for its high-tech innovation and entrepreneurship. Siebel, a veteran leader in Silicon Valley, discusses the evolution of the tech landscape there, including the hype around AI and the challenges of the startup culture, reflecting his deep experience and insights into the area's tech ecosystem.

💡AI Hype Cycle

The AI Hype Cycle refers to the pattern of exaggerated expectations followed by disappointment and subsequent understanding of a technology's true capabilities. Siebel acknowledges the current hype cycle around enterprise AI, suggesting that while there is a lot of excitement, he believes in the long-term value and legitimacy of AI's impact on businesses.

💡TurnKey Solutions

A turnkey solution is a fully functional product or service that is ready for immediate use or implementation. In the video, Siebel mentions that C3.ai offers 90 turnkey enterprise AI applications, indicating that these are complete, ready-to-deploy solutions that companies can use without needing to build their AI systems from scratch.

💡Market Capitalization

Market capitalization, or market cap, is the total market value of a company's outstanding shares of stock. The script discusses the stock performance of C3.ai, including its initial public offering (IPO) price and subsequent fluctuations, which are tied to investor perceptions of the company's value and growth potential.

💡Generative AI

Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that can create new content, such as text, images, or music, that is similar to the input data but not identical. Siebel talks about the transformative potential of generative AI, predicting that it will change various professional fields, including journalism, law, and research, by enhancing and accelerating work processes.

💡Philanthropy

Philanthropy is the desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money or resources to good causes. Siebel shares his personal commitment to giving back to the community through education, public health, and homelessness initiatives, reflecting his values and the impact of his success on society.

Highlights

Tom Siebel, CEO of C3.ai, discusses the company's focus on enterprise application software for AI, emphasizing its origins and evolution in the tech industry.

C3.ai's software stack development began in 2009, anticipating the convergence of cloud computing, big data, IoT, and predictive analytics.

The company has developed 90 enterprise AI applications addressing various industries such as utilities, energy, defense, and financial services.

C3.ai's early start in the AI space has positioned it with a first-mover advantage in the enterprise AI market.

Tom Siebel shares insights on how AI is transforming various sectors, including energy optimization and predictive maintenance for Shell.

AI's impact on the future of work, with generative AI changing job roles across different industries.

Siebel's view on the current hype cycle around enterprise AI and its legitimacy in shaping future markets.

C3.ai's business model shift from subscription-based to consumption-based affected its growth rates and stock performance.

The potential of the AI application software market, which Siebel believes will be the largest in enterprise software history.

Tom Siebel's reflections on his time at Oracle and the importance of assembling bright teams to innovate in the tech industry.

Siebel's perspective on the current state of Silicon Valley, the hype around AI, and the challenges of the bubble cycle in tech startups.

His critique of public market analysts and their focus on short-term profitability over long-term market share growth.

C3.ai's financial health, with substantial cash reserves, and Siebel's commitment to investing in market share over short-term profits.

Tom Siebel's personal motivation for continuing to lead in the tech industry, emphasizing the joy of building and innovating.

Details of Siebel's philanthropic efforts, focusing on education, research, public health, and homelessness.

A dramatic account of Tom Siebel's encounter with an elephant during a safari in Africa, highlighting his resilience and recovery.

Siebel's advocacy for keeping data science closely intertwined with engineering disciplines in academia.

Transcripts

[Music]

hello everyone and welcome to at baren

I'm Andy serwer and Welcome to our guest

Tom seble CEO of C3 aai and a veteran

leader in Silicon Valley Tom great to

see you thank you Andy nice to be here

so tell us about C3 aai What

specifically does it do uh C3 AI is an

Enterprise application software company

and we began 15 years ago before AWS

before the Google Cloud before aour and

before the before the uh GPU building a

software stack that would enable

companies we believed that the future

would be about elastic cloud computing

big data Internet of things and

Predictive Analytics so in January of

2009 we began work building a software

stack that is is thousands of person

years of software engineering and a

couple of billion dollars worth of work

uh that provides all the services

necessary and sufficient to design

develop provision

operate massive scale Enterprise AI

applications and then we use that stack

to build 90 now Enterprise AI

applications that address the value

chains of utilities energy oil and gas

defense intelligence consumer package

Goods Financial Services what have you

so we have

90 uh Enterprise AI applications in the

market today right so now it is you know

fast forward a little bit you know

decade and a half and you know after say

November of

2022 all of a sudden the world woke up

and decided the Enterprise AI was

something important and uh that is now

going through a little bit of a hype

cycle that being said I don't think this

is ephemeral I think it's legit and we

are now find ourselves with 90 TurnKey

Enterprise AI applications which I think

is something like 89 more than anybody

else in the world and the company you

you found in in 2009 didn't start off

per se about AI although you did end up

getting the ticker AI which was a great

move it evolved a little bit over time

did it not it did the stack that we

built was the same and we were applying

these basically Predictive Analytics to

the value chain of the power grid so it

was really focused on energy okay and

optimizing allowing people to measure

their carbon footprint me measure and

monetize their their uh uh energy

footprint and if we look at the grid the

power grid is not arguably in fact the

largest most complex machine ever built

and this is about the time that we

started the company the global utility

companies were going through a upgrade

in the infrastructure to make the entire

grid of remotely machine addressable

they spent like two or three trillion

dollars on that globally and so this was

the first value chain that we optimized

using AI to allow um grid operators to

deliver safer cleaner more reliable uh

energy at lower environmental impact

into the hands of um more satisfied

consumers and so can you give an example

Tom of how a customer would use your

company software sure uh shell for

example shell is about a almost a $400

billion do business that uses C3 AI

across its entire value chain whether

this is deep water let's say predictive

maintenance for offshore oil rigs uh

Predictive Analytics to identify uh

hydrocarbon loss accounting and

pipelines going across Africa uh well

placement analytics production

optimization in Wells um uh using AI to

optimize uh Refinery operations and

process optimization integration of

Renewables um uh these are uh theft

energy theft right now uh at Shell

Shell's probably is one of the largest

AI application deployments on Earth uh

and the economic benefit that they acrew

from the use of our products is $2

billion a year in recurring economic

benefit Bank of America uses it for

customer churn uh Caril uses it for

supply chain and demand chain

optimization associated with hundred

billion dollars worth of protein uh and

if we get that wrong North Africa

starves um we use were used very

frequently in defense and intelligence

applications uh space contested

Logistics uh Intel these are these are

the types of applications so this is Big

Iron Big Stuff Big Oil big utilities big

steel big

Aerospace big Enterprise Computing

problems got it now the stock started

off with a bang and then it's cooled off

a little bit over the past couple years

why is that what's going on in the

marketplace there well when we went out

the market this was kind of before the

AI boom uh we went public as I recall

December 20120 we priced the stock at 42

which we thought was a for fair price I

think it opened that day at 101 and

immediately ran up like in the course of

the next two days to like 190 or

something it was crazy it didn't make

any sense at all uh you know sometimes

markets behave in non-rational ways and

so I have no explanation for that and

you know thank goodness that bubble did

burst very quickly and so the stock

settled down to reality um and then when

we repriced our we we changed our

pricing model as a public company from a

subscription-based model to a

consumption-based model that brought our

growth rates down mathematical certainty

was going to bring our growth rates down

that and our growth rates were I think

north of 40 50 60% compound annual

growth rate a year well it came down

almost well it came down to to negative

okay growth rate and then zero and now

and and so we had to go through a period

of of that transition and as we did the

stock came down with the growth rate and

now the stock seems to be rising as the

growth rate has accelerated in the past

few quarters from I think 0% to 4% to 7%

to 16% and it's it's now been

accelerating what's the case for buying

the stock going forward for investors AI

application software Market this is not

a FAL this is a couple trillion dollar

opportunity so this will be the largest

market that we've seen in the history of

Enterprise application software C3 AI

has significant First Market Advantage

first mover advantage in the space I

mean come on I was talking about

Enterprise AI you know a decade before

anybody anybody else in the world and so

we have a significant first mover

Advantage uh we're looking at in we're

looking at a couple trillion dollar

addressable Market Opportunity by any

analyst uh projections uh at the bottom

of that we have silicon okay above

silicon we have infrastructure above

that we have learning models and in the

long run the largest share of that stack

is going to be Enterprise applications

and that's where we play so the game

that we're playing like we did in a

previous like at Oracle and previous

life when I was CEO of seil systems is

to see if we can establish and maintain

a clear Market leadership position in

Enterprise Ai and if we do that this

will be one of the important companies

in information technology that would be

the bull market case fair enough how do

you see AI changing our lives Tom maybe

from an Enterprise standpoint business

and then from personal holy moly Andy it

changes everything I mean it changes

everything about the way we communicate

about the way we do our jobs the way

that journalists will do their jobs the

way that you would do research you know

particularly with the Advent of of of

generative AI I mean this is this is

staging uh it changed the way that

lawyers would do their jobs uh we're

working with two law firms now with

generative AI that fundamentally changes

okay the nature of work it makes these

people much more effective at what they

do it make changes the way that we will

do medicine with Precision medicine

genome specific medic medical protocols

what have you uh distance medicine it

changes the way we design products

manufacture products there's no aspect

of Our Lives okay in entertainment in in

manufacturing okay in um in uh uh

knowledge workers that like that will

not be influenced and accelerated and

enhanced by the use of AI should we go

faster slow you know there's sort of two

camps there well there's just one speed

and this is at the speed of Science and

this is going fast I this is not this is

not going to be stopped okay this is

this is happening right and do you think

that say company like Microsoft and open

AI together do they hold too much sway

over the marketplace or is there enough

diffused um progress going on with AI

gener first let me comment I think the

Microsoft use of AI and what they're

doing with copile is nothing short of um

genius I mean these guys are very

talented people and I think the way that

they've enhanced their products with

edge with word with with office in terms

of incorporating AI into those products

so you know there was this thought not

too many years ago that AI meant that we

had to completely retain our Workforce

and every cab driver in New York City

needed to become a uh a data scientist

well this is a bunch of bunk okay and

the way that AI will be incorporated is

the way that Microsoft is incorporating

AI you don't even know it's there okay

and it's making suggestions for you it's

correct your spelling it's correcting

your references you know it's generating

Pros for you it co-pilot is writing code

assisting you writing code if you're a

programmer So you you're using the tools

that you used before and you don't even

know the AI is there helping you and so

you don't need to know anything about

data science to use these tools and do

open Ai and Microsoft have too much

influence I don't think so I mean In

fairness is open AI uh done some

significant things they have but is open

AI going to win this thing there's no

reason to believe that holy moly this is

first half of the first inning first

person's on its way to bat this is a big

market and there's some belief that one

of Microsoft or Google or Facebook or

Amazon is going to win this AI battle I

don't know why we should believe that

you know in previous generations

information technology and you've seen a

few just like I have the obvious winner

never wins and so I suspect the real

winner in these language models comes

out of Paris or the rocks or it's some

company we haven't even heard of yet and

I mean remember last Thanksgiving I mean

goodness gra open AI could be out of

business this Thursday and I mean it it

could disappear and it really wouldn't

make much difference to the world you do

have a lot of experience in these

markets you mentioned your time at

Oracle and seel systems a big company

that you founded that was later bought

by Oracle came you went came back what

are you most proud of in terms of your

work at Oracle and its seil

systems I think that we there's no

question at Oracle and there's no

question at seel is that we assembled

really bright teams to help governments

to help uh uh government agencies okay

and to help corporations use information

technology to provide higher quality uh

services and products to more satisfied

customers and I'm I'm confident we

succeeded at that at Oracle I'm

confident we succeeded that at cow and I

know we're succeeding that at C3 and

that's what I'm most proud of I want to

ask you a little bit more about Silicon

Valley Tom because you've spent so much

time there for instance do you still

follow what Oracle does are you still in

touch with Larry Ellison I have no idea

what Oracle does I actually not sure

what business they're in today and I

haven't spoken with Larry in a while I

think Larry is a you know Larry is

clearly A Gifted guy and a giant in the

information technology industry I know

oracle is a very big company I'm not

quite sure what they do moved on all

right so what's your take on Silicon

Valley right now and the mood in terms

of its relationship with say Wall Street

and the rest of the

economy well you know silicon Val is

pretty busy again and it's all now it's

we have this big you know every company

has become an AI company every company

that has a technology stack many of

these technology Stacks go back to 1995

2000 2005 and they all put AI on the

cover of their box they got a new

sticker and they became AI so that seems

to be the big hype we're seeing you know

hundreds and hundreds of the companies

getting getting um financed at

staggering Market valuations by the

Andreas and hor and seas of the world

and you know just like the do you know

we will see hundreds of thousands of

these kids get financed and you know

when the Music Stops we'll see thousands

of these companies go out of business so

we're now we're in kind of one of these

bubble Cycles so it's kind of fun to

watch but are analysts looking for these

companies to have profitability or not

there's sort of always a a come and go

there isn't there I think in you know

right now if we if we look at the public

company Market okay so these uh you know

I'm not sure these salside analysts are

quite as uh do the research that they

used to do now they kind of they spend

their whole world inside their Excel

spreadsheet model they don't visit

customers they don't visit companies

they don't visit competitors they don't

really you know get a feel for what's

going on and you know there's a move

U after I would say after uh 2021

2022 where we've swung from G you can't

spend money fast enough uh and the only

thing important is to gain market share

and don't worry about profitability to

today you know the they're they're in a

mood where every company has to be you

know profitable this quarter next

quarter no matter what and it's really

kind of silly that these people swing so

hard with these trends that are you know

that that are Emeral that will go away I

mean when we look at the software

business the name of the game is market

share and when we look at these rapidly

growing markets like the relational

database market like the Enterprise

application software market like the CRM

Market um when we uh see these markets

expand many many companies will get

financed and scores of them will go

public and one of those companies will

become the market leader in the space

and they usually get about 50% share and

then when the market turns somebody will

invest and takes and in investing means

you're not making a profit and those

people that invest become the market

leaders and when the market turns they

tend to be the companies that endure and

create great shareholder value let's

take a look at Amazon I mean Amazon took

29 years to sustain a profit 29 years

okay how'd that work out for investors

when you when Jeff basos took all that

heat over the years of not running a

profitable business 20 for 29 years

how'd that work out for investors day

got what $2 trillion market cap rough

rough numbers let's talk about Mark

Benny off I mean Mark has done a fine

job I believe he's buil built you know

the world's leading Enterprise

application software company it took

them 25 years to become a sustain they

become sustainably profit profitable

until 2023 25 years and so he just

ignored the analyst and he did what was

right and how much value has he created

for his shareholders I think about you

know $250 billion for his shareholder so

he's done done a fine job and so at C3 I

mean we're focused at Market leadership

and we are invest I can I could make

this company profitable this week okay I

mean it's not that hard to make a

company profitable come on you just

figure out how much revenue up coming

and you spend less than that okay and

we're we're we're a structurally

profitable company and by that I mean

our you know our our our gross margins

are substantially greater than our cost

of sales so we we're a structurally

profitable company and I could throw

this into profitability in a second

would that be in the best interest of

shareholders no way noow I we know I

raised a billion dollars in in the

public market in when December of 2020 I

think and we raised that money

to invest in the market invest in brand

invest in brand Equity invest in

technology leadership today I think we

have three4 of a billion dollars rough

numbers last time I did a public

announcement I think we had roughly uh

34 of a billion dollars of cash in the

bank and so we're we're very healthy and

I'm investing in market share and will

this be a cash positive company

absolutely will it be a profitable

company Absolut abolutely is it the

right thing to do at this quarter

absolutely not let me ask you some

questions about you first of all you

seem so passionate about this Tom but

you don't have to be doing this why are

you still at this

game Andy This Is My Idea have a good

time in other words we're I you know I

love to build you know leading companies

I love to attract to to I go to work

every day with a thousand professionals

as you know were're a little bit unusual

we're you know we have a you know we all

work together in the office um and these

are people with you know exceptionally

well trained I think you know 65% of our

people have advanced degrees 10% have

phds and we're working shoulder toosh

shoulder on just enormously difficult

problems we're inventing new things

we're inventing new markets and we're

playing a meaningful role in inventing

the entprise AI market like we played a

meaningful role in in inventing the CRM

Market in all fairness I might have

invented that and with Larry at Oracle

we did invent the relational database

market so this is fun stuff and and so

this is this for better this is my idea

of a good time and this is why I do it

and so we're we're having fun we're

building great product we're making

customers successful I'm working with

talented people and I believe we're

building one of the world's great

companies on the personal side of things

you are a very philanthropic person so I

want to ask you what drives you there

what the focus of your philanthropy is

and then also I want to ask you about

what happened to you in Africa when you

got attacked by an elephant well that

was a bad day uh I like everybody like

you and like all of our friends you know

to the extent that we can we want to

give back to the community and I've been

very fortunate in my career and so I've

had the opportunity to get back to the

community and uh we invest a lot in

education you know a lot of scholarships

a lot of scholarships for under

privileged people um uh a lot in in

research a lot in uh Public Health um uh

we do a lot a lot of work in

homelessness um and I've done some I'm

very interested you kind know recently

I've been doing some work with the

University of Illinois uh focusing on

what I see as the future of data science

okay and making sure that there's been a

trend recently uh that we've seen at

Berkeley and MIT and others to split off

data science from engineering into

separate disciplines I believe that's a

mistake and so we're we're we're doing

some work with the University of

Illinois and some other universities to

help keep these things closely

intertwined but University of Illinois

where you went you're Alma moer with

Mark andrees Mark was was a little bit

after me but yes I have three degrees

from the University of Illinois I've

been I'm I'm I'm a product of the Public

School System a land grant institution

in the state where I grew up yeah and I

was fortunate to get a uh uh a number of

degrees there one in history one in

business and History of Science actually

and uh one in uh a graduate degree in

computer science inter relational

database Theory um and ever since I've

left there I've been very active at the

University of Illinois in helping them

uh realized their mission as a public

land grant uh uh state University that I

think is just a superlative organization

I'm proud to be associated with it and

and finally can you tell us about what

happened that day in Africa August 1st

2009 uh my wife and daughters had been

you know had been encouraged me for me

for some years to take them on a safari

to Africa so in August of 2009 we went

on a safari to Africa and we were in

Tanzania and uh in Late July and uh

after about 3 days my wife and daughters

were kind of bored of riding around in a

Land Rover the way that you will looking

at Oceans of wilderbeast and and and

Cape buffalo and what have you and so

they were taking a break and one of the

one of the activities that they featured

at this um at this Camp which was you

know pretty big concession I think it

was about a half million acres in the

serenti in Tanzania was walking safaris

so I asked our guide uh

if we could go on a walking Safari in

the morning and he said absolutely Mr

seil meet me for coffee at 6:30 and so

we but this is a you know this is kind

of a Four Seasons level campsite and I

meet him for coffee and he explains to

me that you know Mr Cel very care you

know he's going to be carrying a double

barrel 470 rifle um the 470 is a charge

about the size of a roll of Dimes and I

was armed with an icon camera and we

were going to go for a walk and he said

Mr people it's very important if we get

charged by an animal okay that you don't

run because if you get if you run we're

going to get hurt so long story short we

go out about Daybreak and we skirt

around a herd of Cape Buffalo which is

pretty pretty interesting thing to skirt

around and uh about five minutes later

we come up upon a herd of 15 elephant

about 200 meters away and they were half

adults and half juveniles and there was

a stand of trees there the serengetti is

just a kind of a big desert there's not

much relief there's no Hill there's not

many trees but there were some trees and

they were ripping branches off of these

trees the way that they will and so we

stood there it's an out day Daybreak and

we watched and then the wind must have

shifted or something so all of a sudden

this one matriarch elephant goes back on

her hunches her ears go back her Trunks

goes up and she Bellows and it's just

deafening how loud she Bellows and then

she got a you know she got us in her

crosshairs and she starts this well this

elephant this is five tons of elephant

coming at us at 30 miles an hour well at

30 miles an hour you cover 200 meters

pretty quickly and so it's the elephant

the guide

me 100 met this thing is still booking

coming at us 70 M 60 meters 50 m guide

doesn't shoot 40 m 30 m 20 M guide

doesn't shoot this is starting to get a

little concerning at 10 meters the guide

shoots and misses the elepant comes up

wraps his truck her track around the guy

just tosses him so he flies about 10

meters away and she comes up stops 18

Ines from my face it's very surreal

because you really don't have a place to

put an elephant and there's an ele to

this moment I can I can smell it I can

see the hair follicle the eyeball the

Tusk everything went 18 inches away was

and meanwhile Tom hasn't run you know

and and you know we're still holding our

okay what do you want to you know how do

you want to handle this what do you want

to do now and then she proceeds to knock

me to the ground kind of roll me punch

me Gore me I took a Tusk through my left

leg uh she stepped on my right leg my

right foot came off I'm taking hits Andy

like you can't believe and I'm getting

rolled it's very surreal it just hurt so

bad and I remember you know I to this

day I have a thought know please God

make this stop and I really didn't care

how it stopped mean I couldn't do it

anymore look up elephant's

gone long story short they surrounded me

with they know they called The Lodge

surrounded me with trucks I lay there

bleeding with my foot off my leg flade

open for three and a half hours uh

airlifted in a back of a SES of tail

dragger to Nairobi uh airlifted from

Nairobi had surgery in Nairobi airlifted

from nirobi to San Jose California

20-hour flight and they had 10 hours of

morphine and so last 10 hours were

pretty long and I spent the next 5 years

um and had 19 reconstructive surgeries I

walked 5 years later there were were two

surgeons that wanted to amputate my

right leg and I explained to them that

we really didn't have any F further to

talk about and this meeting interview

was over and uh so I went on down the

road and the bottom line This is my leg

and I did walk five years later and

since then I've set you know I've done a

lot of extreme sports kiting you know I

do a lot of kiting extreme sailing I've

won world's record sailing and uh and uh

I'm still here in the alpha is

Tom seel he is a fighter CEO of C3 AI

thank you so much for joining us thank

you Andy this is at Barons I'm Andy

serwer we'll catch you next time

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