Enterprise Weekly 413: Generative AI Enterprise Readiness, Cloud Movement, BDR Playbook, and More
Generative AI has made some game-changing advancements in the field of AI. But the tech is far from perfect and it could be a while before we start seeing its widespread adoption in the enterprise.
While Microsoft and Google square off in the race to *successfully* integrate generative AI into their search engines, the rest of the enterprise is taking a more cautious look at where the tech’s capabilities stand today. Three main factors play into executive’s hesitations: security risks, data privacy, and the fact that the tech often produces slow and inaccurate results (read some “unsettling” ChatGPT convos here and here). Meaning, for enterprise use cases that require a high degree of accuracy and human judgment, generative AI might not be suitable…at least not yet 👀 as many executives are waiting for the tech to mature.
Meanwhile, continued budget cuts in the enterprise are driving cloud demand in various directions.
On the ups ☁️⬆️
Uber is moving its IT off of its own data centers and into the cloud, signing two seven-year deals with Google Cloud and Oracle as it looks to cut costs and refocus engineering efforts.
Datadog and DigitalOcean beat earnings expectations reporting $469M (up 44% YoY) and $163M (up 36% YoY) in revenue, respectively.
Trending down ☁️⬇️
Microsoft laid off ~150 specialized sales representatives in charge of analyzing and selling cloud services such as Azure to medium-sized businesses.
Twitter cut its contract for Salesforce’s customer-management software by 75% after reducing its workforce by roughly the same percentage.
However, if you are building out your early sales and BDR program, check out our new Enterprise Playbook that outlines BDR onboarding and outbound execution strategy across training, research, messaging, sequencing and measurement.
🖥️ Go to more virtual events:
February 21: Future Enterprise Software Founders AMA
February 22: How to Build a Scalable Customer Acquisition System
📚 Read more news:
Crains NY: Enterprise Tech Sidesteps Dip in Startup Funding
*featuring data from our Work-Bench State of Enterprise Tech in NYC: 2022 Funding ReportCNBC: Twilio to Lay Off About 1,500 Employees, or 17% Of Its Workforce
The Information: Microsoft’s LinkedIn Lays Off Staff Amid Hiring Slowdown
The Information: Stripe Burned Through $500M in Cash Last Year
TechCrunch: Can Your Startup Survive the Economic Downturn?
Company: FireHydrant
Role: Enterprise Sales Leader
Technology: Site Reliability & Incident Management Platform
Funding: $32.5M from Work-Bench, Menlo Ventures, Harmony Partners, Salesforce Ventures
🌟 Company of the Week 🌟
Capsule raises $4.8M led by Human Ventures, Swift Ventures and Others
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • New York, NY
Founders: Champ Bennett (CEO), Joseph Jorgensen (CTO)
MemQ raises $2M led by Exposition Ventures and the George Schultz Innovation Fund
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Seed • Chicago, IL
Crew raises $2.3M led by Rebel, Secret and Kima
Future of Work • Seed • Paris, France
Kern AI raises $2.9M led by Seedcamp and Faber
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • Eichwalde, Germany
CommandK raises $3M led by Lightspeed Venture Partners
Risk / Security • Seed • San Francisco, CA
Fondo raises $3M led by Y Combinator, Liquid2 Ventures and Others
Future of Work • Pre-Seed • San Francisco, CA
VulnCheck raises $3.2M led by Sorenson Ventures
Risk / Security • Seed • Lexington, MA
Suite Studios raises $3.5M led by Bonfire Ventures
Collaboration / Productivity • Seed • Boulder, CO
Pydantic raises $4.7M led by Sequoia
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • London, UK
Kanarys raises $5M led by Seyen Capital
Future of Work • Series A • Dallas, TX
Sikoia raises $6M led by MassMutual Ventures
Risk / Security • Seed • London, UK
Procyon raises $6.5M led by Lobby Capital
Risk / Security • Seed • Santa Clara, CA
Axion Ray raises $7.5M led by Amplo and Inspired Capital
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Seed • San Francisco, CA
Hippo Video raises $8M led by Dallas Venture Capital
Sales / Marketing • Venture • Newark, DE
Ledge raises $9M led by NEA
Future of Work • Seed • Tel Aviv, Israel
Rezolve.ai raises $11M led by SIG Venture Capital
Future of Work • Series A • Dublin, CA
Puzzle raises $15M led by General Catalyst
Future of Work • Seed • Remote
Oligo Security raises $28M led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Ballistic Ventures and TLV Partners
Risk / Security • Seed & Series A •Tel Aviv, Israel
Descope raises $53M led by Lightspeed Venture Partners
Risk / Security • Seed • Los Altos, CA