Cloud Wars Live with Bob Evans

Highlights00:03 — Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman has published a blog post that criticizes the notion of seemingly conscious AI. He argues that the pursuit of this idea, particularly regarding AI model welfare, is misguided.00:19 — Suleyman explains that these concepts are already causing mental health issues among users. He is growing: “more and more concerned about what is becoming known as the psychosis risk and a bunch of related issues. I don’t think this will be limited to those who are already at risk of mental health issues.”00:56 — Suleyman argues that we should “build AI for people not to be a person.” He is adamant in his neglect of this previous approach, saying that: “The arrival of seemingly conscious AI is inevitable and unwelcome. Instead, we need a vision for AI that can fulfill its potential as a helpful companion without falling prey to its illusions.”AI Agent & Copilot Summit is an AI-first event to define opportunities, impact, and outcomes with Microsoft Copilot and agents. Building on its 2025 success, the 2026 event takes place March 17-19 in San Diego. Get more details. 01:18 — Meanwhile, companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google DeepMind are actively pursuing AI consciousness or welfare research. Now, while there are complications and not everyone is on the same page, here, it is clear that the evolving scenarios and possibilities presented by AI are increasingly reaching into the realm of the surreal and in some cases, they’re fantastical.01:42 — This is largely because, for the first time in human history, we have a tool that is evolving at a pace beyond which we can conceive. While some of these ideas may sound far-fetched, the warnings accompanying them are serious based on real concerns coming from leaders in the AI space, the ones leading this new AI revolution.02:04 — What everyone must do, and though it will be challenging, is to start imagining the unimaginable. Once you accept the vast possibilities of AI, both good and bad, you can begin to take the warnings that come with them seriously. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Welcome to the Cloud Wars Minute — your daily cloud news and commentary show. Each episode provides insights and perspectives around the “reimagination machine” that is the cloud.In today’s Cloud Wars Minute, I spotlight Google’s stunning 33x reduction in AI power consumption, what it means for the future of sustainable tech, and how bold innovation is driving the AI revolution forward. Highlights00:23 — Google says it has achieved a 33x reduction in power consumption for Gemini apps’ text prompts. A remarkable number. Google, rather than just saying, “Well, hey, we’re going to go invest all our money in getting as many users as we can, and we’ll deal down the road with some of the energy implications,” have said, “No—now is the time to do it.”01:37 — Now it’s got a larger metric here that it uses for the total—what it calls carbon footprint—down by 44x. All of the details behind this have been released in a blog post by a couple of executives.02:31 — Google has adopted a completely end-to-end approach to doing this, where it’s taking a look at all of the different technology up and down its stack that could have an input on this. And the data it’s collecting is going to give them a fantastic foundation to continue this effort into the future.The AI Revolution, we can safely say now, is not going to boil the Earth.AI Agent & Copilot Summit is an AI-first event to define opportunities, impact, and outcomes with Microsoft Copilot and agents. Building on its 2025 success, the 2026 event takes place March 17-19 in San Diego. Get more details. 03:42 — Several years ago, Google Cloud was number nine on the Cloud Wars Top 10. I’m not sure at the time why it was not number ten, but it had fantastic technology, but could not fully put that in the service of their customers. It was sort of like a mismatch. It’s harnessed it over the last several years, under Thomas Kurian, to be fully in service of what customers want and need.04:44 — These breakthroughs by Google and Google Cloud, across the board (again, the details of this in the article coming up later today) show that there’s incredible potential to keep doing this. And I think it’s this power of innovation that says: Don’t be afraid of big ideas. Go after them. Dig into it. Try new approaches to it. There are better ways forward. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

Bonnie Tinder is the founder and CEO of Raven Intelligence, an independent B2B peer review site that amplifies the voice of the customer. She focuses on software customers, consulting partners, and software vendors and helps identify the best partners for their needs. In this episode, Bonnie shares seven hard-earned lessons from over 1,000 customer reviews, covering everything from data migration and partner selection to change management, over-customization, and planning beyond go-live.Episode 54 | Avoiding Project PitfallsThe Big Themes:Choose Your Partner Strategically, Not Cheaply: Raven Intelligence data reveals customers who chose systems integrators (SIs) based on price often ended up spending weeks onboarding the partner—because they lacked industry expertise. Others defaulted to familiar names or existing vendor relationships without assessing fit. A well-matched SI should offer deep, relevant experience—not just a good rate.Over-Customization Leads to Long-Term Pain: One of the most common regrets customers share with Raven Intelligence is excessive customization. While it’s tempting to rebuild old workflows in new systems for comfort or continuity, Bonnie Tinder warns this strategy almost always backfires. One company customized so heavily that their upgrade a year later cost nearly as much as the original implementation.Clarity on Requirements Prevents Costly Detours: Poorly defined requirements derail even well-staffed projects. A client lost three months mid-project because two departments had opposing expectations for payroll reporting. Before implementation, all stakeholders—from executives to end-users—must agree on goals, deliverables, and boundaries.The Big Quote: “Vendors and SIs are really good at presenting the highlights reel during the sales process. What customers really need to be successful is the actual game footage." Visit Cloud Wars for more.

00:03 — ServiceNow has announced that it's joining forces with SENAI-SP to launch a major AI training and certification program in Brazil as part of ServiceNow University. The new program aims to train hundreds of users by 2025 contributing to the University's overall global goal of upskilling three million people by 2027.00:30 — This new program will equip learners with technical skills in AI digital workflow automation and low-code/no-code development. Additionally, it will provide certification pathways and job readiness support, connecting learners with potential employers.01:14 — AI upskilling is not only providing people from incredibly diverse backgrounds with the tools to thrive in a new AI-driven work landscape. It's also helping to level the playing field. Every country, regardless of its historical wealth generation, has an opportunity to excel in the AI space, and each country needs to provide users with skills and upskilling initiatives to do so.01:42 — Companies like ServiceNow that are entering these jurisdictions with specific, targeted programs are playing a crucial role in shaping a hopefully more balanced future. In this future, everyone, from independent employees to companies start, from a level playing field with a brand new set of tools and, importantly, opportunities. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I dive into Snowflake’s record-breaking Q2 performance and explore how CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy is positioning the company for long-term AI-driven success.Highlights00:14 — Snowflake has been a remarkable story of growth and achievement—category creation here around the AI Data Cloud—and it reported last week a very strong Q2 with product revenue up 32% to $1.09 billion. That’s the first time it has topped $1 billion. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the competition is really intensifying.01:16 — CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy said, “We’re also trying to continue to push out new AI solutions and technology as rapidly as possible.” There are startups and similarly sized companies, such as Databricks and Palantir, coming after it in that core market. But also bigger players (SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Google Cloud, and others) are getting more deeply into this AI Data Cloud space.02:06 — Ramaswamy feels that Snowflake is very well positioned around this end-to-end data lifecycle spot that it has. He has been repeating relentlessly over the 18 months he’s been CEO that businesses cannot have a successful AI strategy unless they first have a successful data strategy and are able to execute on that data very, very forcefully and consistently.03:30 — I mentioned Palantir, talked about them some last week—and the phenomenal Q1 it had. It grew 48%. So I really applaud Snowflake for 32% growth. But here’s Palantir in a similar space—analytics and AI—growing 48%, which is a 50% higher growth rate than what Snowflake just posted. Databricks is growing very rapidly as well, doing some good things.03:54 — Lots of competition there, but—as always in the Cloud Wars—the biggest winners are always, always the customers. Later, we'll have a long, detailed article on Cloud Wars about Snowflake’s Q2 results, perspectives from Ramaswamy, and some of my own thoughts about how this all shapes out. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explore how explosive AI demand is driving massive infrastructure deals like the one between Google Cloud and Meta.Highlights0:03 — Google Cloud has entered into a six-year agreement with Meta that's reportedly worth over $10 billion. The deal encompasses a variety of services, including use of Google Cloud servers, storage, and networking facilities. This is a significant deal in terms of the relationship between Meta and Google, both of which are continuously battling for dominance in the ad spend space.00:52 — As the demand for cloud capacity surges, such deals are not just important, but crucial, given the fierce competition among top cloud infrastructure providers. And my colleague Bob Evans recently reported on the explosive demand for AI services — and how this demand has led to four companies spending a combined billion dollars a day on capital expenditure in Q2.01:29 — Currently, Google Cloud holds the second position in the Cloud Wars Top 10. However, more deals like this — especially those that mean potential losses for Microsoft — could soon elevate Google Cloud to the top spot. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I, along with a special partner, dive into Palantir’s explosive Q2 performance, celebrate their first billion-dollar quarter, and explain why this 21-year-old disruptor is poised to shake up the cloud industry.Highlights00:13 — I’ve got a high-growth specialist here, Rory, my granddaughter and good buddy. We're going to talk about Palantir. Palantir, in its recently ended Q2, went over the moon: 48% growth. It had its first billion-dollar quarter. It says that LLMs — large language models — won’t work without Palantir software.01:42 — There are incredible numbers. Its U.S. commercial business grew 93% to over $300 million. Now in Q2, as I said, its overall growth was 48% — over a billion dollars right over here. Then we’ve got Q3, it's guiding to 50% growth.02:20 — Palantir’s future is really ahead of it. Palantir is not on the Cloud Wars Top 10, but I believe — I'm the one who picks the list, right? So I get to make the decision — Palantir is going to be joining the Cloud Wars Top 10 in the near future. I will have more on that to come.03:13 — But the last thing I'd say about this is what this industry constantly needs is smaller, intense, disruptive, sort of agitating companies. And Palantir, believe me, is an agitator. It is going to come up and force other companies to do things differently because customers are having so much fun with Palantir software.04:06 — Rory, thanks a lot for being with us. This has been fun talking about Palantir. They, like you, are a little bit of a unicorn. Happy birthday to me, happy Q2 to Palantir, happy almost-five to you. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I dive into Oracle's bold $1 billion-a-year move to power a massive AI-focused data center in West Texas using gas generators.Highlights00:18 — Oracle is set to spend over a billion dollars a year to power a new mega data center in West Texas, using gas generators instead of waiting to be connected to the local utilities. The gas-powered site is being developed by Vantage Data Centers. It will cover 1,200 acres, house 10 data centers, and have a total capacity of 1.4 gigawatts — making it one of the largest in the world.01:00 — So, why spend a billion dollars a year on power generation? The issue is that obtaining approval for power infrastructure projects of this size using local electricity gridscan take years. The balance between progress and environmental impact is not so straightforward. While gas-generated electricity is cleaner than other fossil fuels, it is still far from clean energy.01:33 — I reported a few months back on Microsoft's efforts to mitigate the environmental impact of data centers by changing construction methods, while Oracle recently floated the idea of using nuclear power — a much cleaner alternative to gas. I hope that, in the drive for success in a painfully competitive market, these core values and significant concerns for sustainability are not lost. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I break down Workday’s strong Q2 results, highlighting how AI solutions, mid-market growth, government expansion, partner-driven value, and global initiatives are fueling momentum. Highlights00:14 — Workday recently posted a very nice fiscal Q2, ended July 31. I pulled out growth factors from the earnings call. Just a quick recap here: for Q2, its subscription revenue was up 14% to $2.17 billion, while their current RPO was up 16.4% to almost $8 billion. So, strong demand for the recent quarter and the pipeline going forward.01:37 — First of all, suites. Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach said 30% of Q2 deals were for full suites, which, in Workday parlance, is both Financials and HCM. These consolidated data sets, he said, are more and more vital to companies. Now they can use all of that data together for some of their AI solutions, and certainly on the AI side, there was strength there.02:05 — Among existing Workday customers, 30% of all deals included one or more AI solutions. For new customers, that number jumped to 70%. In the mid-market, a lot of strength there with a new go-to-market program tailored for the needs of mid-market companies, Workday Go. In the federal government, Workday has created a new subsidiary called Workday Government.03:04 — Partners are now generating, among new annual contract value, 20%. The sharing of data for AI, Eschenbach, over the last few quarters, has been touting the value and how clean that dataset is. There's a new president in India. Workday is building a data center in India to handle local and regional data requirements there—and in Germany and the UK.04:19 — One of the high-growth areas was a recent acquisition of a company called Eversort, in the contract intelligence business. Eschenbach said that for Eversort, revenue grew 100% quarter to quarter. So that's not year over year, but sequentially—it is doubling its revenue from one quarter to the next. Overall, very nice quarter for Workday and CEO Carl Eschenbach. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

In today’s Cloud Wars Minute, I break down SAP’s strategic acquisition of SmartRecruiters and what it means for the future of AI-powered talent acquisition within the SuccessFactors HCM suite.Highlights00:03 — SAP has announced that it has agreed to acquire the talent acquisition software provider SmartRecruiters. SAP plans to integrate the company’s comprehensive suite of AI-powered talent acquisition tools into its existing SuccessFactors Human Capital Management or HCM Suite.00:43 — Muhammad Alam, Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, Products and Engineering, said,“Hiring the right people is not just an HR priority, it’s a business priority. With this planned acquisition, we will help our customers attract and hire the best talent so they can advance their talent acquisition agendas with speed and agility, while lowering their total cost of ownership.”01:08 — Customers will be able to manage the entire candidate life cycle — from sourcing and interviewing to onboarding and beyond — all in a single system, to streamline the experience for recruiters, hiring managers, and, in particular, for candidates. The deal is expected to be finalized in the fourth quarter of 2025, positioning SAP very strongly in this unique, bespoke market.01:37 — It not only modernizes the company’s existing HCM platform by addressing the complexities of talent acquisition in the post-pandemic landscape — issues that have taken many years to develop but are now highly relevant — but it also integrates perfectly with SmartRecruiters’ neat, AI-powered, cloud-based tools. Visit Cloud Wars for more.