Image: Salesforce
Salesforce's theory for success

Welcome to Protocol | Enterprise, your comprehensive roundup of everything you need to know about the week in cloud and enterprise software. This Monday: Salesforce banks on Einstein, Microsoft's big week and Oracle keeps its employees in the dark.
Also, join the Protocol | Enterprise team for a conversation about the changing role of developers and how companies should support them so they can do their best work on March 9 at noon PST. We'll be joined by Webee's Cecilia Flores and Google Cloud's Amit Zavery. It's going to be fun, so sign up to attend.
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This time last year, the enterprise software industry was bracing for a recession-like environment that was expected to lead to a curb in spending. Last week, Salesforce obliterated those concerns in record fashion, announcing $5.82 billion in revenue for the last quarter, up 20% year-over-year.
One thing Salesforce is really doubling down on: Einstein. It's the company's AI engine and, at least according to Benioff, the key to the organization's future.
Casalaina admits Einstein had a rocky road to get to this point. The company started on the journey in 2014 when it released the Einstein precursor Wave Analytics, but there were a lot of problems with that offering. For one, the sales team didn't really know how to sell it. And there weren't robust customer use cases to fall back on. To be fair, it was very early in the maturity of the tech; now, after a few rebranding efforts, Salesforce appears to have its footing.
So what's next for Einstein? To prove that maturity, the company plans to begin releasing more information on specific client results this year, per Casalaina. But even he acknowledges it's never going to be a general purpose AI engine.
It's clear there is a major desire among companies to use Einstein; at least, according to the numbers Salesforce releases. And unlike other, more complex applications, Salesforce makes it pretty easy for non-technologists to begin to play around with it — something the Slack acquisition and integration could play into. But Salesforce is far from the only company tackling this space. And with new competitors like C3.ai bound to emerge, Salesforce's innovation engine needs to work at a much faster speed to stay ahead.
-- Joe Williams
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Crypto's time to shine. Coinbase is poised for a truly monster public debut, with early valuations reaching as high as $100 billion. Industry expert or novice, this guide from my colleagues Hirsh Chitkara and Jane Seidel can get you up-to-speed quick on the hottest IPO — well, for right now, at least.
Health AI that actually works? Former Microsoft exec Terry Myerson has a new health data venture that aims to apply big data to patient care as "a hybrid of Big Tech and big medicine." Protocol's Kevin McAllister asked him how it would work.
Banking-as-a-service: the next frontier. A race is on to supply non-fintechs with backend financial technology to help improve their customer experience, and the potential rewards are huge. But plenty of obstacles still lie in the way.Last earnings cycle, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan addressed Wall Street in a pre-recorded message, so I'm sure investors are hoping to hear him live when the company reports 4Q results this evening. Here's what else to look out for this week.
March 1: Zoom reports earnings. Salesforce CFO Amy Weaver and SAP CFO Luka Mucic speak at the Raymond James Institutional Investors Conference.
March 2: HPE reports earnings. Microsoft Ignite kicks off; expect Nadella (of course) and a focus on mixed reality. Bill McDermott speaks at Morgan Stanley's tech, media and telecom conference.
March 3: Snowflake reports earnings; it's only the second for the company since going public, which somehow feels like an age ago. Ericsson begins its Reinforce Conference. Salesforce COO Bret Taylor speaks at the Morgan Stanley conference.
March 4: Ignite wraps up.
March 5: Reinforce wraps up.Could Your Business Use 1PB of Free Cloud Storage?
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Thanks for reading — see you Thursday.
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