Zendesk's path from $0 to $400M in AI revenue with Tom Eggemeier, CEO of Zendesk

Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast, the show where we discuss the latest developments in the technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most influential people in the industry.In today’s episode, we’re happy to present an interview with Arvind Jain, founder and CEO of Glean, the enterprise AI company that connects to every system a business runs on and turns its knowledge into context for people and AI agents. Arvind explains why AI needs that context to work well, why 80 to 90% of it lives in people’s heads, and how Glean feeds it to tools like Claude.We also get into how Glean protects employee privacy, why word of mouth is still its biggest growth channel, and Arvind’s advice for graduates worried about AI. His most surprising answer is about lock-in: Glean wants to be easy to replace, because the memory its AI builds should belong to the enterprise.Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at [email protected]:00 Intro01:51 How companies use Glean06:46 Why not just use Claude?10:27 Why Glean wants to be replaceable13:13 How Glean protects employee privacy15:28 How Glean got started16:56 Word of mouth and rapid growth18:25 What context really means21:06 Rapid fire: scaling and fundraising22:53 How Arvind spends his day as CEO23:36 Career lessons and advice for graduates25:34 Where the idea for Glean came from26:08 Why big companies get slow27:37 Where Glean saves people time29:34 Is Glean Asana plus Claude?

Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast, the show where we discuss the latest developments in the technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most influential people in the industry.In today’s episode, we’re happy to present an interview with Michael Atalla, Chief Marketing Officer of UiPath, the Romanian-born business orchestration and automation company. Michael explains why AI agents won’t replace humans: they can’t grasp intent or learn on the job, so the exceptions that need trust and judgment stay with people. He also argues that AI should augment our skills and that cutting junior jobs is a mistake.We also get into the AI agent his marketing team built for ad data, the Process Atlas and Cartographer launches at FUSION, why low-risk AI pilots stall, and why AI slop means marketing still needs humans. His advice for anyone starting a career in tech is simple: move.Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at [email protected]:00 Intro00:51 Robots, agents, and orchestration explained01:59 What companies use UiPath for03:10 Why Michael joined UiPath04:29 How UiPath automates its own marketing07:30 Process Atlas and Cartographer at FUSION11:34 What AI agents still can't do13:12 How Romania shaped UiPath's culture15:46 Why AI pilots get stuck17:06 UiPath's vision beyond the AI hype18:14 How AI is changing marketing20:58 Will AI agents replace humans?22:15 Why cutting junior jobs is a mistake24:13 From writing code to CMO24:59 Advice for anyone starting in tech

Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast, the show where we discuss the latest developments in the technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most influential people in the industry.In today's episode, we're happy to present an interview with Tom Eggemeier, CEO of Zendesk, the customer and employee service company helping businesses automate their interactions with AI. Tom explains how Zendesk's AI revenue grew from about $0 to a projected $400M in 2 years, and why the company is moving from seats to outcome-based pricing.We also get into why companies should always offer a human option, what AI means for jobs, and Tom's own use of AI, including how Meta's Muse agent saved him $3,105 on internet, TV, and mobile bills in 5 days. His prediction: within 2 years, more than 50% of customer interactions will be a personal AI agent talking to a company's AI agent.Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at [email protected].

Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast, the show where we discuss the latest developments in the technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most influential people in the industry.In today's episode, we're happy to present an interview with Xuedong (XD) Huang, CTO of Zoom, recorded in Amsterdam at a Zoom event ahead of HumanX. XD has worked on AI for more than forty years, over thirty of them at Microsoft, where he founded the Speech Technology Group and became CTO of Azure AI. He explains what he calls C to C, Zoom's shift from conversation to completion, and why he says My Notes and ZoomMate are like bringing Steve Jobs to every meeting you attend.We also get into why Zoom runs models from OpenAI and Anthropic alongside its own small language model, an approach XD compares to a panel of gymnastics judges, and why the speech technology behind My Notes is now open to other companies through the Scribe API. XD shares how he uses AI in his own meetings, why the language barrier is still not solved, and his closing take: the more AI slop people have to deal with, the more valuable a face-to-face conversation becomes.Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at [email protected].

Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast, the show where we discuss the latest developments in the technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most influential people in the industry.In today's episode, we're happy to present an interview with Jim Lanzone, CEO of Yahoo, who joined the company in 2021 to lead its turnaround after the Apollo acquisition. Jim, who previously ran Ask Jeeves, CBS Interactive, and Tinder, explains why Yahoo is now past that phase and into its comeback, with 700M users a month and its biggest growth coming from Gen Z and Millennials.We dig into Yahoo Scout, the company's new AI answer engine, and why Jim wants to restore the social contract of search by sending traffic back to the publishers that the first generation of AI answer engines left behind. Jim also shares his playbook for turning around big internet brands, the revenue model Yahoo had to reinvent, and his advice for anyone in their twenties who wants to build in tech.Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at [email protected].

Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast, the show where we discuss the latest developments in the technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most influential people in the industry.In today's episode, we're happy to present an interview with Chris Skipworth, CEO of PassPack, a cybersecurity company that brings credential security and governance to organizations without the complexity. Chris explains why compromised credentials remain one of the leading causes of breaches, and walks through the five stages of password maturity, from spreadsheets and sticky notes to full credential governance with audit trails and password rotation.We also get into why small businesses are such a big target for hackers, how AI is changing the game on both the attack and defense sides, and why offboarding employees is one of the most overlooked security risks. Chris shares his own path from the semiconductor world into SaaS, the story behind acquiring PassPack, and his closing take: passwords open the doors, but credential governance decides who gets the keys and how long they keep them.Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at [email protected].

Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast, the show where we discuss the latest developments in the technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most influential people in the industry.In today's episode, we're happy to present an interview with Kirsty Sharman, founder and CEO of Referral Factory, one of the leading referral marketing platforms in Europe. Kirsty breaks down how referral programs really work, from the lemonade stand basics to the numbers behind them, and shares why cash is still king when it comes to rewards.We also get into the hard parts: why most referral programs fail (hint: it's marketing, not tracking), how European data privacy rules shaped Referral Factory's product, and why distribution now matters more than the product itself for founders building in 2026.Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at [email protected].

Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry.In today’s special episode, we're happy to present an interview with Diana van Stijn, co-founder and chief medical officer at Lapsi Health, a Dutch startup that builds smart medical hardware — starting with a digital stethoscope. Also featured in the interview is the sound of Andrii's heart as captured by Lapsi’s first device, Keikku. Here are the links for this episode:Dutch startup targets remote patient monitoring with its smart stethoscopeKeikku launch video on YouTubeAnother great podcast to listen to on this topic: Twenty Thousand Hertz — Sonic DiagnosisMusic and sound engineering for this podcast are by Sound Pulse.Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at [email protected].

Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry.In today’s special episode, we're happy to present an interview with Phill Robinson, founder of Boardwave — a networking platform for founders and CEOs working in the European software industry.The conversation — recorded by our senior editor Linnea Ahlgren — focuses around Europe’s pathway to success. What are we doing right and wrong, compared to the other continents? What’s the future of the European software industry like? And what does AI have to do with it?Here are the links for this episode:The white paper: “How the UK & Europe can lead the global software industry by 2034”Music and sound engineering for this podcast are by Sound Pulse.Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at [email protected].

Welcome to the new episode of the TNW Podcast — the show where we discuss the latest developments in the European technology ecosystem and feature interviews with some of the most interesting people in the industry.In today’s special episode, we're happy to present an interview with Anita Schjøll Abildgaard, co-founder and CEO at Iris.ai. The startup has been around for almost a decade and saw several significant pivots, while Anita and the team have been through all the highs and lows imaginable, including balancing on the brink of bankruptcy. Anita and Andrii talked about it all, as well as the future of academic publishing, the prospects of generative AI, the inconvenience of chat interfaces, and much more.Here are the links for this episode:What is Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)? Scientific publishing is rigged — at our expense, by Anita Schjøll AbildgaardMusic and sound engineering for this podcast are by Sound Pulse.Feel free to email us with any questions, suggestions, and opinions at [email protected].