C3.ai CEO Tom Siebel keynoted the Princeton Tiger Entrepreneurs Conference held in San Francisco‚ discussing digital transformation in the context of other major disruptive events in world history‚ from the K-T mass extinction to the Industrial Revolution.
Siebel emphasized that organizations that fail to reinvent themselves for the digital age will “simply cease to exist.” He went on to say that out of the 70 percent of organizations that embrace digital transformation‚ only 20 percent of those will ultimately succeed.
Siebel explained how the existential threat of disruptive digital technologies is exceeded only by the opportunity presented by the four most significant technology advances of the 21st century: big data‚ elastic cloud computing‚ AI‚ and IoT. Using numerous examples‚ Siebel outlined the ways in which these technologies—particularly AI—are transforming industries from financial services and healthcare‚ to aerospace and defense.
Siebel also discussed the origins of the C3 AI Suite and provided an update on C3.ai’s rapid growth and global expansion. The keynote was followed by an interactive Q&A‚ with one audience member asking Siebel what continues to drive him. “This is my idea of a good time‚” said Siebel. “Everyone at C3.ai inspired by the opportunity to make the world a better place through the application of these new technologies. It’s the professional opportunity of a lifetime to be building this company at this moment in history.”
Hosted by the Princeton Entrepreneurship Council (PEC)‚ the alumni engagement arm of Princeton’s entrepreneurial ecosystem‚ the objective of the Tiger Entrepreneurs Conference is to educate‚ inspire‚ and engage the vibrant Princeton entrepreneurial community. The audience consisted of approximately 175 entrepreneurially minded Princeton alumni. The conference is part of a larger Princeton Entrepreneurship Week in the Bay Area‚ with the Conference being held April 11–13 in both Sunnyvale and San Francisco.
