There are plenty of tools and point solutions that address bits and pieces of the challenge of delivering artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of things (IoT) applications. C3.ai's focus is on delivering an end-to-end platform for developing, deploying and running these applications in production at scale. Whether customers use every aspect of the C3.ai platform or not, big enterprise-scale companies seem to be attracted by that promise of quickly developing and running innovative, data-driven applications at scale. There was plenty of evidence of that fact at C3.ai's February 25-27 Transform conference in San Francisco, where customers including Bank of America, Shell, 3M and Engie detailed their deployments. C3.ai's cloud-first platform is comprehensive, addressing the needs of developers, data engineers and data scientists, and the operational teams challenged with bringing applications into production at scale.

Tom believes that the global information technology market will jump from 3.5 trillion to 8.5 trillion in the next five years, mostly because of AI. This will be achieved by lowering the cost of production and delivering products and services with greater safety, greater cybersecurity, and lower environmental impact. That said, Tom recognizes the consequences of AI. He warns companies that if they do not adapt to new technologies, they will cease to be competitive, and he believes the U.S. will be in trouble if they do not win what he describes as a non-kinetic war over AI with China. We also Tom's belief that large organizations have the advantage in the new generation of 21st-century technology, how Tom stays motivated after a long career of success, Tom's view on the global rush at the boardroom and the CEO's office to digitally transform their company, among other topics.