WHEN: Today, Monday, March 6th
WHERE: CNBC's "Closing Bell"
Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with Salesforce Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff of CNBC's "Closing Bell" (M-F, 3PM-5PM ET) today, Monday, March 6th. Following is a link to the interview on CNBC.com:http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000598832.
All references must be sourced to CNBC.
KELLY EVANS: WELCOME BACK. SHARES OF SALESFORCE MOVING HIGHER BY NEARLY 2% AFTER HOURS. THIS AFTER THE COMPANY AND IBM ANNOUNCING THE TWO CLOUD COMPUTING GIANTS WILL BE TEAMING UP. THE PARTNERSHIP WILL BRING TOGETHER THE TWO A.I. PLATFORMS FROM EACH COMPANY. THAT IS IBM'S WATSON AND SALESFORCE'S EINSTEIN. JOINING US NOW IN A CNBC EXCLUSIVE IS SALESFORCE CEO MARC BENIOFF. WELCOME.
MARC BENIOFF: HEY. GREAT TO BE WITH YOU.
EVANS: HAVE YOU MET WATSON? WHAT'S HE LIKE?
BENIOFF: WATSON IS GREAT. EINSTEIN IS GREAT. THEY ARE VERY HAPPY TO BE TOGETHER.
EVANS: YES. I LOVE THE PAIRING THERE. BUT MARC, A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WATSON, A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. AND LET'S SAY THEY ARE SALESFORCE CUSTOMERS RIGHT NOW. WHAT WILL THIS OFFER THEM AS SOON AS IT'S IMPLEMENTED?
BENIOFF: WELL, THIS IS REALLY A LANDMARK AGREEMENT BETWEEN IBM AND SALESFORCE TO BRING TOGETHER TWO AMAZING TECHNOLOGIES. AND, I'LL TELL YOU, IT IS VERY EXCITING BECAUSE WE JUST RELEASED OUR SPRING RELEASE OF SALESFORCE. SO ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS AROUND THE WORLD HAVE EINSTEIN NOW BUILT RIGHT IN TO THEIR SALESFORCE IMPLEMENTATIONS. BECAUSE SALESFORCE EINSTEIN IS BUILT RIGHT INTO THE DECLARATIVE PLATFORM. WELL NOW, WHAT WE ARE DOING IS WE'RE GOING TO AUGMENT THAT WITH EINSTEIN. AND I COULD GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE IF YOU GIVE ME A SECOND.
EVANS: PLEASE. YEAH. PLEASE DO.
BENIOFF: WHICH IS LAST NIGHT HERE IN SAN FRANCISCO WE HAD UNBELIEVABLY CRAZY HAILSTORMS. SO WE HAD LIKE A HAILSTORM, A BRIGHT GORGEOUS BLUE SKY, THEN A RAINSTORM.WELL YOU KNOW INSURANCE PROVIDERS WANT TO GET TO THOSE AUTO POLICY HOLDERS AND SAY, HEY, GET YOUR CARS IN THE GARAGE, THE HAIL IS COMING. WELL, WATSON HAS THAT DATA. WHAT SALESFORCE HAS, WE HAVE ALL THE POLICY HOLDERS INFORMATION AND WE ARE MANAGING FIVE OF THE TOP FIVE INSURANCE COMPANIES ON SALESFORCE. NOW, YOU CAN PUT THOSE TWO THINGS TOGETHER AND ALL OF THE SUDDEN THOSE INSURANCE COMPANIES CAN NOTIFY THOSE POLICY HOLDERS. HEY, THE HAIL IS COMING.
EVANS: SO WHO, MARC, DOES THIS OFFER WIDER DISTRIBUTION OF EINSTEIN? BECAUSE WE ARE LOOKING AT THE REACTION IN THE SHARES AND INVESTORS CLEARLY SEEM TO LIKE THIS.
BENIOFF: WELL, I WILL TELL YOU WHY INVESTORS LIKE THIS. NUMBER ONE, DON'T FORGET, WE ARE COMING OFF OF AN UNBELIEVABLE QUARTER THAT WE JUST ANNOUNCED A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO. WE GREW OUR DEFERRED REVENUE TO $14.5 BILLION, UP 28%. THAT WAS WAY BEYOND OUR EXPECTATION AND WAY BEYOND INVESTORS EXPECTATIONS. SO WE HAVE A HUGE TAIL OFF THE INCREDIBLE FOURTH QUARTER THAT WE HAD LAST WEEK. THAT'S NUMBER ONE. NUMBER TWO IS THIS IS TWO OF THE MOST IMPORTANT COMPANIES IN TECHNOLOGY COMING TOGETHER FOR THE BENEFIT OF THEIR CUSTOMERS. AND THOSE EXAMPLES – THOSE TOP FIVE INSURANCE COMPANIES THAT WE RUN, THEY ARE ALL GOING TO USE THIS TECHNOLOGY. BUT NOT JUST THEM. OF COURSE WE RUN FIVE OF THE TOP FIVE MEDIA COMPANIES, TOP FIVE BANKS, FIVE OF THE TOP FIVE INSURANCE COMPANIES, THEY ARE ALL GOING TO BENEFIT FROM THIS CAPABILITY. UNITING SALESFORCE AND IBM TOGETHER THAT IS REALLY A HUGE STORY.
EVANS: BECAUSE IF I WANTED TO BE A CYNIC, I WOULD SAY YOU ARE HITTING ALL THE RIGHT BUZZ WORDS NOW. YOU'VE GOT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, YOU'VE GOT CLOUD, YOU'VE GOT WATSON AND EINSTEIN. IT ALL SOUNDS VERY IMPRESSIVE. BUT I APPRECIATE THE EXAMPLES AS A WAY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS MEANS IN THE REAL WORLD. CAN YOU THINK OF A COUPLE OTHERS IN THE WAYS THAT YOUR COMPANY WILL MONETIZE THIS?
BENIOFF: WELL, I WILL TELL YOU THAT WE ARE MOVING ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS TO THIS INTELLIGENT PLATFORM AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. NOW WE HAVE BEEN DOING CLOUD FOR 18 YEARS WHICH WAS A LOT. WE'VE BEEN CLOUD BEFORE CLOUD WAS COOL. AND THEN OF COURSE, WE RODE INTO SOCIAL, WE RODE INTO MOBILE AND NOW WE ARE ADDING A.I. AND WHAT'S UNIQUE ABOUT SALESFORCE IS WHEN YOU ARE USING THE SALESFORCE PLATFORM AND WE GO MOBILE OR WE GO A.I., YOU AUTOMATICALLY GET IT. SO ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS ARE ON OUR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM EINSTEIN. AND SO THEY ARE GETTING LEAD SCORING, AND OPPORTUNITY INSIGHTS AND NEXT BEST OFFER. TOMORROW WE HAVE A MAJOR EVENT HERE IN SAN FRANCISCO AND WE ARE GOING TO ANNOUNCE A COUPLE OF HUGE RELATIONSHIPS WITH SOME NEW CUSTOMERS AND ONE OF THEM IS A CPG CUSTOMER WHO IS USING EINSTEIN TO AUTOMATICALLY LOOK AT WHAT ARE THE INVENTORIES IN THEIR REFRIGERATORS IN THEIR MAJOR RETAILERS. AND THEN EINSTEIN IS ABLE TO ROLL THE SERVICE TRUCKS AND ROLL THE INVENTORY RIGHT TO THE RETAILER. THAT'S PRETTY AWESOME.
EVANS: WHO WOULD YOU SAY IS THE BIGGEST PLAYER IN THIS SPACE TODAY? THIS SPACE THAT YOU'RE DESCRIBING. WHO IS YOUR MAIN COMPETITION HERE AS YOU CONTINUE TO GROW YOUR PIE?
BENIOFF: WELL, WE'RE THE NUMBER ONE CRM PROVIDER IN THE WORLD TODAY, I THINK YOU KNOW THAT. THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR SALESFORCE. AND IN SALES AND SERVICE AND MARKETING AND COMMUNITY AND ANALYTICS AND APPS AND ECOMMERCE, THESE ARE THE AREAS WE ARE PLAYING. SO WHETHER YOU'RE BUYING ADIDAS OFF OF THE WEB, OR WHETHER YOU'RE GETTING CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SUPPORT FROM BANK OF AMERICA, OR MAYBE YOU'RE GETTING SERVICE FROM FARMERS INSURANCE, IT'S ALL HAPPENING THROUGH SALESFORCE.
EVANS: BUT DOES THAT MEAN THAT IBM COULD HAVE OR WOULD HAVE BEEN A RIVAL HERE? I WAS READING EVEN TODAY ABOUT GENERAL ELECTRIC AND SIEMENS AND SOME OF THESE BIG COMPANIES THAT ARE DOING MORE TO HELP MACHINES COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER. THAT FEELS LIKE A DIFFERENT SORT OF INDUSTRIAL INTERNET TYPE OF THING. SO, YOU KNOW AGAIN –
BENIOFF: THAT'S RIGHT. THAT'S RIGHT.
EVANS: WHAT IS THIS NEW FIELD THAT YOU'RE DESCRIBING? BECAUSE IT ALMOST SEEMS SO BROAD. I WOULD BE INTERESTED TO KNOW HOW YOU WOULD DESCRIBE THAT COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE.
BENIOFF: YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER, SALESFORCE ONLY DOES ONE THING, WHICH IS CRM, MANAGING YOUR CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS. IBM IS REALLY FOCUSED ON DOING THREE AMAZING THINGS, PROVIDING SYSTEMS INTEGRATION SERVICES TO VERY LARGE CUSTOMERS, PROVIDING WATSON, AND PROVIDING A NEW CLOUD PLATFORM. AND WHERE THIS COMES TOGETHER, I'LL GIVE YOU ANOTHER EXAMPLE, WE HAVE A GREAT JOINT CUSTOMER WITH KONE, YOU KNOW, THE ELEVATOR COMPANY AND ESCALATOR COMPANY. THEY HAVE THESE AMAZING NEW ELEVATORS AND ESCALATORS THAT ARE CONNECTED RIGHT ONTO THE CLOUD. WELL OF COURSE, WE'RE MANAGING THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ELEVATORS AND THE ESCALATORS WITH KONE AND THE CUSTOMER INFORMATION. BUT IF THE SYSTEM IS DETERMINING THROUGH WATSON THAT THERE IS A PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE PROBLEM HAPPENING ON THE ELEVATOR OR THERE'S A PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE HAPPENING ON THE ESCALATOR, THEN THROUGH SALESFORCE'S SERVICE CAPABILITY, WE COULD ROLL A TRUCK RIGHT TO GET THAT ELEVATOR AND ESCALATOR FIXED RIGHT THERE AND THEN. THAT'S ANOTHER GREAT EXAMPLE ABOUT HOW THESE TWO TECHNOLOGIES CAN COME TOGETHER. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE NOW?
EVANS: YEAH. WELL, YEAH, BECAUSE I'M THINKING IT BETTER WORK IN MY APARTMENT BUILDING. BUT LET ME JUST ASK YOU MARC, BEFORE WE GO, ABOUT OTHER ACQUISITIONS AND WHAT SALESFORCE'S PLANS THERE MIGHT BE. YOU MENTIONED YOU HAD A GREAT QUARTER, THERE IS SOME GROWTH OBVIOUSLY THAT THE MARKET LIKES TO SEE THERE AND NOW THIS PARTNERSHIP. BUT WHAT ABOUT PICKING UP A FEW OTHERS OF THE COMPANIES THAT HAVE BEEN MOOTED IN THE PAST?
BENIOFF: WELL, WE'VE PICKED UP SOME GREAT COMPANIES LAST YEAR, BECAUSE THE ACQUISITION WINDOW WAS REALLY OPEN. BUT THE REALITY IS, BECAUSE THE MARKET IS ROARING, THE ACQUISITION WINDOW HAS REALLY NARROWED. AND I JUST DON'T SEE ANY BIG ACQUISITIONS IN THE SHORT TERM.
EVANS: ALL RIGHT, WELL, THAT IS PRETTY DEFINITIVE. MARC, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TODAY. A BIG DEAL HERE, OBVIOUSLY.
BENIOFF: THANK YOU. GREAT TO SEE YOU.
EVANS: APPRECIATE HEARING MORE ABOUT IT. MARC BENIOFF IS THE CEO AND CHAIRMAN OF SALESFORCE, WHICH HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT A.I. PARTNERSHIP WITH IBM.
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