Planview is a global enterprise software company headquartered in Austin, Texas.
Why did you think Planview was the right move, and why are you confident about this space right now?
Our mission is to build the future of connected work, specifically a digital future. The world is changing rapidly, not in a linear but an exponential way. As organizations grapple with this change, they must transform how they operate, which requires investment in both physical and digital product initiatives. Often, these initiatives converge, creating further complexity. However, companies are constrained by limited resources and capital, forcing them to prioritize where to allocate these investments strategically.
We help organizations address this challenge. We guide them in planning and prioritizing the portfolio of initiatives that will best achieve their business objectives. Our platform then enables them to execute these priorities with efficiency, ensuring the delivery of impactful outcomes. The alignment between strategy and execution—helping organizations decide where to invest and then ensuring that they follow through productively—is at the core of why we exist and why we are essential in today’s fast-paced environment.
Could you provide a practical example of a client that resonates with you?
We serve over 4,500 customers globally, spanning industries from retail and banking to manufacturing and pharmaceuticals. It is fascinating that the same code base is used by a grocery retailer, a pharmaceutical company, or an automotive manufacturer—something I still find mind-boggling. One example that stands out, aligned with the manufacturing focus of this discussion, is a leading global glass manufacturer that uses our platform to manage a substantial capital expenditure budget.
This manufacturer invests across production facilities, R&D initiatives, and distribution networks, all aligned with a few strategic goals over a 12-to-36-month horizon. Our platform helps them plan their capital expenditures by evaluating business cases and running scenario analyzes to determine the best outcomes while balancing capital and resource constraints. Once initiatives are prioritized, they use our platform to manage both project-based initiatives with defined start and end points and ongoing product initiatives, which follow agile methods. This relationship has grown from an initial engagement in their IT department to now being deployed across the enterprise, standardizing their operations and enhancing productivity throughout the organization.
How are Copilot and Planview.me adding value, and how is AI transforming your clients' journeys?
I have been working with AI for over 30 years, well before tools like ChatGPT captured the public’s imagination. AI has always been about leveraging data through algorithms—whether through linear programming, simulation models, or, more recently, machine learning. At Planview, we manage over $350 billion in transformation spending across our clients, giving us a rich data set to inform AI-driven decision-making. Historically, we used AI for risk predictions and optimization, but tools like ChatGPT unlocked new possibilities by allowing users to interact with AI in natural language without needing programming skills.
Our Copilot initiative builds on this breakthrough. With Microsoft’s Azure APIs providing enterprise-grade data privacy, we jumped in with full force. We integrated multiple AI systems, including AWS’s Bedrock and Anthropics' Claude, to develop a connected work knowledge graph. This graph powers both traditional AI models, like machine learning and simulations, and generative AI models. Copilot offers early adopters—currently 40 customers—intelligent, real-time insights that streamline workflows and enhance productivity. However, these tools also require new skills, such as prompt engineering, to extract meaningful results. Copilot is not just about automation but about augmenting human expertise, enabling our users to focus on strategic decisions.
What changes do you predict AI will bring over the next three to four years, and how will your clients be impacted?
The biggest change AI will bring is a leap in intelligence, decision-making, and automation, allowing humans to focus on areas where we excel, such as creativity and judgment. AI can process billions of data points to make predictions, but humans are uniquely capable of making inspired decisions from a handful of observations. This synergy between human insight and machine efficiency will unlock new levels of productivity.
We will also see more tasks automated, especially repetitive ones, across functions like finance, production, and sales. However, even in highly automated environments, humans will remain central to the process. Robots in manufacturing are not yet fully autonomous; someone in a command center still oversees operations. As AI adoption grows, businesses will need to rethink workflows and roles, just as mobile phones transformed how we communicate. This transition will require adaptability, but I am optimistic that the result will be a better quality of life. Although risks must be managed, history shows that every major technological shift—from automobiles to mobile phones—has ultimately improved how we live and work.
Given how quickly technology evolves, do competitors moving faster or innovating differently ever concern you?
We believe in staying paranoid, knowing that only the paranoid survive. Technology is evolving 10 to 100 times faster than it was 15 years ago, and the barriers to entry for new competitors are significantly lower. Someone with minimal resources can now develop a competing application in a fraction of the time it once took. This rapid pace means that we cannot afford to be complacent for even a moment. Innovation is at the heart of what we do. We continuously invest in R&D, attract top talent, and run hackathons to generate new ideas. We also engage closely with our customers to understand their evolving needs and incorporate their feedback into our product roadmap. The U.S. has historically thrived on innovation due to the collaboration between academia, government, and private enterprise, and maintaining that edge will be even more critical in the future.
What milestones do you aim to achieve in the next chapter, and what legacy would you like to leave?
Our mission is to build the future of connected work by eliminating inefficiencies in digital transformation efforts.
The world spends over $3 trillion annually on digitalization, but approximately 40 percent of that is wasted due to misalignment between business and technology teams, as well as disconnects between leadership and frontline employees. Planview's platform addresses these issues by bridging the gap between strategy and execution, reducing waste, and maximizing productivity.
Looking ahead, we aim to help organizations streamline their digital value chains, much like the automotive industry perfected physical supply chains over the past century. Today, there is more software embedded in vehicles than ever before, requiring collaboration between automotive manufacturers and suppliers. The same principle applies across industries—whether in electronics, consumer goods, or manufacturing. My hope is that, when I look back, Planview will be recognized as the leader that helped organizations connect these digital dots, driving unprecedented productivity, efficiency, and innovation across the board.
