Asana Inc at Robert W Baird Global Consumer, Technology & Services Conference Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : Great. So let's start really just dive in to the question that I get most often when I'm talking to investors about that work management space. And oftentimes, investors will look at it and they'll say, you know what, I'm just not smart enough to figure this out. There's so many players in there. I'm just going to hold off on investing. I can't figure it out. So there are a lot of competitors, but there's also some competitive differentiations. So maybe you guys can talk a little bit about -- I don't know, if this is for you, Tim or Alex, Asana. What is it you guys do? And what is the core competitive differentiation in Asana?

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : And Tim, maybe this is one for you. So the Work Graph is something you guys -- when you became a public company was something you talked about. It was something, clearly, that resonated particularly early on with the tremendous growth you guys shown at a lot of big customers. But is the Work Graph now in a better position than ever? Does this enable that if the true breakout of differentiation around AI, is this the time where -- because the Work Graph always seemed like a slightly dorky or techy, I can't remember the word you used, Alex --

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : Yeah, techy. It's important differentiation. I'm dorky. That's techy. But now it really feels like this could be the moment where that really can shine. Is that the right way?

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : Now, by the C-suite even prior to generative AI, you guys have had this pyramid where C-suite could look down and set tasks and set different expectations for different departments. Right there, I think, it's also quite different from a lot of other things out there. But -- so how does this change that?

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : Got it. One of the things -- characteristic of you guys has always been a rapid pace of innovation, constantly updating the product and the platform. What, from generative AI, is available today? And what is still either beta concept or -- I know you guys talk to your customers a lot, you get feedback. What are they asking for? I realize that's a few questions for Alex.

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : Can I show hands in the room for anybody who's used the product before? Who you used Asana? (laughter)

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : We're all heard by the sound to you. Because they probably used Asana to coordinate all of that.

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : We have, at Baird, we pilot it. We used it for a while to the direct listing and enjoyed working with it. Compliance isn't there yet for us. That could be just us. You guys have some banks. Very conservative. So, great. So ChatGPT, generative AI, huge moment for you guys. But it sounds like it's going to play out over time, and obviously there's macro and other things. But it sounds like it's going to play out over time. But as people start to kick the tires more on competitive differentiation, is it the Work Graph alone that's going to set you guys apart? Because everyone's going to have generative AI solution into their own offering or LLM.

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : Very helpful. I was remiss. But if you have questions, please send them to the email's address that's listed there. And we'll make sure to get to them. Tim, you guys, not immune from the macro. And macro has been impacting all of our companies. And it sounds as if you guys have potential line of sight to come through this for the worst period, potentially, of like -- maybe some of the layoff driven -- like, down cycles around usage, seat-based stuff within your usage?

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : So people maybe have fewer employees, and therefore, fewer seats. But what I wanted to ask you there. How do you think about like the usage intensity of those who are still there? In other words, there's a lot of features and I think that -- I've got to meet Alex a few times over the years. And each time, there's a lot more features that you guys are adding. And so therefore, is there a way for us to think about that stickiness or usage [intensivity] of those customers that are on Asana? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JUNE 06, 2023 / 6:35PM, ASAN.N - Asana Inc at Robert W Baird Global Consumer, Technology & Services Conference

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : Got it. Yeah. It might be a good opportunity to talk about pricing and packaging. It feels like pricing is one of the big seminal debates that's happening right now around generative AI and ChatGPT. And whether seat-based model is going to be a risk or whether it's going to be a hybrid model. I tend to fall in the camp of like, if companies are delivering the value, that they'll be able to extract the value, that's probably an oversimplification. But how do you guys think about that?

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : And is that a potential tiered model away to also give customers choice, but also maybe protect yourself too. Because I would assume there's some potential cost behind the scene if people are hitting the ChatGPT model or excessively that could drive an incremental cost to you?

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : Thank you. Wondering if that's my phone that's interacting with that. Great. Alex, as I have you, we attended on your Asana Forward product event. And again, the pace of just product innovation is always very high for you guys. So collaborative intelligence, executive reporting, Asana workload integrations were also there. Maybe could you just summarize some of the most important feature additions that you guys rolled out at forward, and why they matter likely to your biggest enterprise clients?

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : Super helpful. Thanks. Tim, one of the themes that's been coming through in this tough macro is vendor consolidation. Everybody is a consolidator and no one's getting consolidated. But --

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : But it's natural, right? Because you get into these tougher markets. People sometimes over expand and stuff like that. And you guys have talked about how you see an opportunity, and indeed, in some cases, are seeing -- becoming the beneficiary of vendor consolidation. Talk a little bit about that. And also how you've been able to move your way towards closer to the C-suite to be able to have that discussion.

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : Yeah. And you said last quarter that the sales cycles have still been lengthening. It's been a little bit tougher environment. But when you get to that level of discussion, I assume the number of vendors is dwindling when you get to that point, or am I wrong? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JUNE 06, 2023 / 6:35PM, ASAN.N - Asana Inc at Robert W Baird Global Consumer, Technology & Services Conference Are you seeing this, like -- do you have a clear sign when you get to that C level where, hey, maybe there were six, eight work manage vendors. And now, there's only a couple. We've got an opportunity, even though sales cycles are lengthening on the other side of this, we've got an opportunity for big fish?

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : Got it. I wanted to ask you one more question. Could -- if I could, Tim, I will just come back to you for a few product questions. Appreciate you guys being here. So, Dustin is going to be in the market buying stock. It sounds like -- or at least has the opportunity to do so. So for those who maybe don't know, could you just walk us through what exactly has been filed? And what Dustin [files] are?

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : Yeah. Got it.

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : I don't know what he's like behind the scenes with you guys. But he doesn't usually get super excited in front of us. But that call back, he was pretty excited about AI.

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : Got it. Alex, moving back to you on the product side. I should just check to make sure we don't have any -- we do have a breakout as well. So you'll have an opportunity to ask questions. So Alex, back to you on the product side. When you look at the innovation opportunities that you guys have ahead again. Again, constantly being in touch with your customers, obviously, AI is going to be a big driver of functionality. AIs have a -- it's a technology in April, in Azure. But what's some of the opportunities -- if you look at, say, like your largest deployments, 50,000? I remember when scale was an issue, you guys put that to bed. When you look at some of your largest deployments, what are some areas where they're saying, hey, we need things. Or what are gaps you guys see an opportunity down the road to fill?

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : Got it. And Tim, just one -- that's very helpful. And then, Tim, I think you've done a very good job of cutting expenses and getting to leverage here improving profitability. But R&D is not an area, right? R&D, you guys are where you're investing more? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. JUNE 06, 2023 / 6:35PM, ASAN.N - Asana Inc at Robert W Baird Global Consumer, Technology & Services Conference

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : Yeah. But I would say as a percent of revenue, you'll see moderation over time. But I think this is not a time to pull back. This isn't a time to actually create distance with the other players in the space.

Question: Rob Oliver - Robert W. Baird & Co. - Analyst : Yeah, exciting. Well, on that note, please join me in thanking the management of Asana in the house. Thank you very much.