Orbit - An Hg software leadership podcast

Marjorie Janiewicz has sold enterprise software through every platform shift for three decades: Oracle, MySQL, SAP, MongoDB, HackerOne. Now as Chief Revenue Officer at Mistral AI, she's taking a French startup from zero to $400 million in 18 months, closing deals with ASML and HSBC in under a year - timelines that used to take half a decade. Recorded in New York as Mistral announced its Finance offering, this conversation addresses what's working versus what's theatre in enterprise AI. Marjorie supports the MIT hypothesis: 95% of AI projects never reach production. Chatbots drive adoption but don't change businesses. The 5% that work? They start with one high-impact use case, they customise models with proprietary data, and they deploy on-prem where regulated data lives. She explains why the adoption curve flipped, why SaaS companies sitting on data can win if they treat AI as transformation not automation, and why Mistral bet on 400 forward deployment engineers instead of just shipping models. From prototypes done in 48 hours to why "sovereignty is just marketing, independence is what matters," this is pattern recognition from someone who's been in the room when the shift happens repeatedly. Whether you're a SaaS company worried about agents or trying to sell AI to enterprises struggling with ROI, Marjorie's earned her perspective.

Most B2B software founders don't spend four years working on presidential campaigns. Varun Anand did - on Hillary Clinton's 2016 run - and he argues that startups and political campaigns share the same DNA: both rely on finding "alpha," that elusive edge that competitors haven't copied yet. After the election loss forced a pivot into tech, Varun became the only attendee at a Clay webinar with no customers or revenue. That moment led to co-founding what's now used by Salesforce, OpenAI, and Nvidia, inventing an entirely new profession in the process. Varun reveals why go-to-market AI is fundamentally different from support or coding AI and how Clay's "un-opinionated primitives" approach lets teams build unique competitive advantages. He shares examples ranging from Waste Management analyzing trash can colours via Google Street View to Clay's own social listening engine that automatically routes sentiment to CSMs: all happening without human intervention. The conversation explores the Go-to-Market Engineer role, why curiosity-driven teams win, and Varun's prediction that the next 18-24 months will be about autonomous agents working accounts while humans focus on high-value interventions. Whether you're building GTM systems or rethinking sales ops, this episode challenges every assumption about how modern revenue teams should operate.

In this rare internal conversation, Matthew Brockman, Hg's Chief Investment Officer, offers an insider's view on what's actually working versus what's still hype. Far beyond speculation, this is private equity deploying real capital into real companies with real customers, watching what happens when agentic software meets regulatory compliance and established workflows. Brockman reveals why vibe coding is being used in sales processes but not production, why venture money is subsidising inference costs that must eventually turn into labour market economics, and his "virtual Matthew" Turing test for when we've truly reached AGI. From Hg's Catalyst program - parachuting developers into portfolio companies at Hg's expense to accelerate AI product builds - to standing up in Silicon Valley urging CEOs to invest and move quickly, this conversation cuts through the noise with data, deployment examples, and the hard economics of building enterprise AI that actually ships. Essential listening for anyone trying to separate signal from hype in February 2026

Franz Faerber, co-founder and CEO of Everest Systems and former architect of SAP HANA, challenges Sam Altman's vision of throwaway software, arguing humans crave stability, while making the case for why Germany - not Silicon Valley - is the right place to build next-generation enterprise software in the AI age. Despite being a German-US company, Everest invests 80% in Germany, leveraging equal talent quality at a fraction of US costs. This episode explores the rare dual perspective of someone who led innovation inside SAP and now challenges the narrative that all meaningful software innovation must come from the Valley. Faerber discusses Everest's breakthrough "live sandboxing" technology that eliminates complex multi-system landscapes,, why deep domain knowledge is the new differentiator in an AI age, and shares his counterintuitive leadership philosophy: "I'm a big believer in a certain level of chaos is healthy." From building Germany's first AI-generated warehouse module to his advice for SaaS leaders ("assume AI costs zero—what fundamentally changes?"), this conversation offers a masterclass in conviction, timing, and reimagining enterprise software. Whether you're building against incumbents or navigating AI transformation, Faerber's insights on bureaucracy, talent strategy, and the courage to "do it earlier" provide essential guidance for software builders.

Daniël Rood, director of AI go-to-market at Google Cloud, offers a masterclass in navigating transformation from inside a tech giant. Building Google's first European AI team when gen AI was still "a PhD science project," Rood reveals the hidden resistance mechanisms that plague even innovative organizations. His concept of the "corporate immune system"—the culture that protects success for all the right reasons but resists dramatic shifts—explains why customer success stories, not internal advocacy, are what actually move leadership. His hiring philosophy centered on "intellectual humility" and "teams of translators" who bridge technology and business offers a blueprint for staffing AI initiatives moving too fast for anyone to be an expert. The conversation reveals Google's quiet dominance: AI Mode has already reached 1.5 billion monthly active users, nearly double OpenAI's reach. But Rood's most provocative insight addresses vertical SaaS: he predicts the shift to "expertise as a service," where repetitive professional work gets commoditized and deep human judgment becomes "an API on top of the platform." His framework for the new reality is stark—culture trumps strategy, three-year horizons are irrelevant, the world is "tokenizing," and sales cycles collapse through proof-based processes. By 2030, he argues, AI will have moved so deeply into the background that having a Chief AI Officer will seem as obsolete as having a Chief Mobile Officer today.

From oil rigs to Amazon's machine learning division and now Cambridge's DeepMind chair, Professor Neil Lawrence brings a refreshingly grounded perspective to AI. Lawrence introduces his "atomic human" concept; arguing it's not our capabilities but our vulnerabilities and limitations that make us irreplaceable. Drawing on experiences watching his coding assistant try to claim authorship and building systems at Amazon, he illuminates why accountability requires skin in the game and why machines can never truly stand behind decisions the way humans must. His mechanical engineering background shines through in vivid analogies that make complex ideas tangible and even delightful. The conversation builds to a genuinely uplifting conclusion about the next generation. Lawrence dismisses the disempowering AGI narrative sold by tech incumbents protecting their turf, arguing instead that today's young people see the world as it is and are excited to shape it. His insistence that "people aren't stupid"—from public dialogues to business customers consistently asking for improvements in healthcare and education—makes the case for staying connected to customers and trusting the next generation to steer technology toward what we care about most. It's a perfect note to end the year on: pragmatic, human-centred, and genuinely hopeful.

Product Mind Principal Oji Udezue - veteran of Microsoft, Twitter, Atlassian, Calendly, and Typeform - offers an energising vision of product leadership in the AI era. Drawing from 25 years building products, Udezue reveals that it isn't something to fear but an opportunity for those willing to embrace what he calls "self-erasure": shedding old mental models to approach new technology with fresh eyes. His journey from Microsoft's competitive trenches to discovering that "permanent influence has nothing to do with convincing people I was smart" unlocks why curiosity and vulnerability now matter more than ever. Udezue introduces the "three speed problem": his framework showing that while engineering capacity approaches infinity over the next decade, the real leverage comes from accelerating product divination and go-to-market to their theoretical limits. With characteristic wisdom, he advocates for "healthy paranoia" about change while championing extreme experimentation, prototyping over PRDs, and designing with customers as core team members. His closing mantra: "I happen to the world; the world doesn't happen to me" captures the determined optimism required to build jewel-like software in an era of unlimited possibility.

In this illuminating conversation from the frontier of AI-native startups, William Fairbairn, founder of Zalos.ai and part of Y Combinator's class of 2025, reveals what it takes to build at Silicon Valley velocity. Just five weeks after launch, Zalos is already deployed with major enterprise customers, automating finance workflows through computer-use agents that execute tasks like humans—extracting contract terms, initiating billing, and reconciling cash. Fairbairn's insights into Y Combinator's evolved wisdom for the AI era, particularly "forward-deployed engineering", demonstrate how the startup playbook has been fundamentally rewritten. With funding bars rising to $2 million ARR in 12 months just to reach Series A, and "supernovas" scaling from $1 million to $100 million in 18 months, this postcard from the edge of software leadership captures the intensity and opportunity of building in an era where the rules change weekly.

In this fascinating conversation, Perplexity's Chief Business Officer Dmitry Shevelenko reveals how a company barely three years old is mounting the first credible challenge to Google's search dominance in two decades. Shevelenko shares the counterintuitive distribution strategy that led Perplexity to partner with mobile carriers and device manufacturers rather than chasing browser deals, explaining how creating mutual value with partners became their path to 22 million monthly active users. The discussion centres on execution velocity as Perplexity's primary competitive advantage, with Shevelenko openly admitting that six months from now he'll have a top priority he can't even imagine today. From eliminating internal presentations entirely to making hiring decisions "physically hurt," he paints a vivid picture of how Perplexity maintains startup intensity while competing against trillion-dollar tech giants, offering invaluable lessons for anyone navigating the AI transformation.

In this candid anniversary conversation, Hg's leadership team of Matthew Brockman and Nic Humphries reflects on 25 years of building one of Europe's most focused software investors. Humphries shares the challenge of convincing colleagues to abandon multiple sectors for pure software focus, while Brockman opens up about his leap of faith in 2010, leaving Apax Partners for an uncertain bet on Hg's vision and the turbulence of 2012 that eventually led to success. The conversation hones in on AI as the next major platform shift and Brockman's concept of the "last mile"—the deep understanding of customer workflows required to transform AI capability into practical business solutions. Their discussion reveals a firm that has spent 25 years accumulating the pattern recognition, operational capabilities, and entrepreneurial culture perfectly suited for an era where success depends less on investment judgement and more on building products that solve real workflow problems—making this milestone feel less like a celebration of the past and more like preparation for the defining challenge ahead.

In this compelling conversation, Tidemark Capital founder Dave Yuan shares his journey from Bain consultant to building one of the most thoughtful voices in vertical SaaS investing. Yuan reveals his "control point" philosophy—identifying the mission-critical systems that small businesses would turn off last before going bankrupt—and explains how this approach has guided Tidemark's investments in category leaders like ServiceTitan, Toast, and OneStream. His insights into workflow gravity, data gravity, and account gravity provide a masterclass in understanding what creates defensible market positions in software. The discussion takes a provocative turn as Yuan explores AI's dual nature as both opportunity and existential threat for established software companies. He introduces the concept of "integrate surround"—how AI point solutions can gradually subsume control points by becoming the system of action rather than just record—and shares his framework for "fast waters" versus "slow waters" in AI adoption. With characteristic humility and intellectual curiosity, Yuan offers practical advice for navigating today's volatile market while building the Vertical SaaS Knowledge Project community that has become an industry touchstone for founders and investors alike.

Orbit 48 sees Dr Amr Ellabban sit down with Des Traynor, co-founder and CSO of Intercom, to explore how AI requires revolutionary thinking from businesses. Des shares the pivotal moment when ChatGPT emerged in November 2022, spurring Intercom's bold 15-day pivot to develop Fin, their AI customer support agent. The conversation reveals how successful AI transformation demands complete organisational commitment—from reimagining pricing models to restructuring teams—rather than incremental changes: "It's not a cherry on top. It's the only game that matters." Drawing from his experience at Intercom and as an angel investor, Des outlines the three-phase evolution of AI in business: from augmenting human work to handling portions of jobs to eventually performing entire roles. For leaders navigating similar transformations, he offers unflinching advice on the necessity of decisive action and clear communication, predicting that AI may soon handle 60-80% of support volume in what will be "the largest change in how labour is applied in most businesses." His insights on product boundaries and avoiding "MiniDisc" solutions in rapidly evolving technology landscapes provide a compelling roadmap for organisations embracing this inevitable shift.

What happens when AI can code? In this illuminating conversation with Cognition's Founding President Russell Kaplan, we explore how AI is fundamentally transforming the landscape of software development. Drawing from his journey through Tesla's Autopilot team and Scale AI, Kaplan shares profound insights on leadership in rapid technological change, emphasizing that "talent is everything" and that exceptional outcomes come from "small teams of highly technical people." His perspective challenges conventional thinking about software engineering's future, suggesting we're entering an era of "software abundance" where customer expectations will rise dramatically. The discussion moves beyond theoretical AI potential to practical implementation, with Kaplan revealing how his philosophy of speed as strategy guides decision-making in a world where AI capabilities in software development are doubling every 70 days. Rather than fearing job displacement, Kaplan envisions a future where "way more people are shaping the creation of software" as the nature of engineering evolves. With refreshing optimism, he suggests we're approaching a time when "software is good by default" and shares his excitement for what may be "the most exciting time to be a software engineer" in history.

In this episode of Orbit, Matthew Brockman, Managing Partner at Hg, sits down with renowned AI pioneer Andrew Ng to explore the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Andrew, who has led ground-breaking initiatives at Stanford AI Lab, Google Brain, and Coursera, shares fascinating insights on building in the AI era, including how the falling costs of prototyping (just $55,000 to create a working prototype) are democratising innovation and allowing companies to take more shots at goal with minimal risk. The conversation delves into practical advice for software leaders navigating this technological revolution, with Andrew emphasising that the real value lies in the application layer rather than foundation models themselves. He challenges conventional thinking about AI "kill zones," advocates for creating innovation sandboxes within organisations, and offers a compelling perspective on why professionals across all domains—from lawyers to doctors to marketers—should learn coding to effectively harness AI's potential. Andrew's prediction of the rise of "10x professionals" who can masterfully direct AI to accomplish tasks presents both an exciting opportunity and imperative for business leaders to embrace this transformative moment.

As AI beds into the business world, a new breed of company is being born where the latest technology is built-in. Helping them to grow is an equally new breed of investor. In the first Orbit of 2025, Nic Humphries hosts sits down with Zoe Zhao and Annalise Dragic, co-founders of Azlin Software. With backgrounds in venture capital, M&A, and Hg's own Saturn investment team, Zhao and Dragic share their journey from investing in B2B software companies to creating their own investment platform. They delve into their unique approach to acquiring and nurturing vertically specialized young businesses, emphasizing a long-term, sustainable growth model that leverages AI and automation for efficiency. The co-founders discuss the importance of community within their portfolio, fostering innovation, and the balance between nurturing product development and a vibrant company culture. Their entrepreneurial spirit shines through as they explain how Azlin Software plans to support founders at the smaller end of the market, where businesses may not yet have the resources to fully realize AI's potential. Whether discussing their own entrepreneurial leap or the future of software investment, Zhao and Dragic offer a fresh perspective on the intersection of technology and business growth.” azlinsoftware.com [email protected] [email protected]

In our latest episode Hg’s Managing Partner, Matthew Brockman, presses two CEOs and an AI insider on how a business leader can usefully integrate generative AI into their business workflows. David Carmona, a VP and CTO at Microsoft, Avaneesh Marwaha, CEO of US legal tech producer Litera, and Soeren Brogaard, CEO of Danish construction innovators, Trackunit, cover the swift advancements in AI that are redefining industry workflows. These experts explore the journey from AI incubation to mass adoption, the balance between internal efficiency and customer-centric product enhancements, and the need for data-rich, insight-driven business strategies. They also consider the future of AI in reshaping the legal and construction sectors and the importance of fostering an organizational culture that embraces continuous innovation.

Hg’s Joe Jefferies sits down with Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, the CEO of Xero, to unravel the intricacies of leading a global software company and the personal journey that brought her to the helm. With a history of bold moves at tech behemoths like Amazon and Google, Singh Cassidy shares her philosophy on risk-taking, revealing how a series of strategic bets rather than any singular decision shaped her illustrious career. From a father's entrepreneurial spirit; to navigating a rocky job market post-college on the eve of a tech boom; to Xero's remarkable growth across 180 countries: Singh Cassidy reflects on fostering a culture of inclusivity and the importance of authenticity in leadership all whilst thriving on the continuous pursuit of impactful risk-taking.

In this enlightening episode of the Hg podcast series Orbit, host Joe Jefferies converses with Nick Mehta, the long-standing CEO of Gainsight, about the intersection of vulnerability and leadership in building a successful software company. Nick candidly describes his philosophy of "human-first" leadership, which has become a cornerstone of Gainsight's culture. He recounts his journey from childhood ambitions instilled by his father to the challenges he faced fitting in, and how these experiences shaped his transparent and authentic approach to leadership, coining the term "Nick 2.0" to signify his evolution. This transformation involved embracing openness and candidness, not just personally but also at the organisational level with "Gainsight 2.0," fostering a culture where honesty is valued, and employees are encouraged to embrace their own personal growth narratives.

As the CEO of Scandinavian software success story, Visma, this is Merete Hverven's second appearance on Orbit. Last time she pondered the reasons behind the Nordics' outsized contribution to the world of software, this time the same values of openness, competency over hierarchy and willingness to experiment come into play when running a scaled multinational conglomerate. With the complete opposite of a one-size-fits-all approach, Visma has partnered with companies across 32 different countries, collecting what they do best and disseminating it across the group. The key is to be humble to as you enter each new marketplace: "don't try to be interesting, be interested".

A veteran of the software industry for 25 years, Darren Roos is a disciple of the wisdom that failure breeds success. Battlescars that bring perspective and greater awareness of how to guard against the pitfalls of tough economic environments. He assures Hg's Nic Humphries that his abilities are not a result of intellect but rather hard-won experience; over two decades of seeing the same patterns reappear. Now the Chairman of enterprise software giant, IFS, he looks back at his arrival as CEO - a South African in a Scandinavian company - and how his work to transform the business required some transformation of his own; before discussing tips around succession planning and the reluctant addition of 'author' to his CV.

As CEO of IRIS Software, Elona Mortimer-Zhika has been a valued part of the Hg Orbit for 8 years and counting. In Orbit 39, she speaks to long-term friend and Hg's Senior Partner, Nic Humphries, about her unusal path to tech leadership: from Communist Albania to retail jobs in the UK and on to an audit career for Deloitte. Tracking the stratospheric progress of IRIS over the last decade and considering the effects of private equity investment, Nic and Elona discuss whether or not you need to be a techie to master the constantly moving goalposts of a highly successful software business.

In the final Orbit recorded at Hg's recent 'Software Leadership Gathering', we brought together three perspectives all investigating the AI wave through a business lens. With the technology in an early phase, it can be viewed as an existential threat for businesses but without a clear path to commercialisation. Brent Hayward of Salesforce, David Carmona of Microsoft and Nagraj Kashyap of Touring Capital discuss what’s actually working today for businesses, where they should be focusing their attention and what will be the likely opportunities in the future.

Inspired by watching the surge in space exploration during his childhood in 70s India, through the 80s microchip era and on into the internet boom and a 25-year career innovating software at a large enterprise scale - Netscape, Bang Networks and finally VMware – Raghu Raghuram can claim authority and perspective on close to the entirety of our industry. He has seen epochal change before and grown with it. Speaking at Hg's recent 'Software Leadership Gathering', Raghu tells Hg’s Alan Cline about the similarities and differences between our current shift and those that came before: comparing the economic and technologic circumstances and digging into the business angle from code to pricing to value proposition.

Born of the same crucible as Reid Hoffman, Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, Joe Lonsdale and Eric Poirier have been building and investing in software for over two decades. As the General Partner of 8VC and the CEO of Addepar respectively, they have seen industries evolve and innovate. Speaking at Hg's recent 'Software Leadership Gathering', Matthew Brockman asked them how - since software has allowed new entrants to compete with the old guard - what areas could AI open up? Applying AI to existing technologies and services is one approach but it is one that comes with a level playing field and broad competition. Ask yourself the question: what's only just become possible now that hasn't been possible over the last few years and invent something new.

Time for a conversation with one of the greats. As Professor of Finance and Economics at Columbia, former senior banker at both Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, and currently Senior Advisor at Evercore Partners, Jonathan Knee’s thinking is held in high regard across the business world. His recent book, ‘The Platform Delusion’, dismantles the long-held belief that a platform business which provides connections rather than creating products is inherently valuable. So how should we assess business quality in this new era of AI & platforms? Mr Knee outlines the fundamental drivers which haven’t changed in the face of new technology and applies them to assessments of Uber vs Airbnb, Etsy vs Amazon and, of course, how does this all relate to vertical software where we at Hg spend our time.

The advances in technology on the clinical side of healthcare were shown convincingly in the speed of our response to Covid and in the new discoveries and improvements we continue to see. Covid may have also had a part to play on the administrative side - breaking down old habits and prompting the green shoots of innovation - but there is still a long way to go as legacy systems continue to be expensive, opaque and inefficient. In both cases, there is a huge opportunity for new ideas, new entrants and new investment. This expands from the traditional centre to prevention and lifestyle change too. Hg’s Nick Crowne speaks to Rod O’Reilly, a new advisor to the Hg team. Rod has been a leading figure in almost every aspect of the healthcare ecosystem for many years and is a strong advocate of change, disruption and the quest for greater affordability, access and outcomes.

After a year when the sudden leap forward of Gen AI and LLMs took almost everyone by surprise, it’s a good time to ignore the hype, take a step back and look at what we have. Guido Appenzeller is a special advisor to a16z, a former CTO at Intel and VM Ware and a leading voice in the current wave of software and technology. In part two of our conversation with Guido, we look at the ways the new generation of AI applications will effect the business world. How do you best capture the value of this wave, how to prepare for it and how to enable your teams to experiment from the bottom up.

After a year when the sudden leap forward of Gen AI and LLMs took almost everyone by surprise, it’s a good time to ignore the hype, take a step back and look at what we have. Guido Appenzeller is a special advisor to a16z, a former CTO at Intel and VM Ware and a leading voice in the current wave of software and technology. In part one of our conversation with Guido, we discuss where AI fits into the existing software universe, what phase 2 might look like, the potential limitations – regulatory and infrastructural - and what it means for developers when you have an additional fundamental system building block with which to work.

Always at the forefront of scientific progress, the world of healthcare continues to advance as technology and software are drawn in and adopted. But its uptake is uneven at best with some doctors having to cycle across cities with floppy discs in their bag while others experiment with artificial intelligence. With tightening budgets, the efficiency that comes with software and automation is vital but, in the world of healthcare, the ability to process and share results quickly can also mean the difference between life and death. In this landscape, the job of a CIO is more and more important: ensuring that the potentially disparate elements of healthcare are connected, interoperable, well-equipped and staffed. Speaking to Hg's Dr Katherine Wiles, Kara Marx has been working at the crossroads of healthcare and technology for many years. Until very recently the CIO of Northern Arizona Healthcare, she has been perfectly placed to watch things evolve and take note of the difference between the rushing to adopt the latest tools and ensuring that each addition brings value to what are some of the most complex organisations on the planet.

The world of reinsurance may seem obscure to most of us, but it is an elemental ingredient vital in keeping the wheels of business turning. Insuring the insurers; managing the risk of those who manage ours and allowing them to react to the world with more agility. This is ever more important as covid has given way to increasingly frequent catastrophes, high inflation and disruptive world events. Elliot Richardson, Vice Chairman of reinsurance challenger Howden Tiger, engages the head of Hg’s insurance team, Andrew Land, in a wide-ranging discussion: taking on the history of reinsurance, it’s pre-eminent affinity with data, the more recent application of technology, and the plan for Howden Tiger itself to take on the big three players dominating the industry. Note: This episode was recorded in March 2023 and may include some time-sensitive statements.

“From this absolute belief that we could democratise an industry, to the belief that we can also help to democratise the society we live in.” A co-founder of Salesforce Europe, Dr. David Dempsey has been a standard bearer for sustainable business for many years. Taking a moment at our recent ESG Forum, David talks to Hg’s CSO, Caroline Löfgren, about the responsibilities of a “future ancestor” and the unique position of business as a changemaker: more flexible than government and more powerful than the individual.

As CEO of dbt Labs, Tristan Handy finds himself at the centre of the "modern data stack" of many leading businesses. But what defines the modern approach to data, what came before and where is it likely to go next? Tristan speaks to Hg's own data expert, Tim Harrison. The past saw big data projects fail under their own weight: taking so much resource to build and redirect that needs could move on before results were available. The modern data stack is more nimble, value-centric and without the language walls between major players that stopped businesses from being able to experiment. The industry has evolved into a multitude of different solutions to specific problems but when does that become confusing and counter-productive and where will the solution to that problem take us?

A catch-all term sweeping the tech world, 'Artificial Intelligence' couldn't be more exciting, daunting and, inevitably... vague. Thankfully Hg's Head of Data & Analytics, Amr Ellabban, learned his trade alongside Nebula.io Co-Founder and the host of the SuperDataScience podcast, Jon Krohn. From AlexNet's deep machine learning, to the human bias against self-driving cars and on to the opportunities and threats brought by the evolution of ChatGBT, should we be thrilled or concerned? Should algorithms be put in charge of home loan approvals or prison sentencing? How should humans adapt to the latest technological advances and make sure the new tools work for us rather than the other way round? Recorded at Hg's recent Digital Forum, Jon and Amr tell us not to panic.

Hg sees the continued growth of software and technology as still just the early stages of a multi-decade trend. Combining ever-increasing performance, productivity and automation, this industry will make our work lives richer and more fulfilling for years to come. Nic Humphries, Senior Partner, and Matthew Brockman, Managing Partner discuss how the short-term fluctuations of economies are not to be ignored but they're confident that the sectors in which Hg invests will provide organic growth for the long-term.

A born problem-solver, a career spent around the trading desks of large banks meant that Philip Morgan’s efforts were often hampered by the status quo. Now, as CEO of Pirum, he has the freedom to address the inefficiencies of the industry from the outside in. From the days of wandering the City of London with a folder full of contracts; to the lessons learnt from the collapse of Lehman Brothers; to what he sees as a new & improved, agile age of fintech innovators: Hg’s Steve Burn-Murdoch is our guide on a trip into a highly complex $17 trillion world.

In the second of our conversations between Hg's Managing Partner, Matthew Brockman, and our Head of Research, David Toms, they once again dive into the state-of-the-market. With macro trends starting to bite, will the recent successes of B2B software and tech services show themselves to be cyclical or structural? How should investors in the industry adapt their approach? Is 2023 the year of the P2P? The one thing that doesn't seem to be in question is the continued growth in the pace of business process automation. This episode of the Orbit podcast looks to the future but, of course, this should not be taken as advice and the value of investments can go down as well as up!

Ever since the mortality tables of the seventeenth century, the world of insurance has been a very early adopter in using data to illuminate the world. And yet, in spite of that, it has taken its time to fully catch up with the vast and complex current methods of applying it to the industry. From inferring the presence of a swimming pool based on seemingly unrelated factors, to the unexpected ways a Yelp review or LinkedIn account can have an effect on your policy decision, to predictions on the future of data and insuretech: this episode of the Orbit podcast pits Hg's Max Dewez against {Carpe Data CEO, Max Drucker, on the eve of 2022's edition of InsureTech Connect in Las Vegas.

The role of a software Chief Growth Officer encompasses a range of functions, from product marketing to pricing to sales. Getting these functions to work together can create a growth engine for your business. But how do you measure it? How do you optimize it? In a dynamic digital world, we can look at revenue growth right through from lead to revenue, but many businesses are stuck reporting function by function. In this episode of Orbit, Hg's Head of Portfolio Growth, Mark Fulford speaks to Growth Specialist, Jolanta Pilecka on building a holistic Growth Framework to scale a software business efficiently and effectively.

Even the notoriously resistant world of insurance has felt the influence of technology, data and software. Most recently, it has thrown open the doors for smaller operators to carve out particular specialisms or niches from the large providers, allowing them to nimbly push things forward and succeed where scale players are slower to move. From the low-cost digital distribution only too familiar to UK customers to the world of cyber protection, utilising the availability of highly detailed data generated within your cars or ships, and even the return of the mutual fund in a micro form - the shake-up is afoot and the established industry will have to race to keep up. In this episode of the Orbit podcast, Andrew Land, a Partner at Hg specialising in insurance software, speaks to George Netherton, Partner and European Head of Insurance and Asset Management at strategy consultancy, Oliver Wyman.

How do you talk about value in an inflationary environment? A new challenge for many who work within the shifting boundaries of sales, marketing and pricing. Specifically for those selling software-as-a-service, there are myriad ways to determine the price of your product but which models come closest to matching the value delivered to your customer, and which achieve high quality of revenue for your business. In this episode of the Orbit podcast, Mark Fulford, Head of Hg’s Portfolio Growth team, speaks to Mark Billige, CEO of Simon-Kucher, the consulting firm who helps their clients grow revenues and profits by optimising their strategy, marketing pricing and sales.

There can be no businesses left not having to address the challenges of climate change but the larger you are the broader and deeper your impact on the world. When faced with the complexity of a company of many parts, what do you do to clean your own house and that of your myriad supply chain. In this episode of the Orbit podcast, Hg’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Caroline Löfgren, speaks to Christopher Wellise, Director of Sustainability at Amazon Web Services and Robin Åkerberg, Head of Sustainability for Visma.

Today, nearly all businesses are using some form behavioral customer data to drive insight. There is a wide spectrum of sophistication emerging, from small businesses using basic website analytics to understand customer journeys, to SaaS businesses putting behavioral data in the heart of their product, processes and decision-making. In this episode of the Orbit podcast Tim Harrison, a specialist in Hg's data science and analytics team, speaks with Yali Sassoon, co-founder at Snowplow Analytics – a business helping organisations to unlock value from rich customer data.

"Tech is deflationary in an inflationary world…” in an Hg Orbit Podcast Special and the first of a quarterly conversation, Matthew Brockman (Managing Partner) and David Toms (Head of Tech Research) review trends observed across the tech sector during another eventful period in the world. They discuss a clear divergence of sentiment in tech markets, during which growth in earnings has proved to be powerful protection against the volatility. Both guests also reflect on the longer-term secular tailwinds in enterprise software & services, with digital transformation of business activity continuing at apace.

An incredibly reactive and evolutionary software, Slack is constantly learning from its users and challenging its creators’ view of how it is used. Changes between different types of customer layered over changes in the wider world means continual vigilance and a continually refreshed approach. This episode sees Cal Henderson, Co-Founder and CTO of Slack, talk to Hg’s Jason Richards about how to judge the success of innovation, the explosion of feedback enabled by Twitter and how playfulness is not antithetical to work. This podcast was recorded as part of Hg’s Technology Leaders Summit 2021. Listen to Part 1 now in series 3 of Orbit.

Initially developed as a direct digitisation of the inter-departmental memo, email has been long embedded into our work lives. The emergence of a new generation of workplace communication tools aim to get closer to how human beings actually interact and the exceptional growth of these solutions brings a host of challenges for their creators. This episode sees Cal Henderson, Co-Founder and CTO of Slack, talk to Hg’s Jason Richards about the unlikely birth story of the app, the value of knowing how your customers actually use your product, the gear shifts required in both your code and your organisation as you grow quickly and the support that comes from being part of a tech community (in this case the Bay Area). This podcast was recorded as part of Hg’s Technology Leaders Summit 2021. Listen to Part 2 now in series 3 of Orbit.

Trackunit is quietly revolutionising and illuminating the construction industry. By bringing data and analysis to a world where high levels of uncertainty and unpredictability lead to low margins, operators can finally see where their inefficiencies lie and even increase safety levels. In this episode, Soeren Brogaard, CEO, talks to Hg’s Florian Wolff about the internet of things, sudden international expansion and the ways that transparency and connection drive the success of both their products and their company culture. Hg invested in Trackunit in 2021.

Having founded Benelux-based web services group, team.blue (then Combell), at the age of 16, Jonas Dhaenens has stayed with his business through growth, outside investment, international expansion and industry consolidation. In this episode, Jonas talks to Hg’s Joris Van Gool about the development of his initial ideas, how local knowledge is key to international success and his model of bringing together founders and entrepreneurs to share experience and resources. Hg invested in team.blue in 2019.

Part 2 of our miniseries: 'The Future of SaaS' The benefits of the SaaS model is increasingly well recognised and is well placed to be the next move for the majority of B2B software. In this episode, Øystein Moan, Executive Chairman of Visma and an Industry Advisor to Hg, discusses the trend of the immediate future: automation. With over 80% of software inputs already coming from APIs, the subjects of machine learning, optimisation and NLP are just the tip of the iceberg in removing human error and human effort from our systems. This podcast was recorded a part of Hg’s 2021 AGM. Part 1 can be found in Series 2 of the Orbit Podcast.