C3.ai was founded in 2009 and is led by Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Siebel. Siebel previously led customer relationship management software maker Siebel Systems until it was acquired by Oracle for $5.8 billion in 2006.
The enterprise AI software company provides SaaS applications that enable the deployment of enterprise-scale AI applications “of extraordinary scale and complexity that offer significant social and economic benefit.” More specifically, C3.ai develops software that can sift through large amounts of data. The software is designed to tell organizations if something is about to break down or offer the most efficient ways to use sensor data in their supply chain management.
Over 11 years, C3.ai has gone from focusing on clean tech, to Internet of Things, before landing on AI. C3,ai’s work over the past decade to democratize artificial intelligence for enterprises has real promise, and there is evidence through its early partnerships and customer success that it could lead to significant and stable growth.
Though, many had doubts about the company’s recent stock market debut, especially since it racked up around $300 million in total losses.
On December 9, C3.ai made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange at $100 per share. The first trade valued the company more than 100% above its IPO pricing. Its stocks jumped 120.2% on December 9, before climbing another 40.6%, closing at 130 on the stock market. The IPO pricing values the company at $4.05 billion.
The lead underwriters include Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, and BofA Securities.
Investors seemed to look past the company’s rapidly slowing growth rate due to the pandemic. The company posted year-over-year revenue growth of nearly 75% through April but slipped to a rate of just 11% in the following six-month period. In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Siebel conceded that growth might not be able to return to pre-pandemic levels anytime soon.
The company counts AstraZeneca and the Air Force as its customers, and recently announced a partnership with Microsoft and Adobe to take on Salesforce in the customer relations management software space.
