Epam Systems Inc (EPAM) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. I would like to welcome everyone to the EPAM Systems Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

女士們先生們，謝謝你們的支持。歡迎大家參加 EPAM Systems 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）

I will now hand the call over to David Straube, Head of Investor Relations. You may begin your conference.

我現在會把電話轉給投資者關係主管 David Straube。您可以開始您的會議了。

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. By now, you should have received a copy of the earnings release for the company's fourth quarter and full year 2023 results. If you have not, copies are available on epam.com in the Investors section.

謝謝接線員，大家早安。到目前為止，您應該已經收到了該公司第四季度和 2023 年全年業績的收益發布副本。如果您還沒有，可以在 epam.com 的「投資者」部分取得副本。

With me on today's call are Arkadiy Dobkin, CEO and President; and Jason Peterson, Chief Financial Officer.

與我一起參加今天電話會議的有執行長兼總裁 Arkadiy Dobkin；和財務長傑森彼得森。

I would like to remind those listening to some of the comments made on today's call may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties as described in the company's earnings release and SEC filings. Additionally, all references to reported results that are non-GAAP measures have been reconciled to the comparable GAAP measures and are available in our quarterly earnings materials located in the Investors section of our website.

我想提醒那些收聽今天電話會議的一些評論的人可能包含前瞻性陳述。這些聲明受到公司收益發布和 SEC 文件中所述的風險和不確定性的影響。此外，所有對非公認會計準則衡量標準的報告結果的引用均已與可比較的公認會計準則衡量標準進行了調整，並可在我們網站投資者部分的季度收益材料中找到。

With that said, I'll now turn the call over to Ark.

話雖如此，我現在將把電話轉給 Ark。

Thank you, David. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. As usual, in Q1, it's time for us to reflect on the past 12 months and share what we think about the next 12. Before I do that, I want to thank our team around the world for their dedication to our clients and hard work throughout last year, and for staying committed and engaged in the work ahead of us in 2024.

謝謝你，大衛。大家，早安。感謝您今天加入我們。像往常一樣，在第一季度，我們是時候回顧過去 12 個月並分享我們對未來 12 個月的看法。在此之前，我要感謝我們世界各地的團隊對客戶的奉獻和辛勤工作去年全年，以及在2024 年繼續致力於並投入我們面前的工作。

Looking back to 2023. I will start from a short summary, very much in line with what we shared in today's press release. We believe that EPAM performance in 2023 reflects our ability to navigate volatile demand, both simultaneously and simultaneously, the keyword here [financed] by both geopolitical and macroeconomic conditions.

回顧 2023 年。我將從一個簡短的總結開始，這與我們在今天的新聞稿中分享的內容非常一致。我們認為，2023 年 EPAM 的表現反映了我們同時應對波動性需求的能力，這裡的關鍵字是由地緣政治和宏觀經濟條件[資助]。

After rebalancing most of our delivery Italian footprint across Europe, Western and Central Asia, India and Latin America and refining our go-to-market approach to meet current demand, we are now focused primarily on harmonizing our delivery quality, optimizing cost effectiveness and proactively leveraging our extensive advanced technology and growing consulting capabilities to capitalize on Gen AI and AI-driven opportunities of the future.

在重新平衡我們在歐洲、西亞和中亞、印度和拉丁美洲的大部分義大利配送業務並完善我們的市場進入方法以滿足當前需求之後，我們現在主要專注於協調我們的配送品質、優化成本效益並積極主動地利用我們廣泛的先進技術和不斷增強的諮詢能力，充分利用 Gen AI 和人工智慧驅動的未來機會。

In that context, first a few notes on 2023 and their relevance to 2024, and then I can move on aspects of our 2024 outlook. Let me start from geopolitical and economic impacts on EPAM operations. In February of 2022, the Russian invasion of Ukraine made it necessary for us to relocate over 13,000 people plus families to new geographies. While most of these relocations completed back in 2022, many adjustments did happen last year. And still today, in 2024, we will continue to work on some downstream factors, including seniority pyramid, team composition and cost effectiveness across our traditional and new locations.

在此背景下，首先對 2023 年及其與 2024 年的相關性進行一些說明，然後我可以繼續討論 2024 年展望的各個方面。讓我從地緣政治和經濟對 EPAM 營運的影響開始。 2022 年 2 月，俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭，我們有必要將超過 13,000 人及其家庭遷移到新的地區。雖然大部分搬遷工作早在 2022 年就已完成，但去年確實發生了許多調整。直到今天，也就是 2024 年，我們仍將繼續研究一些下游因素，包括傳統和新地點的資歷金字塔、團隊組成和成本效益。

I want to also especially recognize our team in Ukraine, who proved that despite the level of challenges they accepted, a reliable partner for our clients, existing and new ones. A few additional notes on reposition and stabilization of our Italian delivery platform. As mentioned already, 2023 was a year of significant rebalancing for most of our global delivery. We work on scale in India and Lat Am and at the same time, preparing for future growth in development centers across Europe and Western and Central Asia, our key destination for majority of our [allocated to] Italian.

我也想特別感謝我們在烏克蘭的團隊，他們證明，儘管他們接受了巨大的挑戰，但他們仍然是我們現有客戶和新客戶的可靠合作夥伴。關於我們義大利交付平台的重新定位和穩定的一些附加說明。如前所述，2023 年是我們大部分全球交付進行重大再平衡的一年。我們在印度和拉丁美洲進行大規模工作，同時為歐洲、西亞和中亞開發中心的未來成長做準備，這些開發中心是我們大部分[分配給]義大利的主要目的地。

In 2023, India continued to be our fastest-growing location, practically since 2021. And while we are growing our capabilities there with accelerated speed, we also worked to ensure that our delivery culture remains focused on quality and client value. India will likely become our largest location by the end of 2024 or at least on match with our current scale in Ukraine.

2023 年，印度仍然是我們成長最快的地區，幾乎自 2021 年以來一直如此。在我們加速增強在那裡的能力的同時，我們也努力確保我們的交付文化仍然專注於品質和客戶價值。到 2024 年底，印度可能會成為我們最大的基地，或至少與我們目前在烏克蘭的規模相當。

Latin America, specifically our locations in Colombia and Mexico. Columbian maturing significantly as we scale out our cloud and data capabilities there to be prepared to meet rising demand from North American clients.

拉丁美洲，特別是我們在哥倫比亞和墨西哥的辦事處。隨著我們擴展雲端和資料能力，為滿足北美客戶不斷增長的需求做好準備，Columbian 正在顯著成熟。

And so we are starting 2024 from significantly refractory geographic delivery platform, much more balanced than ever to bring together the practices, methods and collaborative ways of working, and to focus on harmonizing our engineering competencies and critical capabilities in cloud, data and now in AI, to be present now in each of our strategic locations.

因此，從2024 年開始，我們將從非常難處理的地理交付平台開始，比以往任何時候都更加平衡，將實踐、方法和協作工作方式結合在一起，並專注於協調我們在雲端、數據以及現在的人工智慧方面的工程能力和關鍵能力，現在將出現在我們的每個戰略地點。

In 2024, this is one of our key priorities, and we expect these programs to be continuous areas of investment and differentiation for EPAM.

到 2024 年，這是我們的重點優先事項之一，我們預計這些計劃將成為 EPAM 持續投資和差異化的領域。

As we mentioned in previous calls, there is a growing number of clients, who after slowing their spending results due to the war, have started to grow the engagement with us again, but utilizing our much more diverse geographic footprint and advanced delivery capabilities. Supporting this trend will be another key priority, as we continue during 2024 to build up our capabilities, both geographically and from our services mix perspective.

正如我們在先前的電話會議中提到的，越來越多的客戶在因戰爭而放緩支出結果後，開始再次增加與我們的接觸，但利用了我們更加多樣化的地理足跡和先進的交付能力。支持這一趨勢將是另一個關鍵優先事項，因為我們將在 2024 年繼續從地理和服務組合的角度增強我們的能力。

To illustrate some relevant specific efforts, I will share several ongoing investments in engineering (inaudible) AI volume, (inaudible), covering standard copilots and other AI assisted engineering productivity tools for all key delivery roles with specific adoption targets being set up for all locations.

為了說明一些相關的具體工作，我將分享對工程（聽不清楚）人工智慧量（聽不清楚）的幾項正在進行的投資，涵蓋標準副駕駛和其他人工智慧輔助工程生產力工具，用於所有關鍵交付角色，並為所有地點設定具體的採用目標。

This tool was released in 2023, with upgrades coming in Q1 and beyond. New upgrades to our digital delivery platform, now being AI enabled and leveraging a set of composable assets that include upon proprietary, together with open source components and tools to connect to a variety of LLMs for supporting the most critical capabilities, protecting private data and fronting cost-effective and reliable consumption for external LLMs you'll find at our platform.

該工具於 2023 年發布，並在第一季及以後進行升級。我們的數位交付平台進行了新升級，現已啟用人工智慧，並利用一組可組合資產，其中包括專有資產以及開源組件和工具，以連接到各種法學碩士，以支援最關鍵的功能，保護私人資料和前端您可以在我們的平台上找到外部法學碩士的經濟高效且可靠的消費。

Finally, productivity measurement framework, allowing tailoring of engineering commercial base practices for continuous improvements of individual and team productivity in AI-assisted development environment.

最後，生產力測量框架，允許客製化工程商業基礎實踐，以在人工智慧輔助開發環境中持續提高個人和團隊的生產力。

All those efforts should make it possible for us to become the most geographically diverse and broadly AI-assisted delivery IoT platforms in the industry.

所有這些努力都應該使我們有可能成為業界地域最多元化且廣泛人工智慧輔助的交付物聯網平台。

Now about cost-effectiveness. It became obvious at the end of 2022, throughout 2023, that to navigate current economic environment, we must continuously consider cost optimization efforts to react properly to all changes around us. Some targeted optimization efforts were ongoing in 2023 across the board, in market and global delivery locations. This has improved our utilization in the short term and allow us to fund several initiatives in 2023, in 2024. We will be considering similar efforts as appropriate in the future to ensure our adaptability needs.

現在談談成本效益。到 2022 年底和整個 2023 年，顯而易見的是，為了應對當前的經濟環境，我們必須不斷考慮成本優化工作，以對我們周圍的所有變化做出適當的反應。 2023 年，市場和全球交付地點將全面進行一些針對性的優化工作。這提高了我們的短期利用率，並使我們能夠為 2023 年、2024 年的多項舉措提供資金。我們將在未來酌情考慮類似的努力，以確保我們的適應性需求。

We are also actively working on rebalancing our seniority pyramids, we're engaging and training junior talent, while improving overall seniority in market and across our key global practices.

我們也積極致力於重新平衡我們的資歷金字塔，我們正在吸引和培訓初級人才，同時提高市場和我們主要全球實踐的整體資歷。

About AI and Gen AI efforts. For years, we have been investing into and scaling our data ML and predictive AI capabilities. Today, many of our clients are engaging us to do the foundational engineering and data ML work required to help them operate their current businesses, but also to enable them to start the work with generative AI.

關於 AI 和 Gen AI 的努力。多年來，我們一直在投資和擴展我們的數據機器學習和預測人工智慧功能。如今，我們的許多客戶都聘請我們來做基礎工程和數據機器學習工作，以幫助他們經營當前的業務，同時也使他們能夠開始使用生成式人工智慧。

Since mid of last year, a majority of these are relatively small, reengaging over 400 Gen AI related projects. Our coverage of use cases is growing, from knowledge management to HCL, from product management to supply chain and service optimization, from advanced business process redesign to new interactive agents development, from engineering productivity enhancements by using Gen AI tools to improving speed and quality of cogeneration in testing.

自去年年中以來，其中大多數規模相對較小，重新參與了 400 多個 Gen AI 相關項目。我們的用例覆蓋範圍正在不斷擴大，從知識管理到HCL，從產品管理到供應鍊和服務優化，從高級業務流程重新設計到新的互動式代理開發，從使用Gen AI工具提高工程生產力到提高速度和品質測試中的熱電聯產。

Last year, we launched DIAL, our enterprise level orchestration platform to accelerate development of Gen AI empowered business solutions. Recently, we released for open source.

去年，我們推出了企業級編排平台 DIAL，以加速 Gen AI 賦能的商業解決方案的開發。最近，我們發布了開源版本。

We are encouraged by seeing a high level of interest from our clients expressed in over 60 test use service, 15 active projects in progress right now, and some already in production implementations across a tech insurance, retail, automotive, life science and business information vertical segments.

令我們感到鼓舞的是，我們的客戶對60 多個測試使用服務、目前正在進行的15 個活躍項目以及一些已經在技術保險、零售、汽車、生命科學和商業資訊垂直領域進行生產實施的項目表現出了濃厚的興趣段。

One of the most interesting deployment was done for major global economic data institution, and one of the most rewarding has been now work in Ukraine on famous (inaudible) platform, which now includes Gen AI and AI capabilities as well.

最有趣的部署之一是為全球主要經濟數據機構完成的，而最有價值的部署之一現在是在烏克蘭著名的（聽不清楚）平台上進行的工作，該平台現在還包括Gen AI 和人工智能功能。

Now let's talk about demand environment. In 2023, we have managed to safeguard many of our programs and clients' portfolios. We also saw some pullback in spend last year, and expect that this may continue to be factored into 2024, as our clients execute vendor consolidation exercises to manage their costs.

現在我們來談談需求環境。 2023 年，我們成功保護了許多專案和客戶的投資組合。我們也看到去年支出有所回落，預計這種情況可能會持續到 2024 年，因為我們的客戶會執行供應商整合活動來管理其成本。

While this trend continues and in some cases, to our benefit, we are seeing encouraging signals of a general rebound for built-based solutions and for traditionally strong Continuum capabilities and advanced tech data experience consulting in AI.

雖然這種趨勢仍在繼續，並且在某些情況下對我們有利，但我們看到了令人鼓舞的訊號，即基於內建的解決方案以及人工智慧領域傳統上強大的連續體功能和先進技術數據體驗諮詢的普遍反彈。

To capitalize on potential new demand, we are expanding our new business initiatives by enhancing our sales strategies and go-to-market partnerships, dedicated resources to create new accelerator, establish new engagement models and innovating our customer interaction method.

為了充分利用潛在的新需求，我們正在透過加強我們的銷售策略和進入市場的合作夥伴關係、投入資源來創建新的加速器、建立新的參與模式以及創新我們的客戶互動方法來擴展我們的新業務計劃。

In 2023, it was also evident that we brought new clients at a rate higher than the previous years, and we plan to do it again in 2024.

2023 年，我們帶來新客戶的速度明顯高於前幾年，我們計劃在 2024 年再次做到這一點。

Still in overall, we believe, at this point, the 2024 environment will be, at least for the first half of the year, a continuation of second part of 2023 trends. The potential demand up towards the second half.

總體而言，我們認為，目前，2024 年的環境至少在上半年將是 2023 年下半年趨勢的延續。下半年潛在需求上升。

While we have made significant progress on involving our operations and despite the challenges we have faced in 2023, our workers' clients has been increasingly recognized by leading analysts, and provide and turn some independent support for the stories we shared.

儘管我們在參與營運方面取得了重大進展，儘管我們在 2023 年面臨挑戰，但員工的客戶越來越受到領先分析師的認可，並為我們分享的故事提供並提供一些獨立支援。

All the reports are very recent, last 2, 3 months, and present the up-to-date views on EPAM.

所有報告都是最近的，最近 2、3 個月的報告，並呈現了對 EPAM 的最新觀點。

About some new capabilities. In November 2023, EPAM was feature in by Gartner in Competitive Landscape, IT service providers to the global insurance industry report. That is probably one of the first recognition by Gartner of our industry expertise and a result of our efforts to bring insurance consultancy and implementation services simultaneously for the clients' benefits.

關於一些新功能。 2023 年 11 月，EPAM 被 Gartner 列入《全球保險業 IT 服務供應商競爭格局》報告。這可能是 Gartner 對我們行業專業知識的首次認可，也是我們努力同時提供保險諮詢和實施服務以造福客戶的結果。

Putting together insurance consulting advisory practice was one of the key effort for us during the last few years. Similar efforts today are underway in health care and life sciences, retail and distribution, oil and gas demand, if you ask.

整合保險諮詢諮詢業務是我們過去幾年的主要工作之一。如果你問的話，今天在醫療保健和生命科學、零售和分銷、石油和天然氣需求方面也正在進行類似的努力。

In Q4 2023, EPAM was featured in Forrester's report of the cybersecurity consulting services landscape Q4 2023. EPAM was highlighted as 1 of the top 33 cybersecurity consulting services providers, which is probably first recognition of a critical capability we are developing for the last years.

2023 年第四季度，Forrester 的2023 年第四季度網路安全諮詢服務格局報告中對EPAM 進行了重點介紹。EPAM 被列為排名前33 名的網路安全諮詢服務提供商之一，這可能是對我們過去幾年開發的一項關鍵能力的首次認可。

Now about some established capabilities, which were conformed recently. In November 2023, EPAM was recognized as the top 3 companies in Magic Quadrant for critical capabilities for customer software development services worldwide by Gartner. EPAM leadership and strengths were specifically highlighted in leveraging Gen AI, pioneering DevOps and providing superior customer support and unique user experience.

現在介紹一些最近經過整合的既定功能。 2023 年 11 月，EPAM 被 Gartner 評為全球客戶軟體開發服務關鍵能力魔力像限前 3 名公司。 EPAM 在利用 Gen AI、開創 DevOps 以及提供卓越的客戶支援和獨特的用戶體驗方面特別強調了 EPAM 的領導地位和優勢。

In November, December 2023, IDC named EPAM as a leader in 3 reports. IDC MarketScape for worldwide experience design services vendor assessment. IDC MarketScape for worldwide experience built services vendor assessment. And as you see MarketScape for Worldwide Software Engineering Services vendor assets.

2023 年 11 月和 2023 年 12 月，IDC 在 3 份報告中將 EPAM 評為領導者。 IDC MarketScape 用於全球體驗設計服務供應商評估。 IDC MarketScape 用於對全球經驗豐富的服務供應商進行評估。正如您所看到的 MarketScape 全球軟體工程服務供應商資產。

Finally, (inaudible) recognized EPAM as the #6 largest agencies in the United States and #18 in the world's largest agencies companies categories. In just 7 years, EPAM has moved from #130 to #6 among U.S. agencies.

最後，（聽不清楚）EPAM 被評為美國最大的代理商中排名第 6 的機構，在全​​球最大的機構公司類別中排名第 18 的機構。在短短 7 年時間裡，EPAM 在美國機構中的排名從第 130 名上升至第 6 名。

Before I hand over the call to Jason, I would like to take a moment to share a couple of points on some aspects of our results for 2023 and our outlook for 2024. In 2023, we generated $4.69 billion in revenues, reflecting in correction of 2.8% year-over-year. Excluding the impact of exiting our Russian operations, revenue declined 1.8%.

在將電話轉交給 Jason 之前，我想花點時間就我們 2023 年業績的某些方面以及 2024 年的前景分享幾點觀點。2023 年，我們的收入為 46.9 億美元，反映了對同比增長2.8% 。排除退出俄羅斯業務的影響，收入下降 1.8%。

Adjusted income from operations was 16.3% of revenue and above the midpoint of our initial guided range.

調整後的營運收入佔收入的 16.3%，高於我們最初指導範圍的中點。

Also, the current market conditions don't represent at all an ideal demand environment for EPAM. Our 2023 results highlight our commitment to adapting the company, to seal the current circumstances while continuously preparing for the more beneficial for demand environment in the future.

此外，目前的市場狀況根本不代表 EPAM 的理想需求環境。我們 2023 年的業績凸顯了我們對調整公司、解決當前狀況的承諾，同時持續為未來更有利的需求環境做好準備。

What I want to point out as well is that our Q4 results shows a sequential revenue growth, first time after 3 previous quarters of sequential declines.

我還想指出的是，我們第四季的業績顯示收入連續成長，這是繼前三個季度連續下降之後的首次。

About 2024 outlook. Because of our ability to adapt to new client demands and market conditions, we are optimistic about the opportunities ahead of us towards the end of 2024.

關於2024年的展望。由於我們有能力適應新的客戶需求和市場條件，我們對 2024 年底前的機會感到樂觀。

Demand to build postponed during the last 2 years should rebound, driven by long-term pressures for legacy modernizations by needs for advanced customer-centric solutions and by the massive interest to understand how to apply Gen AI and general AI capabilities to build new platforms and solutions.

過去兩年推遲的建設需求應該會反彈，原因是對傳統現代化的長期壓力、對先進的以客戶為中心的解決方案的需求以及對了解如何應用Gen AI 和通用AI 功能來構建新平台和應用程序的巨大興趣。解決方案。

Even while we continue to navigate current economic and geopolitical environment carefully, we will invest in strategic initiatives organically and with support of expanded M&A activities, in demand generation efforts and in people programs. This will have some effect on our profitability in 2024, but we believe this is the right actions to ensure long-term growth and stronger market position.

即使我們繼續謹慎應對當前的經濟和地緣政治環境，我們也將有機地投資於戰略舉措，並支持擴大併購活動、需求創造工作和人才計劃。這將對我們 2024 年的獲利能力產生一些影響，但我們相信這是確保長期成長和更強市場地位的正確行動。

Let me turn the call over to Jason to provide more details on our fourth quarter and full year results, in addition to our initial view of 2024 expectations.

讓我將電話轉給 Jason，除了我們對 2024 年預期的初步看法外，他還提供有關我們第四季度和全年業績的更多詳細資訊。

Thank you, Ark, and good morning, everyone. In the fourth quarter, EPAM generated revenues of $1.16 billion, a year-over-year decrease of 6% on a reported basis and a 7.3% decrease in constant currency terms, reflecting a positive foreign exchange impact of 130 basis points. The reduction in Russian customer revenues resulting from our decision to exit the market had a 70 basis point negative impact on year-over-year revenue growth.

謝謝你，方舟，大家早安。第四季度，EPAM 實現營收 11.6 億美元，按報告計算年減 6%，以固定匯率計算下降 7.3%，反映出 130 個基點的正面外匯影響。我們退出市場的決定導致俄羅斯客戶收入減少，對年收入成長產生了 70 個基點的負面影響。

The modest sequential growth in the quarter was the result of stabilizing demand. Revenues in Q4 were higher than we expected when we said Q4 guidance, due to both stronger client demand and significant benefit from favorable foreign exchange.

本季的溫和環比成長是需求穩定的結果。由於客戶需求強勁以及有利的外匯帶來的顯著收益，第四季度的收入高於我們在公佈第四季度指引時的預期。

Beginning with our industry verticals. Life Sciences and Healthcare grew 11.6%. Growth in the quarter was driven primarily by clients in Life Sciences.

從我們的垂直行業開始。生命科學和醫療保健成長 11.6%。本季的成長主要由生命科學領域的客戶推動。

Travel and Consumer decreased 4.4%, with solid growth in travel and hospitality, offset by declines in revenues derived from consumer goods and retail customers.

旅遊和消費下降 4.4%，其中旅遊和酒店業穩健增長，但被消費品和零售客戶收入的下降所抵消。

Financial Services contracted 7.1%, driven by declines in banking, partially offset by work performed from Marketplace exchange and finance information and analytics clients.

受銀行業下滑的推動，金融服務業收縮了 7.1%，但部分被 Marketplace 交易所以及金融資訊和分析客戶所做的工作所抵消。

Excluding the impact of the exit of our Russian operations, revenue on a year-over-year basis declined 5.5%.

排除俄羅斯業務退出的影響，營收年減 5.5%。

Business information and media declined 14.8% in the quarter. Revenues in the quarter continue to be impacted primarily by a reduction in spend across a number of large clients, due to uncertainty in their end markets, particularly in the mortgage data space.

商業資訊和媒體本季下降 14.8%。由於終端市場（尤其是抵押貸款數據領域）的不確定性，許多大客戶的支出減少繼續影響本季的收入。

Software and Hi-Tech declined 16.8% in the quarter. The year-over-year growth rate was negatively impacted by the reduction in revenue from our former top 20 client we mentioned during our previous earnings calls and generally slower growth in revenues across the range of customers in the vertical.

軟體和高科技產業本季下降 16.8%。我們在先前的財報電話會議中提到的前 20 名客戶的收入減少以及垂直領域客戶的收入成長普遍放緩，對同比成長率產生了負面影響。

And finally, our emerging verticals delivered growth of 4.2%, driven by clients in energy, manufacturing and education.

最後，在能源、製造和教育客戶的推動下，我們的新興垂直產業實現了 4.2% 的成長。

From a geographic perspective, the Americas, our largest region representing 58% of our Q4 revenues, declined 7.6% year-over-year or 7.7% in constant currency.

從地理角度來看，美洲是我們最大的地區，占我們第四季營收的 58%，年減 7.6%，以固定匯率計算下降 7.7%。

On a sequential basis, growth remained relatively flat, consistent with the previous quarter.

從環比來看，成長仍然相對平穩，與上一季一致。

EMEA, representing 39% of our Q4 revenues, was flat year-over-year and declined 3.5% in constant currency. APAC declined 10.9% in both reported and constant currency terms and now represents 2% of our revenues. And finally, CEE, representing 0.1% of our Q4 revenues, contracted 91.6% year-over-year or 91.3% in constant currency. Revenue in the quarter was impacted by the exit of our operations in Russia.

歐洲、中東和非洲地區占我們第四季營收的 39%，較去年同期持平，以固定匯率計算下降 3.5%。以報告匯率和固定匯率計算，亞太地區下降了 10.9%，目前占我們收入的 2%。最後，占我們第四季營收 0.1% 的中東歐地區年減了 91.6%，以固定匯率計算收縮了 91.3%。本季的營收受到我們退出俄羅斯業務的影響。

Going forward, I will no longer comment on the CEE region and our quarterly prepared remarks, given that its revenue contribution is immaterial relative to our total revenues.

展望未來，我將不再對中東歐地區和我們準備好的季度評論發表評論，因為其收入貢獻相對於我們的總收入而言並不重要。

In Q4, revenues from our top 20 clients declined 5% year-over-year, while revenues from clients outside our top 20 contracted 7%.

第四季度，來自前 20 位客戶的營收年減 5%，而來自前 20 位客戶以外客戶的收入則下降了 7%。

Moving down the income statement. Our GAAP gross margin for the quarter was 31.1% compared to 32.4% in Q4 of last year. Non-GAAP gross margin for the quarter was 33% compared to 34.1% for the same quarter last year. Gross margin in Q4 2022 was positively impacted by the timing of year-end revenue recognition.

將損益表向下移動。我們本季的 GAAP 毛利率為 31.1%，去年第四季為 32.4%。本季非 GAAP 毛利率為 33%，去年同期為 34.1%。 2022 年第四季的毛利率受到年終收入確認時間的正面影響。

GAAP SG&A was 18.5% of revenue compared to 16.6% in Q4 of last year. GAAP SG&A in the quarter was impacted by onetime charges, including expenses associated with the company's cost optimization program.

GAAP SG&A 佔營收的 18.5%，去年第四季為 16.6%。本季 GAAP SG&A 受到一次性費用的影響，包括與公司成本優化計畫相關的費用。

Non-GAAP SG&A came in at 14.2% of revenue compared to 14.8% in the same period last year. SG&A expense for Q4 2023 reflects some cost efficiencies achieved in the quarter, as well as lower variable compensation compared to Q4 2022.

非 GAAP SG&A 佔營收的 14.2%，去年同期為 14.8%。 2023 年第四季的銷售、管理和行政費用反映了該季度實現的一些成本效率，以及與 2022 年第四季相比較低的可變薪資。

GAAP income from operations was $122 million or 10.6% of revenue in the quarter compared to $170 million or 13.8% of revenue in Q4 of last year. Non-GAAP from operations was $200 million or 17.3% of revenue in the quarter compared to $220 million or 17.8% of revenue in Q4 of last year.

以 GAAP 計算，本季營運收入為 1.22 億美元，佔營收的 10.6%，去年第四季為 1.7 億美元，佔營收的 13.8%。本季非 GAAP 營運成本為 2 億美元，佔營收的 17.3%，去年第四季為 2.2 億美元，佔營收的 17.8%。

Our GAAP effective tax rate for the quarter came in at 23.4% versus our Q4 guide of 24%, due to greater-than-expected excess tax benefits related to stock-based compensation, partially offset by higher state taxes and the impact of losses in certain non-U.S. acquired subsidiaries.

我們本季的GAAP 有效稅率為23.4%，而我們第四季的指導值為24%，原因是與股票薪資相關的超額稅收優惠高於預期，但部分被較高的州稅和虧損的影響所抵銷。某些非美國收購的子公司。

Our non-GAAP effective tax rate, which includes the impact of state taxes and subsidiary losses and excludes excess tax benefits, was 25.1%.

我們的非 GAAP 有效稅率（包括州稅和子公司虧損的影響，不包括超額稅收優惠）為 25.1%。

Diluted earnings per share on a GAAP basis was $1.66. Our non-GAAP diluted EPS was $2.75, reflecting a decrease of $0.18 or 6.1% compared to the same quarter in 2022. In Q4, there were approximately 58.9 million diluted shares outstanding.

以 GAAP 計算的稀釋每股收益為 1.66 美元。我們的非 GAAP 稀釋後每股收益為 2.75 美元，與 2022 年同季度相比下降了 0.18 美元，即 6.1%。第四季度，稀釋後流通股數約為 5890 萬股。

Turning to cash flow and our balance sheet. Cash flow from operations for Q4 was $171 million compared to $186 million in the same quarter of 2022. Free cash flow was $161 million compared to free cash flow of $165 million in the same quarter last year. We ended the quarter with approximately $2 billion in cash and cash equivalents.

轉向現金流和我們的資產負債表。第四季營運現金流為 1.71 億美元，而 2022 年同一季度為 1.86 億美元。自由現金流為 1.61 億美元，而去年同期自由現金流為 1.65 億美元。本季結束時，我們擁有約 20 億美元的現金和現金等價物。

At the end of Q4, DSO was 71 days and compares to 73 days in Q3 2023, and 70 days in the same quarter last year.

截至第四季末，DSO 為 71 天，而 2023 年第三季為 73 天，去年同期為 70 天。

Share repurchases in the fourth quarter were approximately 143,000 shares for $36.5 million, at an average price of $255.96 per share. As of December 31, we had approximately $335 million of share repurchase authority remaining.

第四季的股票回購規模約為 143,000 股，回購金額為 3,650 萬美元，平均價格為每股 255.96 美元。截至 12 月 31 日，我們仍有約 3.35 億美元的股票回購權。

Now moving on to a few operational metrics for the quarter. We ended Q4 with more than 47,350 consultants, designers, engineers, trainers and architects, a decline of 10.4% compared to Q4 2022. This is the result of lower levels of hiring, combined with both voluntary and involuntary attrition, as we continue to balance supply and demand.

現在轉向本季的一些營運指標。截至第4 季度，我們擁有超過47,350 名顧問、設計師、工程師、培訓師和建築師，與2022 年第4 季相比下降了10.4%。這是招聘水平較低以及自願和非自願離職的結果，因為我們繼續平衡供需。

Our total head count for the quarter was more than 53,150 employees.

本季我們的員工總數超過 53,150 人。

Utilization was 74.4% compared to 73.6% in Q4 of last year and 72.7% in Q3 2023.

利用率為 74.4%，而去年第四季為 73.6%，2023 年第三季為 72.7%。

Turning to our full year results for 2023. Revenues for the year were $4.69 billion, producing a decline of 2.8% reported, and a decline of 3.4% in constant currency terms compared to 2022.

轉向 2023 年全年業績。全年營收為 46.9 億美元，報告下降 2.8%，與 2022 年相比，按固定匯率計算下降 3.4%。

Excluding Russia revenues, the reported year-over-year growth rate would have been negative 1.8% reported and negative 2.4% in constant currency terms.

如果不包括俄羅斯收入，報告的年成長率為負 1.8%，以固定匯率計算為負 2.4%。

GAAP income from operations was $501 million, a decrease of 12.5% year-over-year and represented 10.7% of revenue. Our non-GAAP income from operations was $765 million, a decrease of 6.5% compared to the prior year and represented 16.3% of revenue.

GAAP 營運收入為 5.01 億美元，年減 12.5%，佔營收的 10.7%。我們的非 GAAP 營運收入為 7.65 億美元，比上年下降 6.5%，佔營收的 16.3%。

Our GAAP effective tax rate for the year was 22.3%. Our non-GAAP effective tax rate was 23.7%.

我們當年的 GAAP 有效稅率為 22.3%。我們的非 GAAP 有效稅率為 23.7%。

Diluted earnings per share on a GAAP basis was $7.06. Non-GAAP EPS, which excludes adjustments for stock-based compensation, acquisition-related costs and certain other onetime items, including costs associated with our cost optimization program, was $10.59, reflecting a 2.8% decrease over fiscal 2022.

以 GAAP 計算的稀釋每股收益為 7.06 美元。非 GAAP 每股盈餘（不包括股票薪酬、收購相關成本和某些其他一次性項目（包括與我們的成本優化計劃相關的成本）的調整）為 10.59 美元，比 2022 財年下降 2.8%。

In 2023, there were approximately 59.1 million weighted average diluted shares outstanding.

2023年，加權平均稀釋後流通股數約為5,910萬股。

Cash flow from operations was $563 million compared to $464 million for 2022. And free cash flow was $534 million, reflecting an 85.4% adjusted net income conversion.

營運現金流為 5.63 億美元，而 2022 年為 4.64 億美元。自由現金流為 5.34 億美元，反映出調整後淨利轉換率為 85.4%。

And finally, share repurchases in 2023 were approximately 686,000 shares for $164.9 million at an average price of $240.49 per share.

最後，2023 年的股票回購規模約為 686,000 股，回購金額為 1.649 億美元，平均價格為每股 240.49 美元。

Our 2023 results reflect EPAM's ability to manage the business through challenging macro conditions, while positioning the company for the return to a more normalized demand environment.

我們 2023 年的表現反映了 EPAM 在充滿挑戰的宏觀條件下管理業務的能力，同時為公司回歸更正常化的需求環境做好了準備。

Now let's turn to guidance. Before moving to the specifics of our 2024 and Q1 outlook, I would like to provide some thoughts to help frame our guidance. As Ark mentioned, the demand environment remains uneven and we believe this will persist at least in the first half of 2024. We have been pleased with the progress we are making on demand generation, and we'll continue to prioritize revenue growth into 2024, which in some pursuits include some degree of discounting.

現在讓我們轉向指導。在詳細介紹 2024 年和第一季的展望之前，我想提供一些想法來幫助制定我們的指導。正如 Ark 所提到的，需求環境仍然不平衡，我們相信這種情況至少會持續到 2024 年上半年。我們對按需生成所取得的進展感到滿意，我們將繼續優先考慮 2024 年的收入增長，在某些追求中包括一定程度的折扣。

In 2024, we expect to incur incremental costs, due to more normalized variable compensation levels, in addition to wage inflation in certain geographies. This higher level of compensation, combined with the limited ability to improve client pricing in the near term, will continue to put pressures on margins in 2024.

到 2024 年，除了某些地區的工資上漲之外，由於可變薪酬水準更加標準化，我們預計還會產生增量成本。這種較高的薪酬水平，加上短期內改善客戶定價的能力有限，將繼續給 2024 年的利潤率帶來壓力。

Finally, despite the war, our operations in Ukraine have not been materially impacted, and our teams remain highly focused on maintaining uninterrupted production. Our guidance assumes that we will continue to be able to deliver from our Ukraine delivery centers at productivity levels similar to those achieved in 2023.

最後，儘管發生了戰爭，我們在烏克蘭的業務並未受到實質影響，我們的團隊仍然高度專注於維持不間斷的生產。我們的指導假設我們將繼續能夠以與 2023 年相似的生產力水準從烏克蘭交付中心進行交付。

Now starting with the full year outlook. Revenue growth will be in the range of 1% to 4%, on both a reported and constant currency basis. The impact of foreign exchange is expected to be negligible. At this time, we expect a nominal revenue contribution from inorganic revenue for 2024.

現在從全年展望開始。以報告和固定匯率計算，收入成長將在 1% 至 4% 之間。預計外匯的影響可忽略不計。目前，我們預計 2024 年無機收入將產生名義收入貢獻​​。

Lastly, we are seeing some improvement of demand, but the visibility for the year is still limited. Although we are guiding to modest sequential growth in Q1, increases in demand may not sufficiently offset revenue impacts resulting from seasonality in all quarters in 2024.

最後，我們看到需求有所改善，但今年的能見度仍然有限​​。儘管我們預計第一季將實現溫和的環比成長，但需求的成長可能不足以抵消 2024 年所有季度季節性造成的收入影響。

We expect GAAP income from operations to be in the range of 9.5% to 10.5% and non-GAAP income from operations to be in the range of 14.5% to 15.5%.

我們預計 GAAP 營運收入將在 9.5% 至 10.5% 範圍內，非 GAAP 營運收入將在 14.5% 至 15.5% 範圍內。

We expect our GAAP effective tax rate to be approximately 21%. Our non-GAAP effective tax rate, which excludes excess tax benefits related to stock-based compensation, will be 24%.

我們預計 GAAP 有效稅率約為 21%。我們的非 GAAP 有效稅率（不包括與股票薪酬相關的超額稅收優惠）將為 24%。

Earnings per share, we expect the GAAP diluted EPS will be in the range of $7.20 to $7.60 for the full year, and non-GAAP diluted EPS will be in the range of $10 to $10.40 for the full year.

在每股收益方面，我們預計全年 GAAP 攤薄後每股收益將在 7.20 美元至 7.60 美元之間，非 GAAP 攤薄後每股收益將在 10 美元至 10.40 美元之間。

We expect weighted average share count of 59.3 million fully diluted shares outstanding.

我們預計完全稀釋後的加權平均股數為 5,930 萬股。

For Q1 of 2024, we expect revenues to be in the range of $1.155 billion to $1.165 billion, producing a year-over-year decline of approximately 4%, with the expected impact of FX to be minimal.

對於 2024 年第一季度，我們預計營收將在 11.55 億美元至 11.65 億美元之間，年減約 4%，預計外匯影響很小。

For the first quarter, we expect GAAP income from operations to be in the range of 9% to 10%, and non-GAAP income from operations to be in the range of 13.5% to 14.5%.

對於第一季度，我們預計 GAAP 營運收入將在 9% 至 10% 之間，非 GAAP 營運收入將在 13.5% 至 14.5% 之間。

Our Q1 income from operations guide reflects the impact of the resetting of social security caps, normalized variable compensation and somewhat higher bench levels, where we expect to see improvement throughout the year.

我們第一季的營運收入指南反映了重新設定社會安全上限、標準化可變薪酬和稍高的替補水準的影響，我們預計全年都會有所改善。

We expect our GAAP effective tax rate to be approximately 11% and our non-GAAP effective tax rate, which excludes excess tax benefits related to stock-based compensation to be approximately 24%.

我們預計我們的 GAAP 有效稅率約為 11%，我們的非 GAAP 有效稅率（不包括與股票薪酬相關的超額稅收優惠）約為 24%。

For earnings per share, we expect GAAP diluted EPS to be in the range of $1.79 to $1.87 for the quarter, and non-GAAP diluted EPS to be in the range of $2.26 to $2.34 for the quarter.

對於每股收益，我們預計本季 GAAP 攤薄後每股收益將在 1.79 美元至 1.87 美元之間，非 GAAP 攤薄後每股收益將在 2.26 美元至 2.34 美元之間。

We expect a weighted average share count of 59.1 million diluted shares outstanding.

我們預計稀釋後流通股的加權平均數為 5,910 萬股。

Finally, a few key assumptions that support our GAAP to non-GAAP measurements for 2024. Stock-based compensation expense is expected to be approximately $198 million, with $44 million in Q1, $48 million in Q2 and $53 million in each remaining quarter.

最後，支持我們對2024 年GAAP 和非GAAP 衡量的一些關鍵假設。基於股票的薪酬費用預計約為1.98 億美元，其中第一季為4,400 萬美元，第二季為4,800 萬美元，其餘每季為5300 萬美元。

Amortization of intangibles is expected to be approximately $26 million for the year, evenly spread across each quarter. The impact of foreign exchange is expected to be a $1 million loss for each of the quarters.

全年無形資產攤銷預計約 2,600 萬美元，平均分配到每季。外匯影響預計每季將損失 100 萬美元。

Tax effective non-GAAP adjustments is expected to be approximately $46 million for the year, with $11 million in Q1, $11 million in Q2 and $12 million in each remaining quarter. We expect excess tax benefits to be around $28 million for the full year, with approximately $17 million in Q1, $5 million in Q2 and $3 million in each remaining quarter.

預計今年稅收有效的非公認會計準則調整約為 4,600 萬美元，其中第一季為 1,100 萬美元，第二季為 1,100 萬美元，其餘每季為 1,200 萬美元。我們預計全年超額稅收優惠約為 2800 萬美元，其中第一季約為 1700 萬美元，第二季約為 500 萬美元，其餘每季約為 300 萬美元。

Finally, one more assumption outside of our GAAP to non-GAAP items. Our growing cash reserves are generating interest income, and EPAM is receiving governmental incentives from several countries in which we establish delivery operations. As a result, in 2024, we are anticipating an increased level of other income. We expect interest and other income to be around $66 million for the full year, with $16 million in Q1, $20 million in Q2 and $15 million in each remaining quarter.

最後，我們的 GAAP 以外的非 GAAP 項目還有一個假設。我們不斷增長的現金儲備正在產生利息收入，而 EPAM 正在接受我們開展交付業務的多個國家的政府激勵措施。因此，我們預計 2024 年其他收入水準將會增加。我們預計全年利息和其他收入約為 6,600 萬美元，其中第一季為 1,600 萬美元，第二季為 2,000 萬美元，其餘各季為 1,500 萬美元。

My thanks to all the EPAMers who made 2023 a successful year, and will help us drive growth throughout 2024.

我感謝所有 EPAM 員工，他們使 2023 年成為成功的一年，並將幫助我們推動 2024 年的成長。

Operator, let's open the call up for questions.

接線員，讓我們開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Ramsey El-Assal of Barclays.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Ramsey El-Assal。

I wanted to ask about your view on the second half of '24, sort of inflection. You sounded incrementally confident I think that the demand environment might pivot into a positive direction at that point. Can you just comment further on what's giving you confidence in this visibility? Are client conversations changing? Are you seeing a backlog of delayed projects build up? What has changed in your forward view that's supporting the sort of incrementally positive sense that the second half is where things may inflect?

我想問你對 24 年下半年的看法，有點改變。你聽起來越來越有信心，我認為那時需求環境可能會轉向正面的方向。您能否進一步評論一下是什麼讓您對這種可見度充滿信心？客戶對話是否有改變？您是否看到延遲項目積壓增加？您的前瞻性觀點發生了哪些變化，支持了下半年情況可能會發生變化的這種逐漸積極的感覺？

I think it's exactly what you said. We were thinking a lot of activities in Q4 and a lot of conversations still happening today. But decision point delays still and in our view, how these activities were increased, we do believe that future delays would be very difficult to kind of hope, because the companies will need to address growing debt.

我認為這正是你所說的。我們在第四季度考慮了很多活動，並且今天仍在進行許多對話。但決策點仍然延遲，在我們看來，這些活動是如何增加的，我們確實相信未來的延遲將很難抱持希望，因為公司將需要解決不斷增長的債務問題。

And we've taken at least -- we're thinking rates are pretty responsible view of what might be happening as this type of increase, ways of discussion of many programs and kind of desires, which were in the last months, should become too [subjugation]. So we kind of blending the shape in our activities around it.

我們至少——我們認為利率是對可能發生的事情的相當負責任的看法，因為過去幾個月的這種類型的增長、許多計劃的討論方式和各種願望應該變得太[征服]。所以我們在圍繞它的活動中混合了形狀。

Our next question comes from the line of Bryan Bergin of TD Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 TD Cowen 的 Bryan Bergin。

I wanted to start on margin here. So a good result in the 4Q AUM. Can you talk about maybe what costs and investments now are most notable that come back in for '24 and the cadence considerations? I heard some investments in demand gen and go-to-market, I think, can you flesh that a bit more? And I guess the rule of the question is, what do you consider more transitory versus potentially structural cost differences as you go forward?

我想從這裡開始。第四季資產管理規模取得了不錯的成績。您能否談談現在最引人注目的成本和投資以及節奏考慮因素是什麼？我聽說在需求產生和上市方面進行了一些投資，我想，你能再具體說明一下嗎？我想問題的規則是，隨著您的發展，您認為更多的暫時性成本差異與潛在的結構性成本差異是什麼？

Yes. So we obviously have been very thoughtful around what our cost structure would look like this year and are mindful of the guide here around profitability. The decision we made, Bryan, was that we did want to return to a more typical variable compensation. And then we thought a lot about the pricing environment and the wage environment, and decided that we would move forward with our traditional sort of salary increases or promo in Q2 of this year. We've got very low voluntary attrition. We want to keep it that way because we do have confidence in a return to growth later in the year.

是的。因此，我們顯然對今年的成本結構進行了深思熟慮，並留意這裡關於盈利能力的指導。布萊恩，我們所做的決定是，我們確實想回到更典型的可變補償。然後我們對定價環境和工資環境進行了很多思考，並決定在今年第二季度繼續進行傳統的加薪或促銷。我們的自願離職率非常低。我們希望保持這種狀態，因為我們確實對今年稍後恢復成長充滿信心。

So I would say the people programs are probably most significant, but then we do have significant investments in AI. And again, we thought about whether or not we would want to scale those back, and we thought that, that wasn't appropriate, considering some of the traction that we believe that we're getting in AI at this point.

所以我想說，人才計畫可能是最重要的，但我們確實在人工智慧方面進行了大量投資。我們再次考慮是否要縮減這些規模，考慮到我們認為目前人工智慧領域的一些吸引力，我們認為這是不合適的。

And then as you talked about the programs that are primarily focused on sort of demand generation, some of our partnership programs and then continuing to enhance our domain capabilities.

然後，正如您談到的計劃主要側重於需求生成、我們的一些合作夥伴計劃，然後繼續增強我們的領域能力。

And I don't know, Ark, if you have any thoughts about either the AI or the demand generation?

我不知道，Ark，你對人工智慧或需求產生有什麼想法嗎？

Yes. everybody is saying, it's still a lot of experimentation, but we highlighted something which we do. And there is a part to implementation happening as we speak. Still the program is not very sizable, but what we also see is that a lot of proof of concepts actually proven to the point that it will trigger additional tail of data and digital programs a lot.

是的。每個人都說，這仍然是大量的實驗，但我們強調了我們所做的一些事情。就在我們說話的時候，實施工作正在進行中。該程式仍然不是很大，但我們也看到的是，許多概念證明實際上已被證明，它將觸發大量額外的數據和數字程式。

We first while experimentation going well and proof of concepts loosing good, usually the data for this type of activities is by size well enough. And as soon as you go into production activities, in many cases, is triggering it visibly need to invest in data engineering and different activities to at scale proactive data. So -- and that's why also we believe that this figure will happen, the amount of work for these type of activities will bear some fruits to us in long.

首先，當實驗進展順利且概念驗證效果良好時，通常此類活動的資料規模就足夠大。在許多情況下，一旦進入生產活動，就顯然需要投資資料工程和不同的活動來大規模取得主動資料。因此，這就是為什麼我們也相信這個數字將會發生，而這類活動的工作量長期將為我們帶來一些成果。

Yes. We think there'll clearly be a return on the AI investment, and then Bryan, we'll be working on utilization and our security pyramids throughout the year. I think you'll see an improvement in gross margin in the second half of 2024, hopefully setting us up for more -- better profitability in 2025.

是的。我們認為人工智慧投資顯然會得到回報，然後布萊恩，我們將全年致力於利用率和安全金字塔。我認為 2024 年下半年你會看到毛利率有所改善，希望為我們在 2025 年實現更多更好的盈利能力做好準備。

Okay. And then a follow-up, just as it relates to kind of your larger client award expectations, are the ramp down that you had thought as you entered '24 progressing as you had expected? And is the second half improvement consistent across your larger clients? I'm thinking about your top 10, your top 20 base?

好的。然後是後續行動，就像它與您的大客戶獎勵期望有關一樣，您在進入“24”時所考慮的下降是否如您預期的那樣進展？您的大客戶下半年的改善是否一致？我在想你的前 10 名、前 20 名基礎？

Yes. We had talked about a known and expected ramp down in Q1 that is upon us, and it is obviously part of our Q1 guide. Other than that, you don't see significant incremental kind of ramp downs and we are feeling like demand is stabilizing.

是的。我們已經討論過第一季即將出現的已知和預期的下降，這顯然是我們第一季指南的一部分。除此之外，你沒有看到明顯的漸進式下降，我們感覺需求正在穩定。

From a customer standpoint, we are seeing good strong traction in Life Sciences. We clearly are seeing a lot of opportunities in energy, and I expect that we probably return to sequential growth in a number of our industry verticals here in Q1. So I would say, yes, it's generally the demand is a little broader from at least to an end, your vertical customers standpoint.

從客戶的角度來看，我們在生命科學領域看到了強大的吸引力。顯然，我們在能源領域看到了很多機會，我預計我們的許多垂直行業可能會在第一季恢復連續成長。所以我想說，是的，從垂直客戶的角度來看，至少從最終的角度來說，需求通常更廣泛。

Our next question comes from the line of David Grossman of Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 David Grossman。

I -- just looking at the head count adds, and it looks like your on a year-over-year basis, pretty much down in most geographies, I think with the exception of a couple or maybe just India. And I guess I'm just trying to understand in juxtapose, that dynamic against expectation of accelerating growth in the back half of the year. And perhaps you're targeting a higher utilization rate than you experienced in '23 or other factors at play. And just wondering if you could help flush that out for us? And whether or not the kind of changing -- how we should think about the changing geographic mix and it's impact on growth, given the bill rate differential between India, for example, and Ukraine and Eastern Europe.

我——只要看看員工人數的增加，看起來與去年同期相比，大多數地區的員工人數都在下降，我認為除了幾個或可能只是印度之外。我想我只是想透過對比來理解這種動態與下半年加速成長的預期。也許您的目標是比 23 年或其他因素所經歷的更高的利用率。只是想知道你是否可以幫我們解決這個問題？考慮到印度、烏克蘭和東歐之間的帳單利率差異，我們應該如何考慮不斷變化的地理組合及其對成長的影響，無論是否發生這種變化。

Yes. So good questions. The first that I would say is as you look at that our fact sheet, where you can see obviously the head count declines across a range of geographies, if we (inaudible) kind of Ark's comments or during, I guess, the fixed portion of today, is that we did obviously have to increase head count across a broad range of countries, as kind of a contingency in case things didn't go as well as they all planned and not going in Ukraine.

是的。這麼好的問題。我要說的第一件事是，當您查看我們的情況說明書時，您可以明顯看到，如果我們（聽不清楚）方舟的評論或在我猜的固定部分期間，各個地區的人數都在下降。今天的問題是，我們顯然必須在許多國家增加人員數量，作為一種應急措施，以防事情沒有按計劃進行，而且在烏克蘭沒有進行。

And so we've then, afterwards, tuned head count somewhat, just because we've done some amount of access hiring across a broad range of geographies, just as a contingency in case we weren't able to deliver it successfully from Ukraine.

因此，後來我們對員工人數進行了一些調整，只是因為我們在廣泛的地區進行了一定程度的招聘，以防萬一我們無法從烏克蘭成功交付。

At this point, you're clearly seeing growth in India. You'll continue to see growth in Latin America. We do expect that the incremental growth in India is going to put some pressure on revenue per head count, and that's part of the reason for the guide to the 1% to 4% that we've got in there.

此時，您可以清楚地看到印度的成長。您將繼續看到拉丁美洲的成長。我們確實預期印度的增量成長將對人均收入造成一定壓力，這也是我們將成長率定為 1% 至 4% 的部分原因。

(inaudible), I would add the following. Look, if you remember our regional guide one year ago, at the beginning of 2023. So it was a way kind of optimistic and revenue was higher than we guided today for 2024. So which means that we've prepared for the growth and not both people, we should have back then, we're corresponding to our shorts.

（聽不清楚），我會加入以下內容。看，如果您還記得我們一年前2023 年初的區域指南。所以這是一種樂觀的方式，收入高於我們今天對2024 年的指導。所以這意味著我們已經為成長做好了準備，而不是兩個人，我們當時就應該有，我們對應的是我們的短褲。

Then 2023, in this case, become for us an adjustment period where we have to be relative numbers to this -- kind of reality. And on top of this, as we say, we were adjusting now thinking about market from a cost perspective as well. So 2023 was actually 12 months when we were blending that back to shape to change in condition.

那麼 2023 年，在這種情況下，對我們來說將成為一個調整期，我們必須與這個現實保持相對數字。除此之外，正如我們所說，我們現在也從成本角度調整對市場的思考。所以 2023 年實際上是 12 個月，我們將其混合回形狀以改變狀況。

From this point of view, it's very much in line with our guidance for this year. We still keeping the very serious kind of investments to be able to start hiring back to train in big quantities. So we feel about this number is pretty comfortable that actually reflecting the reality.

從這個角度來看，它非常符合我們今年的指導。我們仍然保留非常認真的投資，以便能夠開始大規模招募人員進行培訓。所以我們覺得這個數字很舒服，它確實反映了現實。

So if I take those comments and the comments you -- in a previous question about the margin dynamic for the year, does that imply that the cadence of margins should improve? Or if we think about margin improvement as '24 progresses, that we'll get back to kind of more of a historical level as we exit '24?

因此，如果我接受這些評論和您在之前有關今年利潤動態的問題中的評論，這是否意味著利潤率的節奏應該會改善？或者，如果我們考慮隨著「24」的進展，利潤率會有所改善，那麼當我們退出「24」時，我們會回到歷史水平嗎？

Certainly, I expect lower gross margins in the first half, that's both Q1 and Q2, and then a fairly significant improvement in the second half, and that would be both due to the available bill days as well as improvements in utilization and pyramid. So I don't know whether or not that's the same as where we've been kind of historically, but I do expect us to head back towards more typical profitability as we get closer to the end of the year and as we enter 2025.

當然，我預計上半年（第一季和第二季）的毛利率會較低，然後下半年會有相當大的改善，這既要歸功於可用的帳單天數，也要歸功於利用率和金字塔的改良。因此，我不知道這是否與我們歷史上的情況相同，但我確實預計，隨著接近年底和進入 2025 年，我們將恢復更典型的盈利能力。

Our next question comes from the line of Puneet Jain from JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Puneet Jain。

Good quarter. So Ark, you mentioned like that there is some like the adjustment of seniority of employees that ahead of you, probably something you'll do this year? Did you share like if your average experience like running above normal due to maybe low attrition, low hiring right now, and what should we expect for revenue per employee as like if average experience deteriorates a little bit?

好季度。 Ark，您提到您今年可能會做一些諸如員工資歷調整之類的事情？您是否分享過，如果您的平均體驗高於正常水平，可能是由於目前的人員流失率低、招聘率低，以及如果平均體驗稍微惡化，我們應該對每位員工的收入有何期望？

I think this adjustment is happening. What I don't believe is the revenue per employee exactly is kind of the metric which reflects the reality, because it depends very much how we kind of optimizing our delivery locations. India is growing an easier, for example, growing not little, I think it's 20% versus last year. And I think it was much higher a year before, like more than 50%, okay.

我認為這種調整正在發生。我不認為每位員工的收入正是反映現實的指標，因為這在很大程度上取決於我們如何優化我們的送貨地點。印度的成長更容易，例如，成長不少，我認為比去年成長了 20%。我認為一年前這個數字要高得多，例如超過 50%，好吧。

So which is actually definitely impacted the revenue per employee. The same like switch between people moving from Eastern Europe to Central Europe grown in Latin America. That should be taken in account, not talking about it will not (inaudible). So I simply not look into this metric as a physical metric for us.

因此，這實際上肯定會影響每位員工的收入。就像在拉丁美洲成長的人們從東歐遷移到中歐之間的轉換。應該考慮到這一點，不談論它就不會（聽不清楚）。因此，我根本不將該指標視為我們的物理指標。

Got it. Got it. And your utilization like it improved on a sequential basis? Like what should we expect for normalized utilization, given that you are operating under a much more distributed delivery model now?

知道了。知道了。您的利用率是否連續提高？鑑於您現在在更分散的交付模式下運營，我們對標準化利用率應該有何期望？

Yes. I mean our goal would be to go back towards more typical -- which was about the higher 70s. So I don't think that the distribution is going to have a significant impact on our targeted utilization levels.

是的。我的意思是，我們的目標是回到更典型的狀態——大約是 70 年代左右。因此，我認為這種分佈不會對我們的目標利用率水準產生重大影響。

Our next question comes from the line of Maggie Nolan of William Blair.

我們的下一個問題來自威廉·布萊爾的瑪姬·諾蘭。

Jason, can you be a little bit more explicit on your commentary about seasonality versus demand offset on a quarter-by-quarter basis? And maybe just remind us which quarters are going to be more difficult to overcome seasonal pressures given that, that may be different from historical given your changing geographic footprint and holiday schedules, et cetera?

Jason，您能否更明確地闡述您對季度季節性與需求抵消的評論？也許只是提醒我們哪些季度將更難以克服季節性壓力，因為考慮到您不斷變化的地理足跡和假期安排等，這可能與歷史不同？

Okay. Great. Thanks for giving me the chance to clarify that. So Q2 is generally -- there's less capacity or less sort of available bill days. Q3 is usually a very strong quarter. So usually, we see quite significant sort of sequential growth Q2 to Q3.

好的。偉大的。感謝您給我機會澄清這一點。因此，第二季通常是－產能減少或可用帳單天數減少。第三季通常是一個非常強勁的季度。因此，通常情況下，我們會看到第二季到第三季出現相當顯著的連續成長。

The comment that I made in my prepared remarks was really that we are seeing what feels like a better demand environment, more stability, large number of conversations with clients and some kind of larger deal size opportunities.

我在準備好的演講中發表的評論實際上是，我們看到了更好的需求環境、更穩定、與客戶進行的大量對話以及某種更大交易規模的機會。

But Q1 to Q2 definitely has a negative seasonal impact, and so I just wanted to call out that there was some potential that, that seasonality could cause us to be sequentially flat to maybe even possibly down. But generally, the expectations are that we see such growth, Q1 and Q2. But again, it will take definitely improving demand environment to get us there.

但第一季到第二季肯定會產生負面的季節性影響，所以我只是想指出，季節性可能會導致我們的業績連續持平，甚至可能下降。但總的來說，我們預計第一季和第二季會出現這樣的成長。但同樣，我們需要改善需求環境才能實現這一目標。

Okay. And then you've mentioned pricing for a couple of different quarters now and sharpening your pencils. Are you doing anything that you feel will help protect your ability to raise pricing in future quarters and years? And how do you get comfortable with the level that you're setting your rate cards to now versus ability to increase in the future?

好的。然後您提到了幾個不同季度的定價並削尖了鉛筆。您是否正在做任何您認為有助於保護您在未來幾個季度和幾年內提高定價的能力的事情？您如何適應現在設定的價目表水準與未來增加的能力？

There's probably a few things going on. I think we're trying to make certain that we don't have multiyear commitments to kind of lock us in. Even when you do, you do have opportunities to come back to clients. Generally, Maggie, I would say, traditional asset debt structures for us are about a year in length.

可能有一些事情正在發生。我認為我們正在努力確保我們不會有多年的承諾來將我們鎖定。即使你這樣做，你也確實有機會回到客戶身邊。一般來說，瑪吉，我想說，我們的傳統資產債務結構的長度約為一年。

The other thing that we are continuing to do, and I think you would see it in the mix of our commercial, is that you're seeing more fixed fee engagements where there's more -- not only is it more sort of consulting led, but also there's a little bit more opportunity for us to take responsibility for delivery, and that gives us an opportunity to improve (inaudible) as well.

我們正在繼續做的另一件事，我想你會在我們的廣告中看到它，那就是你會看到更多的固定費用約定，其中有更多 - 不僅是更多的諮詢主導，而且此外，我們還有更多的機會承擔交付責任，這也給了我們改進的機會（聽不清楚）。

Our next question comes from the line of Surinder Thind of Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Surinder Thind。

In terms of just as we look at the year ahead, how much of a reshaping of the pyramid do you think you need at this point in terms of having the appropriate skill set for the demand environment evolves? And then I guess related to that, how quickly are you able to hire at this point, if there was an increase in demand in terms of how much bench do you need to keep? And how quickly can you hire against that?

就我們展望未來一年而言，您認為目前需要對金字塔進行多大程度的重塑，以適應需求環境的發展？然後我想與此相關的是，如果需求增加，您需要保留多少板凳，那麼您現在能夠多快招募？面對這種情況，你能多快招募人才？

Okay. I think it's a interesting question to address. First of all, because there is a lot of uncertainty, even how quickly productivity will be growing and we're watching this very, very carefully. What type of new people will be needed actually in the market. And we put in a lot of investment at (inaudible) but that's what we heard already, specifically in these activities.

好的。我認為這是一個有趣的問題。首先，因為存在著許多不確定性，甚至生產力成長的速度有多快，我們正在非常非常仔細地關注這一點。市場實際需要什麼類型的新人？我們在（聽不清楚）方面投入了大量投資，但這就是我們已經聽到的，特別是在這些活動中。

What it means that we need like to watch practically month by month, quarter by quarter, how productivity improvements would be realized and how clients will be kind of supporting this, because there are a lot of questions about legal aspects of generating the code or doing AI-assisted development.

這意味著我們需要逐月、逐季地觀察如何實現生產力的提高以及客戶將如何支援這一點，因為存在許多關於生成程式碼或執行的法律方面的問題AI輔助開發。

So it's about what actually we will need like a year from now or later. So the ability to hire, and again, we invest in here with players we're watching this very, very carefully. So for the ability to hire, we're keeping all our core previous investments in educational training for juniors.

所以這是關於我們一年後或以後實際需要的東西。因此，我們在招募球員方面進行了投資，我們正在非常非常仔細地關注這一點。因此，為了提高招募能力，我們保留了先前對青少年教育培訓的所有核心投資。

And again, it's how and what we're going to train is changing on the supply. During the last time -- we want to continue changing. So -- but we're pretty confident that we would be able to accelerate when needed, especially with the softness of the market. During the last several years, a lot of talent was produced on the market in junior levels, which is not necessarily we are finding jobs. So I think it's building up right now and when market will be back with everything what we did before virtual and (inaudible) 2 to increase capacity.

再說一遍，我們訓練的方式和內容正在改變。在過去的時間裡──我們想繼續改變。所以，但我們非常有信心，我們能夠在需要時加速，特別是在市場疲軟的情況下。在過去的幾年裡，市場上產生了許多初級人才，這不一定是我們找到工作的原因。所以我認為它現在正在建立，當市場將恢復我們之前為虛擬和（聽不清楚）2 所做的一切以增加容量時。

Yes. We continue to have -- we're flexible. We clearly have been investing to make certain that we can add capacity in across a broad range of geographies. So yes, we feel good about our ability to respond to demand.

是的。我們仍然保持靈活性。顯然，我們一直在進行投資，以確保我們能夠在廣泛的地區增加產能。所以，是的，我們對自己回應需求的能力感到滿意。

Got it. I guess just as a clarification, so the idea is that you can hire within a quarter to address needs in terms of having the flexibility, the capability, the training, I guess that's kind of what I was trying to get at.

知道了。我想只是為了澄清一下，所以我們的想法是，你可以在一個季度內招募來滿足靈活性、能力、培訓方面的需求，我想這就是我想要達到的目的。

Yes. I think that would be fair. We've got obviously utilization opportunities, first and foremost, but then, yes, a quarter window would probably be appropriate.

是的。我認為這是公平的。首先，我們顯然有利用機會，但是，是的，四分之一的窗口可能是合適的。

And this is all proportional. One quarter -- the demand will not jump as crazy, so it's still going to be spread around the quarters. We still don't see right now, that demand will be performing kind of in 2021. It will be much more softer. So -- and if you remember, 2021, it was very quickly become hard market. We were informed pretty well.

這都是成比例的。一個季度——需求不會那麼瘋狂地跳躍，所以它仍然會分佈在各個季度。我們現在仍然看不到需求會在 2021 年有所表現。它將更加疲軟。所以——如果你還記得的話，2021 年，它很快就變成了硬市場。我們得到了很好的消息。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from the line of Moshe Katri of Wedbush Security.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Wedbush Security 的 Moshe Katri。

Congrats on strong execution. Ark, when you started the call, you indicated the clients that moderated spending with EPAM last year are coming back. Can you talk a bit more about that? Is it that they went to -- some of your competitors are coming back. They're changing your plans. What's prompting that, that -- yes.

祝賀強大的執行力。 Ark，當您開始通話時，您表示去年使用 EPAM 控制支出的客戶將會回來。能多談談嗎？他們去了嗎——你的一些競爭對手正在回來。他們正在改變你的計劃。是什麼促使了這一點，是的。

I think you're talking about it many times during the last year, but at the beginning of the year, when we were much more optimistic, we didn't realize it in part of the war, raise risk profile for EPAM and uncertainty that we will be able to engage the war. So a lot of calls clients were doing in the middle of 2022, which kind of delayed decisions with us or actually going to just started to replace, not putting new fees to us.

我想你在去年多次談論過這個問題，但在今年年初，當我們更加樂觀時，我們在戰爭的一部分中沒有意識到這一點，提高了 EPAM 的風險狀況和不確定性我們將能夠參與戰爭。因此，客戶在 2022 年中期打了很多電話，這與我們延遲做出決定，或者實際上只是開始更換，而不是向我們收取新費用。

But unfortunately, we realized impact of this only kind of event of the Q1 2023. And some of these actions making pretty long-term impact. We still have clients who declined because when decision dauntlessly signed with somebody else is (inaudible). So this is a -- this is very visible impact into 2023.

但不幸的是，我們意識到了 2023 年第一季唯一此類事件的影響。其中一些行動產生了相當長期的影響。我們仍有客戶拒絕，因為當決定與其他人無畏地簽署時（聽不清楚）。所以這是對 2023 年的非常明顯的影響。

Last economy, and that's why I would say the simultaneous impact of these 2 things were the most critical for us, which really puts us aside from our competitors, which have only one part of this challenge. So when the economy started to slow down, then again, competition for rates, costs and everything else, pick up. And this is was second one.

去年的經濟，這就是為什麼我會說這兩件事的同時影響對我們來說是最關鍵的，這確實使我們與我們的競爭對手區分開來，他們只承擔了這一挑戰的一部分。因此，當經濟開始放緩時，利率、成本和其他方面的競爭就會再次加劇。這是第二個。

So positive things which we also mentioned that there are some clients who came back to us and some of them growing as well. But definitely, this is part of 2023 and partially will be for as part of 2024.

我們也提到了一些正面的事情，有些客戶回到了我們身邊，其中一些客戶也在成長。但可以肯定的是，這是 2023 年的一部分，部分將是 2024 年的一部分。

If you think at the same time is how we will bring some new business to compensate say this, that's kind of a positive part of the story. The declines in 2024, definitely will be smaller than decline and was at 2023.

如果你同時認為我們將如何帶來一些新業務來彌補這一點，那麼這就是故事的積極部分。 2024 年的下降幅度肯定會小於 2023 年的下降幅度。

And we then -- we continue to see clients who may have experimented with other vendors, reengaging with us with both discussions and in some cases, actually transferring work back to us, just based on the fact that they didn't get as much done with those other vendors.

然後，我們繼續看到可能已經嘗試過其他供應商的客戶，透過討論重新與我們接觸，在某些情況下，實際上將工作轉移回我們，只是基於他們沒有完成那麼多工作的事實與其他供應商。

That makes sense. And is that because they're more comfortable with your execution from places like India or Latin America? Is that kind of -- yes.

這就說得通了。這是因為他們更願意接受你在印度或拉丁美洲等地的執行嗎？是這樣嗎——是的。

So multiple factors, some of them become much more comfortable with Ukraine because it was any impact of the quality interruption. So some where thinking we will believe it and now stands there. So it's also -- we prove that we can deliver from different locations.

考慮到多種因素，其中一些對烏克蘭感到更加放心，因為這是品質中斷的影響。所以有些人認為我們會相信它，現在就站在那裡。因此，我們也證明我們可以從不同的地點交付。

India was probably one of the kind of major critical components here. So -- and third one, I think that when you're removing some waterworks to some competitors, the results were not satisfactory as they started to come back to us or waiting with their commitments with new vendors will be kind of expired and it will be possible to come back. So I think it's between all these lines.

印度可能是這裡的主要關鍵組成部分之一。因此，第三個，我認為當你向一些競爭對手拆除一些自來水廠時，結果並不令人滿意，因為他們開始回到我們身邊，或者等待他們與新供應商的承諾將過期，並且會發生。有可能回來。所以我認為它介於所有這些界限之間。

Our next question comes from the line of Darrin Peller of Wolfe Research.

我們的下一個問題來自沃爾夫研究中心的達林‧佩勒 (Darrin Peller)。

Yes, I want to follow up a bit on the competitive landscape for a minute. And the main question is really just sort of circling back. You said you're seeing some customers come back to you. You also talked about adding a ton of new, I think, more than usual new customers over the last year, and you're seeing that progressing into this year.

是的，我想稍微跟進一下競爭格局。主要問題其實只是一種繞回來的問題。您說您看到一些客戶再次聯繫您。你還談到了去年增加了大量新客戶，我認為比平常更多，而且你會看到這種情況在今年有所進展。

So putting that all into context, just -- there's been a lot of discussion of competitors trying to be more aggressive, taking advantage of what happened in the war in Ukraine. What are you seeing competitively? I mean, has anything truly changed. And then maybe dovetailing that into the potential we could see for this year, you said you added a bunch of more than usual new customers you've been adding at a run rate. I guess that informs your decision on what you're seeing in terms of guidance for the second half of the year. Why not a little bit more in the first half, since it was being added last year?

因此，將所有這些都放在背景中，只是 - 有很多關於競爭對手試圖利用烏克蘭戰爭中發生的事情變得更加激進的討論。你在競爭中看到了什麼？我的意思是，有什麼真正改變了嗎？然後，也許將其與我們今年可以看到的潛力相吻合，你說你增加了一批比平常更多的新客戶，你一直在以運行速度增加。我想這會影響您對下半年指導意見的決定。既然去年就增加了，為什麼不在上半年增加一點呢？

So I think when we're talking about increasing the client number, it's true, the difference with previous year that this is smaller clients, smaller -- clients may be not smaller but smaller engagements. And overall, it still feel a lot of pressure for (inaudible). It's all coming back to our statement that we actually adjusted our behavior during 2023.

所以我認為，當我們談論增加客戶數量時，確實與去年不同的是，今年的客戶規模較小，規模較小——客戶可能不是規模較小，而是業務量較小。整體來說，還是覺得壓力很大（聽不清楚）。這一切都回到了我們的聲明，我們實際上在 2023 年調整了我們的行為。

And starting to use different approaches to better protect client base as well. But it was much more visible on the transition between first half and second half of 2023. We still think that something similar will be continued for this and next quarter. And that exactly explain all this dynamics and competitive situation. We see the clients starting the programs. We participated in this bigger program than they were considered in the first half of 2023. So we think this acceleration will be happening at second half will give us opportunity to demonstrate it.

並開始使用不同的方法來更好地保護客戶群。但在 2023 年上半年和下半年之間的過渡中，這種情況更加明顯。我們仍然認為，本季和下季將繼續出現類似的情況。這準確地解釋了所有這些動態和競爭狀況。我們看到客戶啟動了程式。我們參與了這個比他們在 2023 年上半年考慮的更大的計劃。因此，我們認為這種加速將在下半年發生，這將為我們提供展示它的機會。

One, and I just -- Okay. I lose the point which I was presenting. Maybe later I will add.

一，我只是——好吧。我失去了我所闡述的觀點。也許我稍後會補充。

If I do all right, definitely stronger new logo activity, stronger new customer revenues. Don't forget that we do have the ramp down in Q1 from the one customer. And as Ark said, some kind of -- slower kind of decision-making. But again, generally, the demand environment at least feels like it's stabilizing and potentially improving.

如果我做得好，肯定會有更強勁的新標誌活動，更強勁的新客戶收入。不要忘記，我們確實在第一季從一個客戶那裡得到了下降。正如阿克所說，某種緩慢的決策。但總的來說，需求環境至少感覺正在穩定並有可能改善。

What I was (inaudible) my -- our usual remark. Until the full speed of what we kind of fully expect from margins and from the real growth, it's still a function of price demands. And this price demands we consider it will start to be realized on second part, okay?

我是（聽不清楚）我的──我們平常的言論。在利潤率和實際成長完全達到我們預期的速度之前，它仍然是價格需求的函數。這個價格要求我們認為它將在第二部分開始實現，好嗎？

At what level, so we put it conservative right now, at least we think that it's conservative or realistic right now, yes. So what would happen is still this year, definitely less predictable than kind of before war years. We all know it's not about us, it's about all the IT segment.

在什麼水平上，所以我們現在把它說得保守，至少我們認為現在它是保守的或現實的，是的。所以今年會發生什麼，肯定比戰爭前更難預測。我們都知道這與我們無關，而是與整個 IT 部門有關。

So we do one last quick call or a question and then wrap up.

因此，我們進行最後一次簡短的通話或提出一個問題，然後結束。

Our final question comes from the line of Sean Kennedy of Mizuho.

我們的最後一個問題來自瑞穗銀行的肖恩·肯尼迪。

2

2

So I understand it's still very early on Gen AI, but what specific types of Gen AI capabilities are your clients most excited about currently? And do you expect those to change as the technology matures?

據我所知，Gen AI 還處於早期階段，但您的客戶目前對哪些特定類型的 Gen AI 功能最感興趣？隨著技術的成熟，您預計這些會改變嗎？

So I think still, there are, at this point, a lot of experimentation and a lot of kind of more straightforward thinking about Gen AI, as it's available practically for the end consumers and how this can change interfaces and again, very straightforward that everybody is thinking how to give a right access to the hybrid data between general and Gen AI, pretty specific ones, and most of the companies experimenting in this area and created some type of pilots.

所以我認為，在這一點上，仍然有很多關於Gen AI 的實驗和很多更直接的思考，因為它實際上可供最終消費者使用，以及它如何改變介面，而且非常簡單，每個人都可以使用它。正在考慮如何正確存取通用人工智慧和通用人工智慧之間的混合數據，非常具體的數據，大多數公司在這一領域進行試驗並創建了某種類型的試點。

And I'm talking about application of areas and just utilize in Gen AI the productivity tools for individuals and work as a sort. I'm talking about like client-facing capabilities, new insight.

我談論的是領域的應用，只是在 Gen AI 中利用個人和工作的生產力工具。我說的是面向客戶的能力、新的見解。

The difficulties of this is we'll be changing quarter-by-quarter. So -- and I think some exciting things which we see right now would become very quickly commodity and much more sophisticated since it will be happening like 12 months from now. Very worried, like you said.

這樣做的困難在於我們將逐季度進行改變。因此，我認為我們現在看到的一些令人興奮的事情很快就會變得商品化，並且變得更加複雜，因為它將在 12 個月後發生。很擔心，就像你說的。

I will now turn the call back over to Arkadiy Dobkin, Chief Executive Officer and President, for concluding remarks.

我現在將把電話轉回給執行長兼總裁阿卡迪·多布金 (Arkadiy Dobkin) 進行總結發言。

Thank you very much, you all for your questions. I think we've seen, in general, the stability inflation happening. At the same time, we feel that a lot of unknowns ahead of us and some trends which were driving the market and our performance in 2023 still actually critical for 2024. But we feel much better after showing that we can stabilize. The revenue decline wise and even little but some growth versus continued decline, which was happening during the previous 4 quarters.

非常感謝大家提出的問題。我認為總的來說，我們已經看到了穩定通膨的發生。同時，我們認為我們面臨著許多未知因素以及一些推動市場的趨勢，而我們 2023 年的業績實際上對 2024 年仍然至關重要。但在表明我們可以穩定下來之後，我們感覺好多了。收入下降，甚至很小，但與前四個季度持續下降相比有所增長。

Thank you very much, and talk to you in 3 months.

非常感謝，3個月後再聊。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. We thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。