Twilio Inc (TWLO) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Twilio Inc. fourth-quarter 2024 earnings conference call.

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 Twilio Inc. 2024 年第四季財報電話會議。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指令）

Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。

I'd now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Bryan Vaniman, SVP of Investor Relations and Corporate Development. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給今天的發言人、投資者關係和企業發展高級副總裁 Bryan Vaniman。請繼續。

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Twilio's fourth-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Joining me today are Khozema Shipchandler, Chief Executive Officer; and Aidan Viggiano, Chief Financial Officer.

大家下午好，感謝您參加 Twilio 2024 年第四季財報電話會議。今天與我一起出席的還有執行長 Khozema Shipchandler；以及財務長 Aidan Viggiano。

As a reminder, we will disclose non-GAAP financial measures on this call. Definitions and reconciliations between our GAAP and non-GAAP results can be found in our earnings release and earnings presentation posted on our IR website at investors.twilio.com.

提醒一下，我們將在本次電話會議上揭露非公認會計準則財務指標。我們的 GAAP 和非 GAAP 結果之間的定義和調整可在我們 IR 網站 investors.twilio.com 上發布的收益報告和收益介紹中找到。

We will also make forward-looking statements on this call, including statements about our future outlook and goals. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described. Many of those risks and uncertainties are described in our SEC filings, including our most recent Form 10-Q and our forthcoming Form 10-K.

我們還將在本次電話會議上做出前瞻性陳述，包括有關我們未來前景和目標的陳述。此類聲明受已知和未知風險和不確定因素的影響，可能導致實際結果與所述結果有重大差異。我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中描述了許多此類風險和不確定性，包括我們最新的 10-Q 表和即將發布的 10-K 表。

Forward-looking statements represent our beliefs and assumptions only as of the date such statements are made. We disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required by law.

前瞻性陳述僅代表我們在作出此類陳述之日的信念和假設。除法律要求外，我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務。

And with that, I'll hand it over to Khozema and Aidan who will discuss our Q4 and 2024 results. And we'll then open the call for Q&A.

接下來，我將把會議交給 Khozema 和 Aidan，他們將討論我們的第四季和 2024 年業績。然後我們將開始問答環節。

Thank you, Bryan. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Twilio had a terrific Q4 reaching $1.195 billion in revenue, an 11% increase year over year and our second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. Q4 also marked an important milestone for Twilio as it's the first time we've delivered quarterly GAAP operating profitability in the company's history well ahead of our initial target.

謝謝你，布萊恩。大家下午好，感謝大家今天的參與。Twilio 第四季表現優異，營收達 11.95 億美元，年增 11%，連續第二季實現兩位數成長。Q4 也是 Twilio 的一個重要里程碑，因為這是我們公司歷史上首次實現季度 GAAP 營業盈利，遠遠超出我們的最​​初目標。

For the full year, we generated $4.458 billion in revenue, representing 9% organic growth year over year. Over the past two years, we've dedicated ourselves to transforming Twilio's business from one primarily focused on growth to one that balances innovation, growth, and profitability.

全年我們創造了 44.58 億美元的收入，年增 9%。在過去的兩年裡，我們致力於將 Twilio 的業務從主要專注於成長轉變為平衡創新、成長和獲利的業務。

Our results demonstrate the success of those efforts. Not only have we recently accelerated revenue growth, but we've also significantly boosted our non-GAAP profitability, while meaningfully accelerating our path to GAAP profitability, plus reducing our net burn rate and outstanding share count.

我們的成果證明了這些努力的成功。我們最近不僅加速了收入成長，而且還顯著提高了我們的非 GAAP 獲利能力，同時顯著加快了我們實現 GAAP 獲利的進程，並降低了我們的淨燒錢率和流通股數。

And we've increased annual free cash flow by nearly $1 billion since 2022. All of this illustrates our commitment to operating the company with more discipline and rigor and focus. And while there's more work to be done, the results speak for themselves.

自 2022 年以來，我們的年度自由現金流增加了近 10 億美元。所有這些都表明我們致力於以更紀律、更嚴謹、更專注的方式經營公司。儘管還有許多工作要做，但結果不言而喻。

At our Investor Day a few weeks ago, you got a chance to hear about the new Twilio, including our product strategy, growth levers, and financial framework that we have in place to win a much larger addressable market. As marketing, sales, and customer support converge into customer experience as a service, we strongly believe that Twilio's leading communications platform plus contextual data powered by segment, and our innovations with AI, position us to win in this massive market and reinforce our vision that every digital interaction we power between brands and consumers is nothing short of amazing.

在幾週前的投資者日上，您有機會了解新的 Twilio，包括我們的產品策略、成長槓桿和財務框架，以贏得更大的潛在市場。隨著行銷、銷售和客戶支援整合到客戶體驗即服務中，我們堅信 Twilio 領先的通訊平台加上由細分市場驅動的情境數據以及我們在人工智慧方面的創新，將使我們能夠在這個龐大的市場中獲勝，並強化我們的願景，即我們在品牌和消費者之間推動的每一次數位互動都令人驚嘆。

While we provided a lot of details during our Investor Day, today, I wanted to take the opportunity to reinforce a few of the key takeaways while also sharing some of the highlights from Q4.

雖然我們在投資者日期間提供了許多細節，但今天，我想藉此機會重申一些關鍵要點，同時分享第四季度的一些亮點。

On the innovation front in 2024, we launched 251 products, enhancements, and services. These innovations are aligned to our strategy of building a trusted, simple, and smart platform that enables brands to drive more secure, relevant, and personalized interactions with their customers. Throughout the quarter, we continued to invest in our core capabilities to drive even greater customer value.

在 2024 年的創新方面，我們推出了 251 種產品、增強功能和服務。這些創新符合我們的策略，即建立一個值得信賴、簡單、智慧的平台，使品牌能夠與客戶進行更安全、更相關、更個人化的互動。整個季度，我們繼續投資於我們的核心能力，以推動更大的客戶價值。

During Cyber Week, Twilio powered more than 5 billion messages, delivered more than 65 billion e-mails and supported 678 million calls, all while delivering 100% uptime. The confidence our customers have in Twilio is stronger than ever and critical periods like Cyber Week prove to our customers that Twilio has the trusted, simple, and smart platform that they need.

在網路週期間，Twilio 發送了超過 50 億條訊息、遞送了超過 650 億封電子郵件、支援了 6.78 億個電話，並且保持了 100% 的正常運行時間。我們的客戶對 Twilio 的信心比以往任何時候都要強烈，網絡週等關鍵時期向我們的客戶證明了 Twilio 擁有他們所需的可信、簡單和智能的平台。

During the fourth quarter, we expanded our trusted channels to meet our customers' evolving needs by adding new capabilities to support existing channels, including RCS and WhatsApp. For RCS, we also recently announced that rich content cards, media, and rich card carousels are now available and supported by our content template builder that helps streamline development.

在第四季度，我們透過增加新功能來支援現有管道（包括 RCS 和 WhatsApp），從而擴展了我們的可信賴管道，以滿足客戶不斷變化的需求。對於 RCS，我們最近還宣布，豐富的內容卡、媒體和豐富的卡片輪播現已推出，並由我們的內容模板建構器支持，有助於簡化開發過程。

RCS is proving a valuable expansion vehicle for existing messaging customers. Customers like MarketBeat are able to benefit from Twilio's streamlined approach to development on a single messaging API and our universal template management system.

事實證明，RCS 對於現有訊息傳遞客戶來說是一種有價值的擴展工具。MarketBeat 等客戶能夠受益於 Twilio 在單一訊息傳遞 API 和我們的通用模板管理系統上進行的簡化開發方法。

It's also clear that Twilio continues to be at the center of the AI value chain as we already have 90% of the Forbes 50 AI start-ups building on Twilio. We continued to drive ROI with our AI-enabled products benefited from emerging AI companies that shows Twilio is an essential component for their customer engagement layer, and partnered with key players in the ecosystem like AWS, Databricks, Google Cloud, OpenAI, and Snowflake.

顯而易見的是，Twilio 繼續處於 AI 價值鏈的中心，因為我們已經讓 90% 的福布斯 50 強 AI 新創公司在 Twilio 上建立。我們繼續利用我們的人工智慧產品來提高投資回報率，這些產品受益於新興的人工智慧公司，這些公司表明 Twilio 是其客戶參與層的重要組成部分，並與 AWS、Databricks、Google Cloud、OpenAI 和 Snowflake 等生態系統中的關鍵參與者合作。

In Q4, ConversationRelay, which helps simplify the process of building robust AI voice agents, went into public beta. While it's still early, we believe that AI will drive a renaissance in voice and everyone from enterprises to startups will begin orchestrating new voice experiences that are two-way and personalized.

第四季度，有助於簡化建立強大 AI 語音代理流程的 ConversationRelay 進入公開測試階段。雖然還為時過早，但我們相信人工智慧將推動語音的復興，從企業到新創企業的每個人都將開始協調雙向、個人化的全新語音體驗。

On the Segment front, the AI innovations that went live throughout 2024 are beginning to generate tangible results for our customers. As an example, with predicted audiences, one company realized a 70% improvement in audience accuracy. And in Q4, find an average of four weeks of data science time saved by giving marketers the ability to predict behavior.

在細分領域，2024 年上線的人工智慧創新開始為我們的客戶帶來實際的成果。例如，透過預測受眾，一家公司的受眾準確率提高了 70%。在第四季度，透過讓行銷人員具備預測行為的能力，平均可以節省四周的數據科學時間。

Emerging AI start-ups are continuing to build on Twilio. In fact, more than 9,000 companies building in the AI space utilized Twilio services in 2024. Paradox.ai, one of Twilio's AI Searchlight winners, is using Conversational AI for recruiting and leverages their AI assistant, Olivia, to help with frontline and recruitment. Starting as a self-serve customer in 2017, they reach unicorn status in under five years. And today, Twilio powers over 150 million messages a month on their behalf.

新興人工智慧新創公司正在繼續依托 Twilio 進行發展。事實上，到 2024 年，超過 9,000 家涉足人工智慧領域的公司都使用了 Twilio 服務。Paradox.ai 是 Twilio 的 AI Searchlight 獲獎者之一，它正在使用對話式 AI 進行招聘，並利用其 AI 助理 Olivia 來幫助進行前線和招聘。他們於 2017 年從自助服務客戶起步，在不到五年的時間內成長為獨角獸企業。如今，Twilio 每月為他們發送超過 1.5 億則訊息。

But more importantly, with Twilio messaging, they've been able to help companies like McDonald's, Workday and SAP. get interview scheduled in minutes versus the manual process that used to take anywhere from five to seven days. And finally, we're continuing to partner with established AI companies like OpenAI. During the quarter, we helped OpenAI launch calls and WhatsApp messaging through their Twilio-powered number 1-800-ChatGPT, which has seen incredible volume since launch.

但更重要的是，借助 Twilio 訊息傳遞功能，他們能夠幫助麥當勞、Workday 和 SAP 等公司。只需幾分鐘即可安排面試，而以前的手動流程則需要五到七天的時間。最後，我們將繼續與 OpenAI 等知名人工智慧公司合作。在本季度，我們幫助 OpenAI 透過其由 Twilio 支援的號碼 1-800-ChatGPT 推出通話和 WhatsApp 訊息服務，自推出以來，該服務的交易量驚人。

Our innovation strategy and execution continues to pay off as we were named a leader in multiple analyst reports. During the quarter, IDC named Twilio a leader in its MarketScape. Worldwide customer data platforms focused on B to C users, and Omdia also named Twilio a leader in two of its reports: the Omdia Universe: Customer Engagement Platforms, and the Omdia Universe: Customer Data Platforms.

我們的創新策略和執行持續取得成效，我們在多份分析師報告中被評為領導者。在本季度，IDC 將 Twilio 評為其 MarketScape 的領導者。全球客戶數據平台專注於 B 到 C 用戶，Omdia 也在兩份報告中將 Twilio 評為領導者：《Omdia Universe：客戶參與平台》和《Omdia Universe：客戶資料平台》。

With respect to distribution, we continued to focus on our key growth levers, self-serve, cross-sell, international expansion, and our partner ecosystem, while also optimizing for scale efficiency.

在分銷方面，我們繼續專注於我們的關鍵成長槓桿、自助服務、交叉銷售、國際擴張和我們的合作夥伴生態系統，同時優化規模效率。

In Q4, our go-to-market team continued to deliver improved execution as evidenced by strong, large-deal activity during the quarter. On the Communication side, we closed 78 deals worth $500,000 or more, up 47% year over year. And in Q4, we closed our largest Segment deal ever with one of the world's largest financial services companies.

在第四季度，我們的行銷團隊繼續提供更好的執行力，這從本季強勁的大型交易活動可以看出。在溝通方面，我們完成了 78 筆價值 50 萬美元或以上的交易，年增 47%。在第四季度，我們與全球最大的金融服務公司之一完成了迄今為止最大的分部交易。

Within self-serve, we saw a continued acceleration in sign-ups, upgrades, and revenue growth, a testament to the improvements we've delivered in our self-serve experienced over the course of 2024.

在自助服務方面，我們看到註冊、升級和收入成長持續加速，證明了我們在 2024 年自助服務方面的進步。

Cross-sell and upsell continues to be a massive growth opportunity. During the quarter, we had terrific wins, including one with a long-standing Twilio voice customer that's a top health system in the US, which operates 33 hospitals. The customer adopted Twilio's RCS messaging, branded calling, and engagement suite in order to increase call adoption, establish a stronger brand presence, and increased messaging deliverability and engagement.

交叉銷售和追加銷售仍然是一個巨大的成長機會。在本季度，我們取得了巨大的成功，其中包括與 Twilio 的長期語音客戶合作，該客戶是美國頂級醫療系統，營運 33 家醫院。客戶採用 Twilio 的 RCS 訊息、品牌呼叫和參與套件，以增加呼叫採用率、建立更強大的品牌影響力以及提高訊息傳遞能力和參與度。

Additionally, we also signed a deal with a leading web hosting provider. The Company has been a long-time Twilio messaging customer and expanded their use to include Twilio's Conversations API to power to a SMS and voice channels. With Twilio, the company has integrated the product into their own proprietary unified inbox, giving customers the ability to manage their business communications needs on their smartphone and simplify the communication with their own customers.

此外，我們也與一家領先的網站寄存服務供應商簽署了協議。該公司一直是 Twilio 訊息傳遞服務的長期客戶，並擴大了其使用範圍，包括 Twilio 的對話 API，以支援簡訊和語音管道。透過 Twilio，該公司將產品整合到他們自己專有的統一收件匣中，讓客戶能夠在智慧型手機上管理他們的業務通訊需求，並簡化與他們自己客戶的溝通。

International expansion and partner distribution continue to help us unlock an underpenetrated addressable market. As an example, during the quarter, Twilio expanded its relationship with Klaviyo with several SMS deals in European markets.

國際擴張和合作夥伴分銷繼續幫助我們打開尚未滲透的潛在市場。例如，本季度，Twilio 透過在歐洲市場達成的多項簡訊交易擴大了與 Klaviyo 的合作關係。

Finally, we are driving our go-to-market strategy more efficiently by leveraging AI and automation, which is built upon Twilio's own technology. In Presales, were using data to lead the identification process, which has shortened sales cycles.

最後，我們利用基於 Twilio 自身技術建構的人工智慧和自動化來更有效地推動我們的市場進入策略。在售前階段，我們使用資料來引導識別流程，從而縮短了銷售週期。

Additionally, today, 80% of our new inbound leads are being handled by AI, which has led to a faster sign up and the upgrade process for prospects due to faster responses, multilingual support, and depth of knowledge. Postsales, our Help Center assistance, garnered a 75% ticket deflection rate when AI is engaged.

此外，今天，我們 80% 的新入站線索都由人工智慧處理，由於回應速度更快、支援多種語言並且知識深度更廣，這使得潛在客戶的註冊和升級過程更快。當人工智慧介入時，我們的幫助中心售後援助的票證偏轉率可達 75%。

I'm proud of how our discipline, rigor, and focus has helped position the company well for the years ahead as we drive strategic customer-centric growth, with innovation at the core. In many respects, 2024 was about rebuilding the foundation. 2025 is the year we'll stay focused on executing against our ambitious innovation roadmap to unlock the power of communications, contextual data, and AI. And as we unlock it, every consumer that interacts with the 325,000-plus active customer accounts that we power will benefit.

我對我們的紀律、嚴謹和專注感到自豪，這些幫助公司在未來幾年中佔據了良好的地位，以創新為核心推動以客戶為中心的策略性成長。從許多方面來看，2024 年都是重建基礎的一年。 2025 年，我們將繼續專注於執行雄心勃勃的創新路線圖，釋放通訊、情境數據和人工智慧的力量。當我們解鎖它時，與我們支援的超過 325,000 個活躍客戶帳戶互動的每一位消費者都將受益。

Our strategy is clear. Our execution is focused and impact is real. I'm incredibly proud to see the hard work paying off as we enter this next phase of growth and create more value for our shareholders in the years ahead.

我們的策略很明確。我們的執行是專注的，影響是真實的。當我們進入下一個成長階段並在未來幾年為股東創造更多價值時，我非常自豪地看到辛勤工作得到回報。

And with that, I'll turn it over to Aidan.

現在我將把話題交給艾丹。

Thank you, Khozema, and good afternoon, everyone. Twilio finished the year with a strong Q4, delivering our second consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth and our first ever quarter of GAAP operating profitability.

謝謝你，Khozema，大家午安。Twilio 以強勁的第四季度結束了這一年度，連續第二個季度實現了兩位數的收入成長，並且首次在季度內實現了 GAAP 營運盈利。

For Q4, we generated record revenue of $1.195 billion, which represented 11% year-over-year growth. We also generated record non-GAAP income from operations of $197 million and $93 million in free cash flow. We came into 2024 committed to driving durable growth, continued margin expansion, and increased free cash flow generation. And I'm pleased with our execution throughout the year.

第四季度，我們創造了 11.95 億美元的創紀錄收入，年增 11%。我們還創造了創紀錄的 1.97 億美元的非公認會計準則經營收入和 9,300 萬美元的自由現金流。進入 2024 年，我們致力於推動持久成長、持續擴大利潤率並增加自由現金流。我對我們全年的表現感到滿意。

For the full year, we generated revenue of $4.458 billion, representing 9% organic growth. Non-GAAP income from operations of $714 million and free cash flow of $657 million. We also completed our prior $3 billion share repurchase authorization, returning over $2.3 billion to shareholders in 2024 alone, and reducing our outstanding share count by 16% since the start of the year.

全年我們營收 44.58 億美元，有機成長 9%。非公認會計準則營業利潤為 7.14 億美元，自由現金流為 6.57 億美元。我們也完成了先前 30 億美元的股票回購授權，僅在 2024 年就向股東返還了超過 23 億美元，並且自今年年初以來我們的流通股數量減少了 16%。

Revenue in our Communications business for the quarter was $1.121 billion, up 12% year-over-year. Messaging revenue growth accelerated for a second consecutive quarter, while e-mail performance remained strong, driven in part by strong volumes during Cyber Week and the holiday season.

本季度，我們通訊業務的營收為 11.21 億美元，年增 12%。訊息傳遞收入連續第二季加速成長，而電子郵件表現依然強勁，部分原因是受到網路週和假期季節的強勁增長。

Political revenue contributed roughly 60 basis points to our reported revenue growth rate. This was partially offset by a 40 basis point headwind associated with sunsetting the software component of our Zipwhip business. which we have now fully lapped.

政治收入為我們報告的收入成長率貢獻了約 60 個基點。這被我們 Zipwhip 業務的軟體元件停產帶來的 40 個基點的不利因素部分抵消。現在我們已經完全覆蓋了。

Segment revenue for the quarter was $74 million, down 1% year-over-year. We were encouraged by the go-to-market execution in the quarter with bookings slightly accelerating year-over-year, along with over half of new bookings coming from multiyear deals.

本季分部營收為 7,400 萬美元，年減 1%。我們對本季的市場執行感到鼓舞，預訂量較去年同期略有成長，且超過一半的新預訂量來自多年期交易。

Our Q4 dollar-based net expansion rate was 106%, representing our best performance since Q1 of 2023 and reflecting the improving growth trends we've seen in our Communications business over the last several quarters. Our dollar-based net expansion rate for Communications was 108% and the dollar-based net expansion rate per Segment was 93%.

我們第四季的美元淨擴張率為 106%，這是我們自 2023 年第一季以來的最佳表現，也反映了我們過去幾季在通訊業務中看到的改善的成長趨勢。我們的通訊業務的美元淨擴張率為 108%，每個部門的美元淨擴張率為 93%。

We delivered record non-GAAP gross profit of $621 million, up 10% year-over-year. This represented a non-GAAP gross margin of 52%, down 40 basis points year-over-year and 100 basis points quarter-over-quarter. The decline in gross margins was driven by expected higher hosting costs during Cyber Week, as we referenced during our Q3 earnings call, along with an increase in revenue mix from Messaging.

我們實現了創紀錄的非公認會計準則毛利 6.21 億美元，年增 10%。這意味著非公認會計準則毛利率為 52%，年減 40 個基點，較上季下降 100 個基點。正如我們在第三季財報電話會議上所提到的，毛利率下降是由於網路週期間託管成本預計會增加，以及訊息服務收入組合的增加。

Non-GAAP gross margin for our Communications business unit was 50.6%, down 10 basis points year-over-year and 110 basis points quarter-over-quarter. As we referenced on our Q3 earnings call, the sequential decline was driven primarily by higher hosting costs associated with the holiday shopping season as well as higher Messaging revenue mix.

我們通訊業務部門的非公認會計準則毛利率為 50.6%，較去年同期下降 10 個基點，較上季下降 110 個基點。正如我們在第三季財報電話會議上提到的，連續下滑主要是由於假日購物季帶來的託管成本上升，以及訊息服務收入組合上升。

Non-GAAP gross margin for our Segment business unit was 72.3%, down 210 basis points year-over-year and up 240 basis points quarter-over-quarter. The sequential improvement was primarily driven by benefits from our Segment Infrastructure Migration project as well as hosting credits in the quarter. We largely completed this project during the fourth quarter, which we expect will help support Segment gross margins as we move into 2025.

我們分部業務部門的非公認會計準則毛利率為 72.3%，較去年同期下降 210 個基點，較上季成長 240 個基點。連續的改善主要得益於我們分部基礎設施遷移專案帶來的好處以及本季的託管信貸。我們在第四季度基本上完成了該項目，我們預計這將有助於在 2025 年支撐分部的毛利率。

Q4 non-GAAP income from operations came in modestly ahead of expectations at a record $197 million, up 14% year-over-year, driven by strong revenue growth and ongoing cost discipline. Our non-GAAP operating margin of 16.5% was up 40 basis points year-over-year and sequentially. In addition, we generated $14 million in GAAP income from operations, representing Twilio's first ever quarter of GAAP operating profitability.

第四季非公認會計準則營業利潤略高於預期，達到創紀錄的 1.97 億美元，年增 14%，這得益於強勁的收入成長和持續的成本控制。我們的非公認會計準則營業利潤率為 16.5%，比上一季和去年同期增長了 40 個基點。此外，我們還創造了 1,400 萬美元的 GAAP 營運收入，這是 Twilio 有史以來第一個季度實現 GAAP 營運盈利。

As I referenced at Investor Day last month, in Q4, we incurred $17 million in bad debt expenses related to our customer, Oi, a Brazilian telecom company as a result of a slowdown in their ongoing payment activity. We fully reserved our exposure to Oi's existing accounts receivables, which reduced operating margin by 140 basis points in the quarter.

正如我在上個月的投資者日上提到的，在第四季度，由於我們的客戶巴西電信公司 Oi 的持續付款活動放緩，我們產生了 1700 萬美元的壞帳費用。我們完全保留了對 Oi 現有應收帳款的風險敞口，這使得本季的營業利潤率降低了 140 個基點。

For the full-year 2024, we generated non-GAAP income from operations of $714 million, up 34% year-over-year, and our non-GAAP operating margin of 16% was up 320 basis points year-over-year. Non-GAAP income from operations for our Communications business was $275 million in the fourth quarter. For the full-year 2024, our Communications business generated over $1 billion in non-GAAP income from operations.

2024 年全年，我們的非公認會計準則營業收入為 7.14 億美元，較去年同期成長 34%，非公認會計準則營業利潤率為 16%，較去年同期成長 320 個基點。第四季度，我們通訊業務的非公認會計準則營業利潤為 2.75 億美元。2024 年全年，我們的通訊業務創造了超過 10 億美元的非 GAAP 營運收入。

Non-GAAP loss from operations for our Segment business was $10 million in the fourth quarter. Segment operating losses improved sequentially as a result of the gross margin improvement in the quarter and ongoing cost discipline. Our Segment business remains on track to achieve breakeven non-GAAP income from operations by Q2 of this year. Stock-based compensation as a percentage of revenue was 13%, down 60 basis points quarter-over-quarter and 240 basis points year-over-year, as we continue our efforts to reduce equity compensation.

第四季度，我們分部業務的非公認會計準則營業虧損為 1,000 萬美元。由於本季毛利率提高及持續的成本控制，分部經營虧損較上季改善。我們的分部業務仍有望在今年第二季實現收支平衡的非公認會計準則營業收入。股票薪酬佔收入的百分比為 13%，比上一季下降 60 個基點，比去年同期下降 240 個基點，因為我們繼續努力減少股權薪酬。

Full year 2024 net burn rate was 3.3%, down 160 basis points year-over-year. As a reminder, this does not include the impact of share repurchases conducted over the course of the year. We continue to manage dilution on a net burn basis, which we define as the number of employee stock units granted in a year net of forfeitures and divided by the prior year ending share count.

2024 年全年淨燒錢率為 3.3%，較去年同期下降 160 個基點。提醒一下，這不包括全年進行的股票回購的影響。我們繼續以淨消耗為基礎來管理稀釋，我們將其定義為一年內授予的員工股票單位數減去沒收股份後除以上一年期末的股票數量。

We generated free cash flow of $93 million in the quarter, down sequentially, as we anticipated, driven by incremental vendor prepayments totaling roughly $130 million. As a reminder, we periodically pay certain vendors early to secure favorable terms and pricing. For the full-year 2024, we generated $657 million in free cash flow, up 81% year-over-year and representing a margin of 14.7%, which was up 600 basis points year-over-year.

我們本季產生的自由現金流為 9,300 萬美元，環比下降，正如我們預期的那樣，這受供應商預付款增量（總額約為 1.3 億美元）的推動。提醒一下，我們會定期提前向某些供應商付款，以確保優惠的條款和價格。2024 年全年，我們產生了 6.57 億美元的自由現金流，年增 81%，利潤率為 14.7%，年增 600 個基點。

Before I turn to Q1 and fiscal year 2025 guidance, I wanted to recap the financial framework we announced at our Investor Day in January.

在談到第一季和 2025 財年指引之前，我想先回顧一下我們在一月份投資者日宣布的財務框架。

In 2027, we're targeting non-GAAP operating margins in the range of 21% to 22%, up 500 to 600 basis points compared with our full-year 2024 results. From 2025 to 2027, we expect to generate $3 billion-plus in cumulative free cash flow. We're targeting GAAP operating profitability in fiscal year 2025 and each year thereafter.

到 2027 年，我們的目標是非 GAAP 營業利潤率達到 21% 至 22%，與 2024 年全年業績相比增長 500 至 600 個基點。從 2025 年到 2027 年，我們預計累計自由現金流將超過 30 億美元。我們的目標是在 2025 財年及之後的每一年實現 GAAP 營業盈利。

We continue to focus on managing stock-based compensation and dilution responsibly, and we're targeting stock-based compensation at about 10% of revenue and net burn at less than 3% in fiscal year 2027. As a reminder, we continue to orient the business to deliver double-digit growth over time, though our framework assumes annual revenue growth through 2027 that is similar to our 2025 guidance of 7% to 8%.

我們將繼續致力於負責任地管理股票薪酬和股權稀釋，我們的目標是到 2027 財年，股票薪酬將佔收入的 10% 左右，淨消耗將低於 3%。提醒一下，我們將繼續引導業務隨著時間的推移實現兩位數的成長，但我們的框架假設到 2027 年的年收入成長率與我們預測的 2025 年 7% 至 8% 的成長率相似。

Finally, our Board recently authorized a $2 billion share repurchase program expiring at the end of 2027, and we're targeting an average of 50% of our annual free cash flow in capital returns to shareholders from 2025 through 2027.

最後，我們的董事會最近批准了一項 20 億美元的股票回購計劃，該計劃將於 2027 年底到期，我們的目標是從 2025 年到 2027 年，平均每年將 50% 的自由現金流作為資本回報給股東。

Moving to Q1 guidance. We're encouraged by the growth acceleration we saw in the second half of 2024, but we're continuing to plan prudently given our usage-based revenue model. For Q1, we're initiating a revenue target of $1.13 billion to $1.14 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 8% to 9%. The quarter-over-quarter decline in revenue reflects both the Q4 seasonality dynamic that we've seen in the last couple of years as well as a modest impact from Q4 political revenue.

轉向第一季指引。2024 年下半年的成長加速令我們感到鼓舞，但考慮到基於使用情況的收入模式，我們仍將繼續審慎規劃。對於第一季度，我們設定的營收目標是 11.3 億美元至 11.4 億美元，年增 8% 至 9%。營收季減既反映了過去幾年第四季的季節性動態，也反映了第四季政治收入的輕微影響。

I would also note that there are two fewer days in Q1 versus Q4 and one fewer day in Q1 versus the year-ago quarter. That being said, we continue to feel good about our guidance for the year and we're maintaining our full-year 2025 organic revenue growth guidance range of 7% to 8%.

我還要指出的是，第一季與第四季相比少了兩天，與去年同期相比少了一天。話雖如此，我們仍然對今年的預期感到滿意，並將 2025 年全年有機收入成長預期範圍維持在 7% 至 8% 之間。

Turning to our profit outlook. For Q1, we expect non-GAAP income from operations of $180 million to $190 million. And for the full year, we expect non-GAAP income from operations in the range of $825 million to $850 million. As anticipated, free cash flow in Q1 will be impacted by a roughly $120 million payment related to our company-wide cash bonus program that we implemented in 2024 as part of our efforts to reduce stock-based compensation.

談談我們的利潤前景。對於第一季度，我們預計非 GAAP 營業利潤為 1.8 億至 1.9 億美元。我們預計全年非公認會計準則營業利潤將在 8.25 億美元至 8.5 億美元之間。正如預期的那樣，第一季的自由現金流將受到約 1.2 億美元支付的影響，這筆支付與我們在 2024 年實施的全公司現金獎金計劃有關，這是我們減少股票薪酬的努力的一部分。

This will limit free cash flow generation in the first quarter. That said, we continue to expect to generate strong quarterly free cash flow over the balance of the year. And for the full year, we expect free cash flow in the range of $825 million to $850 million.

這將限制第一季的自由現金流產生。儘管如此，我們仍然預計在今年餘下時間將產生強勁的季度自由現金流。我們預計全年自由現金流將在 8.25 億美元至 8.5 億美元之間。

I'm very pleased with the accelerated revenue growth we delivered in the fourth quarter as well as our ongoing cost discipline that is driving strong profitability and free cash flow. I'm also encouraged by the innovation we are delivering and the impact new products and features are having both for our customers and on our revenue growth. We are confident in our plans to drive durable revenue growth, continued margin expansion, and strong free cash flow generation in 2025.

我對我們在第四季度實現的加速收入成長以及持續的成本控制感到非常高興，這推動了強勁的獲利能力和自由現金流。我們所提供的創新以及新產品和新功能對我們的客戶和我們的收入成長的影響也令我感到鼓舞。我們對我們的計劃充滿信心，該計劃將在 2025 年實現持久的收入成長、持續的利潤率擴大以及強勁的自由現金流產生。

And with that, we'll now open it up to questions.

現在，我們開始回答問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指令）

James Fish, Piper Sandler.

詹姆斯·菲什，派珀·桑德勒。

Thanks for the additional color here following the Analyst Day. Well done again at the Analyst Day. Trying to understand, given some of the macro stuff that's going on, how much of the strength you guys are seeing in messaging and e-mail is due to somewhat this return of the crypto world?

感謝您在分析師日之後提供的更多資訊。分析師日再次表現出色。試著去理解，考慮到正在發生的一些宏觀因素，你們在訊息傳遞和電子郵件中看到的優勢有多少是由於加密世界的回歸？

Hey, Jim, this is Aidan, and I'll take that question. So I'd say from a crypto perspective, we do see those customers exhibiting stronger volume, though it's, I would say, nowhere near returning to the levels that we saw in 2020 to 2022. So it's a bit better, but it's relatively immaterial to the grand scheme of things. So not a big driver for the business, messaging or e-mail.

嘿，吉姆，我是艾丹，我來回答這個問題。因此，我想從加密貨幣的角度來看，我們確實看到這些客戶表現出更強的交易量，儘管我想說，它遠遠沒有回到 2020 年至 2022 年的水平。因此，這稍微好一些，但對於總體而言，這相對不重要。因此，它對業務、訊息傳遞或電子郵件而言並不是一個重要的驅動力。

So it was nice to see Segment here in terms of like, while revenue was a little bit down year-on-year, if I look at that deferred revenue bill, it seems that implied billings was up north of 20%, if I get most of that over to that side. Is the Segment business seeing a bottom? Or how much is the sort of billing strength attributable to that big deal you referenced?

因此，很高興看到這裡的分部，雖然收入同比略有下降，但如果我看一下遞延收入賬單，似乎隱含賬單上漲了 20% 以上，如果我把其中大部分算到那邊的話。分公司業務是否已經觸底？或者說，您提到的那筆大交易對帳單實力有多大影響？

Yes. Maybe I'll comment on the backlog or the RPO, and Khozema wants to add anything on the business, you can do so. But yes, both the RPO balance you're looking at, CRPO balance as well, they're really driven by Segment. And so the growth really is driven by a combination of bookings growth as well as the percentage of new bookings that are tied to multiyear deals.

是的。也許我會對積壓或 RPO 發表評論，而 Khozema 想在業務上添加任何內容，你可以這樣做。但是的，您所查看的 RPO 餘額以及 CRPO 餘額實際上都是由 Segment 驅動的。因此，成長實際上是由預訂量成長以及與多年期交易相關的新預訂量百分比共同推動的。

And what we saw in the quarter was bookings were up a bit, but also that over 50% of the deals that we booked in the quarter were multiyear. And so that's been a point that the team has been working on and focused on, and we're starting to see that kind of show up in the bookings metric. So that's part of what is driving it.

我們在本季看到的是訂單量略有增加，但本季我們訂單中的 50% 以上是多年期交易。這就是團隊一直努力並關注的一點，我們開始看到這一點在預訂量指標中得到體現。這正是推動此事的部分原因。

And then I would say, I would note that any of these metrics that you're kind of looking at any of these deals, that they're 12 months or less in initial duration when you look at the actual metric that you're looking at on the balance sheet. So they're not fully representative of Segment's book of business. So that's a little bit on the metric. I don't know if you want to add anything on the business. Khozema.

然後我想說，我會注意到，當您查看這些交易中的任何指標時，當您查看資產負債表上的實際指標時，它們的初始持續時間為 12 個月或更短。所以它們並不能完全代表 Segment 的業務。這與指標有關。我不知道您是否想就業務進行補充。科澤瑪。

Yes, Jim, all I would say is that I think this has been sort of a steady-as-she-goes story, right? Like I think that there have been a number of operational improvements that we made in the business. I think going back to the operating review that we announced last year, there were a number of things that we wanted to do to improve performance, both on the technology and innovation side, but also in terms of the way that we are running the business.

是的，吉姆，我只想說，我認為這一直是一個穩步前進的故事，對嗎？我認為我們在業務上已經做出了許多營運改善。我認為回顧我們去年宣布的營運評估，我們想做很多事情來提高業績，既在技術和創新方面，也在我們經營業務的方式方面。

And I think you're starting to see a lot of that show up in the balance sheet item that you referenced. And I think, ultimately, that will turn into revenue. I think it's going to take a little bit of time. Revenue does lag. But I think sitting here today, we feel pretty good about the stand-alone business. And I think we feel even better about the way that the Segment asset actually contributes to the overall growth story that we laid out during the Investor Day.

我認為您已經開始看到其中許多內容出現在您引用的資產負債表項目中。我認為，最終這將轉化為收入。我認為這需要一點時間。收入確實滯後。但我認為，今天坐在這裡，我們對獨立業務感覺相當良好。我認為，我們對分部資產實際上對我們在投資者日期間闡述的整體成長故事的貢獻感到更加滿意。

Michael Turrin, Wells Fargo Securities.

富國證券的邁克爾圖林 (Michael Turrin)。

Hey, great. Thanks very much. Appreciate you taking the question and congrats on a return to double-digit growth. I was hoping you could maybe just spend some time speaking the ways you aim to ensure the growth improvements you're seeing prove durable. What are you using to build those initial 2025 assumptions? And then what are some of the swing factors we should contemplate that could keep you at the more aspirational double-digit growth level?

嘿，太棒了。非常感謝。感謝您回答這個問題，並祝賀我們重回兩位數增長。我希望您能花一些時間談談您計劃採取哪些措施來確保您所看到的成長改善能夠持久。您使用什麼來建構這些最初的 2025 年假設？那麼，我們應該考慮哪些影響因素，才能讓您維持更理想的兩位數成長水準？

Yes, maybe I'll start by kind of what we saw in the quarter. And I think what's important when we look at the growth in both Q3 and Q4, first of all, it really wasn't driven by political. In Q4, we talked about it being 60 basis points. That was largely offset by the end of life of our software business in Zipwhip. So it's true 11% operational growth. And importantly, it wasn't one thing driving it, right?

是的，也許我將從我們本季看到的情況開始。我認為，當我們觀察第三季和第四季的成長時，重要的是，首先，它並不是由政治因素驅動的。在第四季度，我們討論的是60個基點。這在很大程度上被 Zipwhip 軟體業務的終止所抵消。因此11%的營運成長率是真實的。而且重要的是，這不是由某一件事驅動的，對嗎？

When you look at it by product, we saw strength again in accelerated growth in Messaging. E-mail has been strong all year, continue to be strong. We had a record-breaking Cyber Week with strength in both -- in Messaging, E-mail and Voice. Khozema kind of gave you some of those stats in his prepared remarks. ISVs were strong, self-service strong.

從產品角度來看，我們再次看到了訊息傳遞功能加速成長的強勁勢頭。電子郵件這一年一直表現強勁，並將繼續保持強勁。我們度過了一個破紀錄的網路週，在訊息、電子郵件和語音方面都表現出色。Khozema 在準備好的演講中向你提供了一些統計數據。ISV 很強大，自助服務也很強大。

When you look at it by industry, we've disclosed the top 5 at our Investor Day, but we saw strength in tech, financial services, health care, retail, e-commerce, advertising. They all exhibited healthy growth. And then geographically, it was similar. So I think that's important for us, right? It's not one thing that's kind of driving the strength, but it's pretty broad overall.

從業界來看，我們在投資者日公佈了前五名，但我們看到科技、金融服務、醫療保健、零售、電子商務和廣告等領域的實力較強。它們都表現出健康的成長。從地理上看，也是相似的。所以我認為這對我們很重要，對吧？推動力量的因素並非單一，整體而言，影響相當廣泛。

From a planning perspective and as we think about what we're guiding to, which is 7% to 8% for the year, we feel pretty good about that. We know that we're running ahead of that, obviously, in the second half of 2024. But just given the usage-based nature of our business, we think that it's prudent to continue to plan -- or smart to continue to plan prudently.

從規劃的角度來看，當我們考慮我們的指導目標時，今年的成長率為 7％ 至 8％，我們對此感覺非常滿意。我們知道，我們顯然會在 2024 年下半年實現這一目標。但考慮到我們業務的基於使用性質，我們認為繼續規劃是明智之舉——或者說明智之舉是繼續審慎地規劃。

In terms of what swing factors could be to drive double-digit growth, as we talked about at Investor Day, that's how we're orienting the business today. We are running the place internally that way. We're planning a bit more prudently. But we'll continue to drive those actions internally.

至於哪些波動因素可能會推動兩位數成長，正如我們在投資者日所討論的那樣，這就是我們今天業務的方向。我們在內部就是透過這種方式來管理這個地方的。我們正在製定更加審慎的計劃。但我們將繼續在內部推動這些行動。

Yes. There's nothing, Michael, that I would really add. I mean I think -- I'd certainly echo all of what Aidan said. I think when you break it down by some of the channels, like we feel pretty good about the activity there. I think we referenced during the Investor Day as well as during today's conversation, the fact that we are seeing a number of AI green shoots. I think that's pretty positive.

是的。邁克爾，我真的沒有什麼可補充的。我的意思是我認為——我肯定會贊同艾丹所說的一切。我認為，當你透過某些管道進行細分時，我們會對那裡的活動感覺相當良好。我想我們在投資者日以及今天的談話中都提到過，我們看到了許多人工智慧的綠芽。我認為這是非常積極的。

I think the most important part of the story, frankly, is, A, that the way that we're kind of tuning and running the place is towards that double-digit number. And so guidance aside, like that's the way that we are running the place. And then I think on the other side, there's just a lot of momentum in terms of the number of things that we have underway that's ultimately going to spring from innovation and technology.

坦白說，我認為故事中最重要的部分是，A，我們正在調整和運行這個地方的方式是為了實現兩位數的目標。所以除了指導之外，這就是我們管理這個地方的方式。然後我認為另一方面，就我們正在進行的許多事情而言，它們有著很大的發展勢頭，這些事情最終都將源自於創新和技術。

But we feel pretty good about the way that things are shaping up. And look, we just did our Investor Day a couple of weeks ago, so we're just a few weeks on from there. And in the context of the framework, look, we feel really good going forward.

但我們對於事態的發展感到十分滿意。你看，我們幾週前剛剛舉辦了投資者日，所以從那時起我們只剩下幾週的時間了。在框架的背景下，我們對未來的發展感到非常滿意。

That's great. Just as a quick follow-up on gross margin. Know that line can move around a bit, if we're looking 4Q relative to rest of year, is that more seasonal traffic driven? And are you confident in ability to continue to deliver some level of gross margin expansion as you progress towards those '27 targets? Thank you.

那太棒了。只是想快速跟進毛利率。知道這條線可能會稍微移動，如果我們相對於一年中其他時間來看第四季度，這是否更受季節性流量的影響？在朝著這『27 個目標』邁進的過程中，您是否有信心繼續實現一定程度的毛利率擴張？謝謝。

Yes. So what I would say -- I'll answer that in two pieces. So in terms of Q4, it's -- we kind of signaled this a little bit coming into the quarter. We always have higher hosting costs in Q4 just given how much traffic is going over the platform. And so we provision for that because it's important to us that we maintain trust with our customers and are resilient in terms of being able to deliver important traffic during things like Cyber Week. So hosting costs were a factor. You'll see, if you look from Q3 to Q4 in 2023, that was a similar dynamic.

是的。所以我想說的是──我將分成兩部分來回答這個問題。因此就第四季度而言，我們在進入本季時已經暗示了這一點。考慮到平台的流量，我們第四季的託管成本總是較高。因此，我們為此做好了準備，因為對我們來說，維護客戶信任並在網路週等活動期間保持傳遞重要流量的能力非常重要。因此託管成本是一個因素。您會發現，如果從 2023 年第三季到第四季度，情況是類似的。

The other thing that happened in the quarter was there was a greater mix of messaging product revenue as a percentage of total. So we talked about the fact that that business was strong. It accelerated from a growth perspective in Q4. And so that had a mix effect as well. As you know, that business carries lower gross margins.

本季發生的另一件事是，訊息傳遞產品收入在總收入中所佔的比例增加。因此我們談論了該業務強勁的事實。從第四季的成長角度來看，其成長速度有所加速。因此這也產生了混合效應。如您所知，該業務的毛利率較低。

Now as we think about the plan for the framework that we provided at Investor Day and the 21% to 22% operating margin target by 2027, what we said is that assumes basically constant gross margins. We aren't assuming an uplift in gross margins to achieve those -- that framework. Now is there opportunity over time? I think so, when you look at the mix of our products and how many of them carry software like gross margins.

現在，當我們考慮投資者日提供的框架計劃以及到 2027 年實現 21％ 至 22％ 的營業利潤率目標時，我們所說的是假設毛利率基本上保持不變。我們並沒有假設透過提高毛利率來實現這些目標——這個框架。現在隨著時間的推移還有機會嗎？我認為是的，當你看看我們的產品組合以及其中有多少帶有軟體的毛利率。

But I think the reality is in the near term, messaging mix, both from a product perspective as well as where traffic is terminating geographically, will have an impact. So we're planning for roughly flat gross margins over the next several years.

但我認為現實情況是，在短期內，資訊組合（無論是從產品角度還是從流量在地理位置上終止的位置）都會產生影響。因此，我們計劃在未來幾年內保持毛利率基本持平。

Nick Altmann, Scotiabank.

加拿大豐業銀行的尼克‧阿爾特曼 (Nick Altmann)。

Awesome. Thank you. You guys alluded to a large deal strength in Q4. And at the Investor Day, you highlighted how that $1 million-plus customer cohort was, I believe, the fastest growing. So Khozema, can you just maybe talk about the high end and what's driving the strength there? Is that more volume driven? Is it more cross-sell driven?

驚人的。謝謝。你們提到第四季的交易力道很大。在投資者日，您強調了為什麼價值 100 萬美元以上的客戶群是成長最快的。那麼 Khozema，您能否談談高端產品以及推動其發展的因素是什麼？這是更多的銷量驅動嗎？它是否更多地受到交叉銷售的驅動？

And then my follow-up is, when you look at the improvements in the Communications expansion rate, how much of that is being driven by those larger deals or the high-end customers? Thank you.

然後我的後續問題是，當您查看通訊擴展率的改進時，其中有多少是由那些較大的交易或高端客戶推動的？謝謝。

Yes. So let me just step back for a second. I think that as we look at a lot of these larger deals, it's always going to be a combination of new land and then, of course, expand via cross-sell. But I think what's really important and interesting for our business, as you kind of think back to the Investor Day, is that a lot more of our customers are seeing value from using multiple of our products, on one hand, and then I think even more importantly, by using the combination of products, especially as it relates to the way in which communications and data interact and then as we start to use AI.

是的。因此，請讓我稍微退一步。我認為，當我們審視許多此類大型交易時，它總是新土地的組合，然後當然是透過交叉銷售進行擴張。但我認為，對於我們的業務來說真正重要和有趣的是，當你回想起投資者日時，一方面，我們的許多客戶都看到了使用多種產品的價值；另一方面，我認為更重要的是，透過使用產品組合，特別是當它與通訊和數據互動的方式相關時，然後我們開始使用人工智慧。

So I'd say, increasingly, the larger, more sophisticated use cases that we're seeing deployed, enterprise customers, they're all kind of heading down that path. But it's always going to be a combination of expansion through cross-sell, but there are a handful of -- more than a handful of new deals in there as well. So it's kind of a combination, but I think it's customers increasingly moving towards our vision.

所以我想說，我們看到部署的規模越大，越複雜的用例，企業客戶都在朝著這個方向發展。但它始終是透過交叉銷售進行擴張的組合，但其中也有一些——不止一些新的交易。所以這是一種結合，但我認為客戶越來越朝著我們的願景前進。

Remind me, Nick, what was the second part of your question related to expansion?

提醒我一下，尼克，你問題的第二部分與擴張有關嗎？

Yes. Just on the Communications DBNRR, that looked pretty --

是的。僅在通訊 DBNRR 上，看起來很漂亮--

How much of it is driven by larger deals?

其中有多少是由大型交易推動的？

Yes, yes.

是的，是的。

Yes. I think it's, again, a little bit more broad than that. Like I think the fortunate dynamic that we're seeing in the business right now, as Aidan alluded to, the trends that we're seeing aren't concentrated in any particular area that instead they are broad-based. And so I wouldn't per se point to large deals as being the driver. I would instead say we're seeing it kind of across the board, and that's certainly very encouraging for us.

是的。我認為，它的意義比這更廣泛一些。就像我認為我們現在在業務中看到的幸運動態一樣，正如艾丹所提到的那樣，我們看到的趨勢並不集中在任何特定領域，而是廣泛的。因此，我不會從本質上指出大額交易是推動因素。我想說的是，我們在各個方面都看到了這一點，這對我們來說無疑非常令人鼓舞。

Mark Murphy, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的馬克墨菲。

Thank you very much. The number of AI customers that you've racked up is pretty amazing. You had mentioned it at the Analyst Day. Wondering if you could shed light on how much of that is tied to authentication or something that ties into an app download at the front end of the cycle versus something that might align with an ongoing AI usage pattern.

非常感謝。您累積的人工智慧客戶數量相當驚人。您在分析師日上提到過這一點。想知道您是否可以解釋其中有多少與身份驗證相關，或者與週期前端的應用程式下載相關，以及有多少可能與正在進行的 AI 使用模式相一致。

And then is that AI business driving any tangible tailwind to revenue growth? For instance, is that greater than where the political contribution tailwind was?

那麼，人工智慧業務是否會為營收成長帶來實際的推動力呢？例如，這是否比政治捐款順風更大？

Say the last part again, Mark?

馬克，再說一次最後一部分？

I would say -- I'll answer the last and then maybe Khozema can take the first. It's not contributing meaningfully. Like I'd say it's a mix of different types of customers. Some are really small and just getting started on our platform. Others are larger enterprise customers that are now building different AI use cases.

我想說——我會回答最後一個問題，然後也許 Khozema 可以回答第一個問題。這並沒有帶來有意義的貢獻。就像我想說的，這是不同類型的客戶的混合。有些公司規模很小，剛開始使用我們的平台。其他是較大的企業客戶，目前正在建立不同的 AI 用例。

But in terms of the growth rate, it's a mix obviously across the different group, but I wouldn't say it's a huge tailwind to our revenue right now.

但就成長率而言，這顯然是不同集團之間的混合，但我不會說它現在對我們的收入來說是一個巨大的推動力。

Yes. And I think similar dynamic in terms of use cases, I mean it really -- it spans the spectrum there, Mark. I think you certainly do have folks that are doing to 2FA as a part of it. I think one like really good example vis-a-vis usage, 1-800-ChatGPT, obviously, that was a pretty cool use case to launch, so a lot of volume.

是的。我認為在用例方面存在類似的動態，我的意思是它確實涵蓋了整個範圍，馬克。我認為確實有一些人正在將 2FA 作為其中的一部分。我認為就使用情況而言，一個很好的例子是 1-800-ChatGPT，顯然，這是一個非常酷的用例，因此數量很多。

I think as well, like you're seeing a lot of vertical AI startups like in a number of different industries that are really trying to ramp up quickly. We see a lot of those companies riding on our infrastructure rails that would be non-authentication, if you will.

我也認為，正如你所看到的，許多垂直人工智慧新創企業，例如在許多不同的行業中，都在努力迅速崛起。我們看到很多公司都搭乘我們的基礎設施軌道，如果你願意的話，這些軌道是不需要身份驗證的。

And so it really kind of runs the gamut. Like I wouldn't say there's like a materially different mix necessarily than the business at large. But I think what's most encouraging about it is, again, the fact that we have as many as we do, the way that we'll be able to grow with these folks over time, I think the folks that are in the vertical spaces, in particular, the ability to use data as well, will enrich those use cases down the road. And again, having broad-based strength here is a good thing.

所以它確實涵蓋了所有內容。就像我不會說這與整個業務必然存在實質的不同。但我認為最令人鼓舞的是，我們擁有如此多的員工，我們將能夠隨著時間的推移與這些人一起成長，我認為，特別是處於垂直空間的員工，他們也有使用數據的能力，這將豐富未來的用例。再次強調，擁有廣泛的力量是件好事。

Thank you for that, Khozema. And a quick follow-up for Aidan. Just curious how commonly do you think we're going to see that -- this kind of a huge prepayment? You mentioned the $130 million won recently. Is it -- should we think of it as being an annual possibility in Q4 if you're going to be benefiting from some great terms and conditions? Or do you think it's going to be more episodic than that?

謝謝你，Khozema。並對艾丹 (Aidan) 進行了快速跟進。只是好奇，您認為這種巨額預付款的情況有多常見？您最近提到了 1.3 億美元贏利。如果您將受益於一些優惠的條款和條件，我們是否應該將其視為第四季度的年度可能性？或者您認為它會比這更具情節性？

I think it will be more episodic than that, Mark. I mean we happen to have a large prepayment, you said $130 million, in Q4. I just think that the way we think about it is just given the strength of our balance sheet, this is something we want to continue to do with different strategic vendors from time to time. It really allows us to secure better unit economics and pricing and better terms for the business.

馬克，我認為它會比這更具情節性。我的意思是我們剛好有一大筆預付款，你說的第四季是 1.3 億美元。我只是認為，考慮到我們資產負債表的實力，我們的想法是，我們希望不時繼續與不同的策略供應商合作。它確實使我們能夠確保更好的單位經濟效益和定價以及更好的業務條款。

And so it won't necessarily be every Q4, to answer your question directly. But from time to time in different quarters, you will see these different prepayments. There's always kind of a run rate level in the business every quarter. But like I said, some quarters may be bigger than other. I just don't want to assume it's going to be every Q4. It doesn't necessarily play out that way.

因此，不一定每個第四季都會直接回答您的問題。但在不同的季度中，你會看到這些不同的預付款。每季的業務運作率總是有一定的水準。但就像我說的，有些地方可能比其他地方更大。我只是不想假設它會在每個第四季發生。事情不一定就會這樣發展。

Ryan Koontz, Needham & Co.

Ryan Koontz，Needham & Co.

Great. Nice to hear some of your progress in the RCS market, some early wins there. As we look at this, how would you characterize where the market is today? Can it scale? What are the keys to success here from the industry? Is there a multi-operator interconnect working today? Does it work internationally? Can you walk us through just a minute on where we are?

偉大的。很高興聽到您在 RCS 市場取得了一些進展和早期的成功。當我們看到這一點時，您如何描述當前的市場狀況？它能夠擴展嗎？這個產業成功的關鍵是什麼？目前有多業者互聯互通嗎？它在國際上有效嗎？能簡單介紹一下我們現在在哪裡嗎？

Yes, Ryan, this is Khozema. I'll take that. So I think in terms of where we are, it's incredibly early. I think, again, you know the story pretty well, like RCS has actually been around for a long time. I think we're encouraged by some of the early deployments. But I still think that there are a variety of challenges that still exist in the ecosystem, I think interoperability being one of those.

是的，Ryan，這是 Khozema。我接受。因此我認為，就我們目前所處的階段而言，現在還為時過早。我想，你對這個故事非常了解，就像 RCS 實際上已經存在很久了。我認為一些早期的部署令我們感到鼓舞。但我仍然認為生態系統中仍有各種挑戰，我認為互通性就是其中之一。

All that said, I think that we're ready. I mean we want to support customers. I think the part of it that we're actually the most excited about is the branded nature of it. The notion that when you interact with the brand, that you know exactly who it is on the other side. And beyond that, I mean the engagements themselves are very rich, right, in terms of not having to go to an app or a website or what have you.

儘管如此，我認為我們已經準備好了。我的意思是我們想為客戶提供支援。我認為我們實際上最興奮的部分是它的品牌性質。當你與品牌互動時，你會清楚知道品牌的另一端是誰。除此之外，我的意思是，互動本身非常豐富，不需要去應用程式或網站或其他地方。

I think, we've talked in the past, I think the utility of it has a limited set of use cases depending on how the RCS works. And so I think where we are on it is very much ready. We'd be excited if it really took off. I think we're kind of cautiously optimistic about the way that it plays out. I think we view it as being sort of neutral to modestly accretive to the way that we kind of think about things. And in some, very, very early days. I think the volumes that we're seeing, I mean, they're certainly taking off relative to where they were, but it's off a pretty low base.

我想，我們過去曾談過，我認為它的實用性有一組有限的用例，這取決於 RCS 的工作方式。所以我認為我們現在已經做好了充分的準備。如果它真的成功了，我們會非常興奮。我認為我們對事情的進展持謹慎樂觀的態度。我認為我們認為它對我們思考事物的方式是一種中性到適度的增值。並且在某些非常非常早期的日子裡。我認為，我們看到的交易量相對於先前的水準肯定有所上升，但基數還是比較低的。

I assume the Android ecosystem is kind of far ahead of the Apple ecosystem right now?

我認為目前 Android 生態系統遠遠領先 Apple 生態系統？

Yes, much further ahead.

是的，而且還在更進一步。

Got it. Yes, Android. Right.

知道了。是的，安卓。正確的。

Meta Marshall, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的 Meta Marshall。

Great. Thanks. Maybe you could just give a sense -- I know, obviously, you have a lot of existing customers, and you'll get idea of their business performance by usage. But just kind of what you're seeing kind of on the business environment as we start the year just kind of as you go through sales cycles?

偉大的。謝謝。也許您可以給出一個概念——我知道，顯然您有很多現有客戶，您可以透過使用情況來了解他們的業務表現。但是，當我們開始新的一年並經歷銷售週期時，您在商業環境中看到了什麼？

And then maybe as a second question, on the Segment piece, the net expansion rate still kind of being below 100%. Just kind of when do you expect some of the new wins and traction that you're seeing can kind of help improve that metric? Thanks.

然後也許作為第二個問題，在細分部分，淨擴張率仍然低於 100%。您認為何時您所看到的一些新勝利和新進展能夠有助於改善此指標？謝謝。

Yes. Meta, I think we feel pretty positive about the business environment. I mean, I think -- I don't want to get ahead of Q1 beyond the guidance that we provided, but I think just generally, based on the trend line that we saw in Q4, that customers are ready to engage. They're excited about the products and services that we've got. I think they're very excited about the vision that we've laid out in terms of the communications plus data, plus AI. I think the fact that there are a number of fielded use cases now and products that go with that, that they can avail themselves of.

是的。Meta，我認為我們對商業環境感到非常樂觀。我的意思是，我認為——我不想超越我們提供的指導，但我認為總體而言，基於我們在第四季度看到的趨勢線，客戶已經準備好參與。他們對我們的產品和服務感到非常興奮。我認為他們對我們在通訊、數據和人工智慧方面提出的願景感到非常興奮。我認為事實上現在已經有大量的實際用例以及與之相關的產品可供他們利用。

I'd say pretty positive on balance. I mean, again, I don't want to get too far ahead of it, but we feel pretty good about the business environment. I think, just one thing I'll note is, we always kind of plan around a neutral macro. So nothing that we've kind of said or -- and certainly nothing in the business really, I wouldn't take from that we're planning for like a rebounding macro or anything like that.

我覺得整體來說還是比較正面的。我再說一遍，我不想走太遠，但我們對當前的商業環境感覺相當良好。我想，我要注意的一件事是，我們總是圍繞著中性宏觀進行規劃。因此，無論我們說什麼，或實際上在業務中做什麼，我都不會從我們的計劃中得出任何結論，例如宏觀反彈或諸如此類的東西。

We're planning for neutral. We'll certainly be a beneficiary of a higher macro. And if it gets worse, we could see us get clipped from that a little bit. But we're planning for neutral.

我們計劃保持中立。我們肯定會成為更高宏觀經濟的受益者。如果情況變得更糟，我們可能會看到自己受到一點打擊。但我們計劃保持中立。

In terms of net expansion, look, we're not -- it's not like a metric that we per se run the business to. What I would say about it is, is that when we look at some of the key inputs into the way that we think about the standalone Segment business, I'd say, number one, we're seeing a lot more stickiness in terms of the deals because they are more multiyear. Number two, we've done some work on the technology side to get customers activated much more quickly so that they're getting ROI, I think that certainly helps.

就淨擴張而言，你看，我們並不是──它並不是我們本身經營業務的標準。我想說的是，當我們審視對獨立分部業務的看法中的一些關鍵因素時，我想說，首先，我們看到交易的粘性大大增強，因為它們的期限更多為多年期。第二，我們在技術方面做了一些工作，以便讓客戶更快地激活，從而獲得投資回報，我認為這肯定有幫助。

And then I think, three, the way in which it now interoperates with some of the data warehouses, which was sort of long a request from customers, like all of that is in place. And I think that that all ends up being good for the business. I'm sure you heard the question earlier about the balance sheet dynamics with the business.

然後我認為，第三，它現在與一些資料倉儲互通的方式，這是客戶長期以來的要求，就像所有這些都已到位一樣。我認為這最終對企業有利。我相信您之前已經聽說過有關企業資產負債表動態的問題。

We feel better about where it is. I think it's work in progress. We want to make it even better, of course, and revenue and the -- or the expansion characteristics will kind of follow all that.

我們對它的現狀感覺更好。我認為這項工作正在進行中。當然，我們希望讓它變得更好，收入和擴張特性也會跟著來。

Arjun Bhatia, William Blair.

阿瓊·巴蒂亞、威廉·布萊爾。

Perfect. Thank you, guys. Maybe the first one, I'll focus on NRR on the other side of the business, the comp side, the 108% is pretty impressive here. I'd be curious to hear how much of that is improvements in gross retention versus, certainly, there's been a focus in the business in investing in innovation, product cross-sell, so the split between that would be interesting to hear.

完美的。謝謝你們。也許第一個，我將專注於業務另一方的 NRR，即可比方面，108% 的比例相當令人印象深刻。我很好奇，其中有多少是總留存率的提高，當然，業務的重點是投資創新、產品交叉銷售，因此，了解這兩者之間的差距將會很有趣。

And then how do you expect this to evolve? Is this a sustainable level going forward as some of those initiatives play out? Or is Q4 maybe -- so there's some seasonality in there that we should consider going forward?

那麼你預計這一情況將會如何發展呢？隨著一些措施的實施，這個水準是否能持續下去？或者可能是第四季度——因此我們應該考慮其中的一些季節性因素？

Yes, I'll take that, Arjun. This is Aidan. So the Comms DBNE accelerated to 108% in Q4. I'd say it generally tracks revenue growth, right, if you look at it over time. But when you break it down, obviously, like I said, we had accelerated growth in Messaging. We saw strong performance in E-mail. So I'd say from a product perspective, largely coming from there.

是的，我接受，阿瓊。這是艾丹。因此，Comms DBNE 在第四季度加速至 108%。我想說，如果從一段時間來看，它通常會追蹤收入成長。但當你把它分解開來時，顯然，就像我說的，我們在訊息傳遞方面加速了成長。我們看到電子郵件方面表現強勁。因此我想說從產品角度來看，很大程度都來自於此。

When you break it down between the different churn contraction/expansion elements of DBNE, churn was low. It has historically been low, continued to be low. We really saw the improvement through increased expansion. I'd say a modest reduction in contraction, like that's how I'd characterize it.

當您將其分解到 DBNE 的不同流失收縮/擴張元素之間時，流失率很低。從歷史上看，它一直處於低位，並且持續處於低位。我們確實透過擴大擴張看到了進步。我想說的是收縮適度減少，就像我這樣描述它。

When you look at DBNE by our different sales segments, I'd say the two that, I would say, performed really well were ISVs as well as self-serve. And we talked about them at our Investor Day, those are key go-to-market segments for us. They continued to perform well in the fourth quarter as well.

當您從不同的銷售細分市場來看待 DBNE 時，我會說，表現真正出色的是 ISV 和自助服務。我們在投資者日上討論了這些，這些是我們進入市場的關鍵部分。他們在第四節也繼續表現良好。

And then by industry, it was a number of different industries, but that gives you a sense of how to think about it a couple of different ways. In terms of how to think about it going forward, I'd just say like it tracks revenue. We don't guide to this metric, so I'm not going to provide a specific number, but it will track largely kind of the revenue trends of the company.

然後按行業劃分，它包括許多不同的行業，但這會讓您了解如何從幾個不同的角度來思考它。對於未來如何思考，我只想說它就像追蹤收入一樣。我們不指導這個指標，所以我不會提供一個具體的數字，但它將在很大程度上追蹤公司的收入趨勢。

Okay. Got it, Aidan. That's helpful. And then maybe zooming out a little bit. At Investor Day, we talked a lot about kind of cross-sell as a big driver of growth. And I think you had mentioned I think 63% of customers are single product.

好的。明白了，艾丹。這很有幫助。然後可能再縮小一點。在投資者日，我們多次討論交叉銷售作為成長的重要動力。我記得您曾經提到過，63% 的客戶只購買單一產品。

When you think about the cross-sell opportunity, like how do you bucket it in terms of maybe like here's kind of the layup products that you can sell, and like are there others that are home runs that are maybe longer sales cycles but where customers could significantly increase in size? Like how are you approaching that from a product and go-to-market perspectives?

當您考慮交叉銷售機會時，您會如何對其進行分類，例如，也許這是您可以銷售的上籃產品，還有其他本壘打產品，也許銷售週期更長，但客戶規模可以顯著增加？例如，從產品和市場進入的角度，您如何處理這個問題？

Yes, Arjun, that's a good question. I think a couple of answers. So one is we have concentrated incentives as part of the sales incentive plan to make sure that our teams are focused on it. And I think they're excited about that alignment there.

是的，阿瓊，這是個好問題。我認為有幾個答案。一是我們將集中激勵作為銷售激勵計劃的一部分，以確保我們的團隊專注於此。我認為他們對這種結盟感到興奮。

I think second thing, kind of to the real heart of your question, like are there -- I think the word you used was layups. I mean, it's never a layup. But I think on some of the easier side, if you will, you would imagine that customers, their ability to use SMS and e-mail in combination, or SMS and voice in combination, like some of the kind of classic channels. Or if it ever -- if it really took off, like with RCS, like being able to kind of reinforce some of that activity with a voice workload afterwards.

我認為第二件事，有點像你問題的真正核心，例如──我認為你用的字是上籃。我的意思是，這絕對不是上籃。但我認為，從簡單的角度來看，如果您願意的話，您可以想像客戶能夠結合使用簡訊和電子郵件，或結合使用簡訊和語音，就像某些經典管道一樣。或者如果它真的能夠像 RCS 那樣起飛，那麼能夠在之後透過語音工作負載來強化其中的一些活動。

So I'd say any one of those combinations, I wouldn't limit it to those necessarily, but those are pretty attractive. They're going to end up being shorter sales cycles because they're already plugged into one of our Communications APIs, we can get customers up and running pretty quickly. We have a number of actually deployed use cases in which customers actually get more value by using two channels at the same time or complementary versus just one. So we can point to a lot of evidence there too where customers are getting a lot of value.

所以我想說，任何一種組合，我不一定會將其限制在這些，但它們都非常有吸引力。它們的銷售週期最終會縮短，因為它們已經插入了我們的一個通訊 API，我們可以讓客戶很快啟動並運行。我們有許多實際部署的用例，其中客戶透過同時使用兩個管道或互補使用兩個管道而不是只使用一個管道實際上可以獲得更多價值。因此我們也可以指出許多證據來證明客戶獲得了很多價值。

So I'd say, the first part of your question there, like that's probably on the easier side. I think that said, it's a little bit longer of a sales cycle. But again, we're incentivizing our teams to make sure that they're focused on this too. That combination of data with communications, like there's a lot of work that's going on in our R&D team to make sure that, in the same way that I described like on-ramping a channel, the same way it is as easy to on-ramp data also through kind of a singular or simple set of APIs, if it can't be done through one.

所以我想說，你問題的第一部分可能比較容易。我認為，銷售週期會稍微長一些。但同樣，我們正在激勵我們的團隊，以確保他們也專注於此。資料與通訊的結合，就像我們的研發團隊正在進行的許多工作一樣，以確保以我所描述的方式（例如打開一個頻道）輕鬆地透過單一或簡單的一組 API 來開啟資料（如果無法透過一個 API 來完成）。

And I do think we're seeing a lot of interest there. I think it will take a little bit more time. But the easier that we make it, if we can make it completely self-servable, like that's really where we're headed with it. And I think that will start to take off, but that will take some time because of the R&D investment cycle.

我確實認為我們在那裡看到了很多興趣。我認為這還需要一點時間。但如果我們可以讓它變得完全自助，那麼我們就會讓它變得更容易，這才是我們真正想要實現的目標。我認為這將會開始起步，但由於研發投資週期，這需要一些時間。

Alex Zukin, Wolfe Research.

沃爾夫研究公司的亞歷克斯祖金 (Alex Zukin)

Thank you, guys. I wanted to ask just maybe, again, we're still early into this whole kind of consistent guidance framework and coming out of the Analyst Day where you did a great job. Maybe just talk about how much conservatism, how you've thought about conservatism baked into both Q1 and as we get through the year. And then just a quick question about that bad debt expense, the operating income, seemed onetime, that impact in Q4. If you could just dive a little bit deeper into that, those would be the two.

謝謝你們。我想問的是，也許我們仍然處於整個一致指導框架的早期階段，並且在分析師日之後您做得非常出色。也許只是談論保守主義的程度，您如何看待保守主義在第一季以及全年的發展中的作用。然後我問關於壞帳費用、營業收入的一個簡單的問題，這似乎是一次性的，對第四季有影響。如果你能更深入地探討一下，你會發現就是這兩者。

Yes. Alex, this is Aidan. So I think, again, we're really pleased with the performance in the second half of the year, saw strength across a number of different areas. As it relates to the guide for the year, we're guiding to 7% to 8%. As we said in Investor Day, we're orienting the business for double digits. That's just kind of how we're running the place.

是的。亞歷克斯，這是艾丹。因此，我認為，我們對下半年的表現感到非常滿意，並看到了多個不同領域的實力。與年度指南相關，我們預計將成長 7% 至 8%。正如我們在投資者日所說的那樣，我們正將業務定位於兩位數。這就是我們管理這個地方的方式。

But again, the nature of our business matters, right? We are usage-based. We're not subscription based. And so with that, there's a little bit more volatility, a little bit less visibility in terms of forecasting.

但是，我們的業務性質仍然很重要，對吧？我們是基於使用情況的。我們不採用訂閱方式。因此，波動性會稍微大一些，預測的可見度會稍微低一些。

As it relates to Q1, we're guiding to 8% to 9% year-over-year growth. That's one point higher than we guided in Q4. So you are seeing that these trends that we're seeing in the second half or that we saw in the second half of '24 are positively impacting our forecast. But again, just given the nature of the business, given that it's a fairly dynamic market, we'll kind of continue to plan prudently.

就第一季而言，我們預計將年增 8% 至 9%。這比我們在第四季預期的高出一個百分點。因此，您會看到我們在下半年或在 24 年下半年看到的這些趨勢對我們的預測產生了積極影響。但是，考慮到業務的性質，考慮到這是一個相當活躍的市場，我們將繼續審慎地規劃。

As it relates to the bad debt expense that I mentioned, maybe just a little bit more color. So it was a $17 million charge in Q4 related to a Brazilian telecom customer. We really saw a slowdown in their ongoing payment activity. This is a customer, by the way, that we called out in our 10-Q for several quarters. I think what was different is, historically, they had been making ongoing payments, which limited our, I'd say, bad debt exposure to partial reserves. This quarter, their behavior changed a bit and resulted in a bit more risk. And so we fully reserved their receivables in the fourth quarter.

由於它與我提到的壞帳費用有關，也許需要更詳細一點。因此，第四季與巴西電信客戶相關的費用為 1,700 萬美元。我們確實看到他們持續的支付活動有所放緩。順便說一下，這是我們連續幾季在 10-Q 報告中提到的客戶。我認為不同之處在於，從歷史上看，他們一直在持續付款，這限制了我們的壞帳對部分準備金的曝險。本季度，他們的行為發生了一些變化，導致風險增加。因此我們在第四季度完全保留了他們的應收帳款。

So it was a bit of an unusual for us. It was about 140 basis point impact on our margins in the quarter. But like I said, we're fully reserved on that customer at this point. We don't expect additional charges related to Oi, which is the name of the customer, in the future.

所以這對我們來說有點不尋常。這對我們本季的利潤率產生了約 140 個基點的影響。但就像我說的，目前我們對該客戶完全保留意見。我們預計未來不會產生與客戶名稱 Oi 相關的額外費用。

Perfect. And then just anything on the competitive environment on the competitive front as you go forward, particularly as you continue to kind of combine the -- or level up some of these conversations around the broader platform-based offering?

完美的。那麼，隨著您不斷前進，競爭環境中還會發生哪些事情，特別是當您繼續結合或提升圍繞更廣泛的基於平台的產品進行的一些對話時？

Yes. I mean we feel great competitively, right? I mean I think we're the market leader in two really important categories. I think you're seeing some of the recent success that we've had, especially in what I think is going to be really a secular trend around AI, like that's very encouraging. We're growing at a faster clip than any of the other guys.

是的。我的意思是我們的競爭意識很強，對吧？我的意思是，我認為我們在兩個非常重要的類別中處於市場領先地位。我想你們看到了我們最近取得的一些成功，尤其是我認為人工智慧領域真正長期發展的趨勢，這是非常令人鼓舞的。我們的成長速度比其他任何公司都要快。

And I think we want to take that strength and not rest on our laurels, but instead convert that energy into new R&D investments, which kind of lead to a double-digit mentality over time. And I think that's going to be a really good setup for the business. And I think some of the R&D investments that we're making are really exciting and they're going to unlock a lot of value for customers.

我認為，我們希望利用這種優勢，而不是固步自封，而是將這種能量轉化為新的研發投資，隨著時間的推移，這將帶來兩位數的心態。我認為這對企業來說是一個非常好的設定。我認為我們進行的一些研發投資確實令人興奮，它們將為客戶釋放許多價值。

Patrick Walravens, Citizens JMP.

Patrick Walravens，公民 JMP。

Great and let me add my congratulations. Aidan, can you remind me how to think about the operating margin ramp from like 17% to 18% in '25 to the 21% to 22% in '27. I mean I have '26 pretty flat currently with '25. Is that the right way to think about it?

太好了，請允許我表達我的祝賀。艾丹，你能提醒我如何看待營業利潤率從 1925 年的 17% 到 18% 上升到 1927 年的 21% 到 22% 嗎？我的意思是，目前我的 '26 與 '25 相當持平。這是正確的思考方式嗎？

What I would say -- so we committed to 21% to 22%. You know that given the guide that we gave for 2025, that implies roughly 17.5% in 2025. So you should assume accretion each year. We didn't give specifically how to think about '26 and '27, but you should assume that each year we get a bit of accretion on margin rates. So if we're going from 17.5% to 21% to 22%, that gives you a sense of how to model kind of '26 and '27.

我想說的是——我們承諾將比例提高到 21% 到 22%。您知道，根據我們給出的 2025 年指導方針，這意味著 2025 年的成長速度約為 17.5%。因此你應該假設每年都會增加。我們沒有具體說明如何看待 26 年和 27 年，但您應該假設每年我們的利潤率都會增加。因此，如果我們從 17.5% 提高到 21% 再提高到 22%，您就會了解如何模擬 26 年和 27 年的情況。

Okay. I'll go in the middle. And then Khozema, where are you -- can you maybe give us some examples of where you're using agents internally? You reeled off a number of areas during the Analyst Day. But where is it -- where are you finding it's really working? For your own internal applications.

好的。我會走到中間。然後 Khozema，您在哪裡——您能給我們舉一些您在內部使用代理的例子嗎？您在分析師日期間談到了許多領域。但是它在哪裡——你在哪裡發現它確實有效？適用於您自己的內部應用程式。

Yes. Good question, Pat. So I think there's two areas where we've seen really a marked difference in the way that we're operating. I think the first would be in customer support, where we're seeing a significant amount of deflection as a result of employing AI agents. That's made the workforce a lot more productive on the one hand. But on the other hand, it's also gotten customers to an answer much, much faster in an effectively self-serve fashion. So that's been very exciting for us, and we're going to obviously continue going deeper there.

是的。問得好，帕特。所以我認為我們在兩個方面看到了我們運作方式的顯著差異。我認為第一個是在客戶支援方面，我們看到使用人工智慧代理後出現大量偏差。一方面，這大大提高了勞動力的生產力。但另一方面，它也讓顧客以有效的自助方式更快得到答案。這對我們來說非常令人興奮，而且我們顯然會繼續深入研究。

The other side of it though is with respect to SDRs. So instead of necessarily attaching a person to every incoming inquiry, we're able to vet a lot of those now through, again, AI agents. And the reason that one, I think, is even more impactful in some respects is, obviously, there's cost savings, but more importantly, when the rep attaches themselves to the vetted account, it's just that, it's been vetted, right? So it's a much more high-quality lead so that the rep ends are pursuing business that's probably going to materialize versus just chasing something that happened to come in.

但事情的另一面與特別提款權 (SDR) 有關。因此，我們不必為每個收到的詢問安排一名工作人員，而是可以透過人工智慧代理對許多詢問進行審查。我認為，從某些方面來說，這樣做更有影響力的原因是，顯然可以節省成本，但更重要的是，當銷售代表與經過審查的帳戶建立聯繫時，它就已經經過審查了，對吧？因此，這是一個更高品質的線索，以便銷售代表最終追求的是可能實現的業務，而不是僅僅追逐碰巧發生的事情。

Ryan MacWilliams, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的瑞安‧麥克威廉斯 (Ryan MacWilliams)。

Would love to hear about how you're seeing any changes in the macro through the end of the fourth quarter or to start this year, and if you noticed any changes from a usage perspective from a geographic standpoint in North America versus the rest of the world.

我很想聽聽您如何看待第四季末或今年年初宏觀的任何變化，以及從地理角度來看北美與世界其他地區的使用情況是否發生了變化。

Ryan, I'll start. So I'd say nothing I'd call out specifically from the end of Q4 through kind of early Q1. What I will say is, for us, you always see a drop-off in volume because you're coming off of a very high holiday season. That's not atypical this year. That's just kind of the seasonality of our business. So I don't think there's anything I'd call out specifically US versus rest of the world as it relates to the volumes, I'm looking at kind of daily.

瑞安，我先開始。因此，我不會特別指出從第四季末到第一季初的情況。我想說的是，對我們來說，你總是會看到銷量下降，因為我們剛剛度過了一個非常繁忙的假期。今年這種情況並不罕見。這只是我們業務的一種季節性。因此，我認為就交易量而言，我不會特別指出美國與世界其他國家之間的區別，我每天都在關注交易量。

Yes. No, I agree with Aidan. I mean there's obviously a lot going on, it's dynamic. But I don't think that we've seen necessarily anything that would really impact our business thus far.

是的。不，我同意艾丹的觀點。我的意思是顯然有很多事情正在發生，它是動態的。但我認為，到目前為止，我們還沒有看到任何會真正影響我們業務的事情。

Perfect. And then Khozema, voice AI, we're still really early days, and I'm sure this is going to change like 10 different times over the next few years. But as we think about like the potential voice AI use cases that would make sense for Twilio versus might make sense more like over-the-top via like Siri or Alexa or something, like what use cases do you think -- or have you seen early days that people want to use Twilio for and that you guys are the rails for, for your customers?

完美的。然後 Khozema，語音 AI，我們還處於早期階段，我相信未來幾年它將發生 10 次不同的變化。但是，當我們思考像 Twilio 這樣的潛在的語音 AI 用例時，與透過 Siri 或 Alexa 等方式更有意義的用例相比，您認為有哪些用例——或者您是否看到過早期人們想要使用 Twilio 的情況，而你們就是客戶的軌道？

Yes. I'll give you maybe like an anonymized example. I mean I think that we have customers who are actively in beta and piloting different use cases right now. So basically, I mean, think about it this way, right? You have a customer who previously may have been using an IVR as the mechanism to handle an incoming workload. And in many instances, at some point, that IVR has got to then flip to a human agent who's got to be able to handle like whatever that transactional workload is.

是的。我會給你一個匿名的例子。我的意思是，我認為我們的客戶目前正在積極進行測試並試行不同的用例。所以基本上，我的意思是，這樣想想，對嗎？您的一位客戶以前可能一直使用 IVR 作為處理傳入工作量的機制。在許多情況下，在某個時候，IVR 必須轉向手動代理，人工代理必須能夠處理任何交易工作量。

And when that happens, the only measure really of what's going on there is cycle time. And not only is it just cycle time, because of the fact that that's the case, there's no real opportunity to drive a more interesting, intimate upsell type experience.

當這種情況發生時，唯一真正衡量發生情況的標準就是週期時間。這不僅僅是周期時間，而且由於事實如此，沒有真正的機會推動更有趣、更親密的追加銷售類型的體驗。

And so the customer that I'm specifically referencing in this case, what they're doing is that they're using the voice product that they were but layering on top of that our voice intelligence capabilities. So all of the traits from that call are getting stored. They're using AI on top of it so that, instead of even going into an IVR, the AI agent is handling it from start to finish.

因此，在這個案例中我特別提到的客戶，他們正在使用他們原來的語音產品，但在其基礎上添加了我們的語音智慧功能。因此，該通話的所有特徵都將儲存。他們在它上面使用了人工智慧，這樣，人工智慧代理就可以從頭到尾處理它，而不必進入 IVR。

In addition to that, because it's an AI agent, you're not paying a person to handle that volume, and so there's no constraint on cycle time. And so you can create that much more interesting and intimate experience.

除此之外，因為它是一個人工智慧代理，所以你不需要付錢給人工來處理那麼多工作量，因此對週期時間沒有限制。這樣你就可以創造更有趣和親密的體驗。

And then finally, what's especially interesting in this particular case is that it allows time for upsell, right? And so using some of the data that can be referenced from prior transactions and data history with that particular customer, you can use that data to go forward and say: By the way, you ordered X, Y, Z last time. Here's an opportunity to do it the next time. And it drives more volume, ideally, higher-margin volume for those customers. And on the back end of that, we can actually add a channel too thanking them for their business on the other side.

最後，在這個特殊案例中特別有趣的是，它為追加銷售提供了時間，對嗎？因此，使用一些可從該特定客戶的先前交易和數據歷史記錄中引用的數據，您可以使用這些數據繼續說：順便說一下，您上次訂購了 X、Y、Z。這是下次這樣做的機會。這會為這些客戶帶來更多的銷量，理想情況下是更高的利潤。在後端，我們實際上可以添加一個管道來感謝他們在另一端的業務。

So that is a kind of real life one that is in motion right now. It's not a singular example. We're starting to have that conversation with a number of our other customers as well. And I think that is right at the heart of this idea of communications plus data, plus AI, which is why we're so excited about it, is that we are actually starting to see the green shoots.

這是一種目前正在發生的真實生活。這不是一個個別的例子。我們也開始與許多其他客戶進行這樣的對話。我認為這正是通訊加資料加人工智慧的核心，這也是我們對此如此興奮的原因，因為我們實際上已經開始看到曙光。

That sounds much better than being stuck in IVR hell. Thanks, Khozema. Appreciate the color.

這聽起來比陷入 IVR 地獄好多了。謝謝，Khozema。感謝色彩。

Thank you. And that was going to be our last question. Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's conference call. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.

謝謝。這是我們的最後一個問題。女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。祝大家有個愉快的一天。