Feb 20, 2020 · 33m · mad
How to Resurrect Innovation in the Enterprise // Amr Awadallah, Google (FirstMark's Data Driven NYC)
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this presentation and Q&A session at FirstMark's Data Driven NYC, Google Cloud VP Amr Awadallah explores how enterprises can reignite software innovation by adopting standardized multi-cloud architectures like Anthos and modern serverless paradigms. Drawing comparisons to mobile platform ecosystems, he outlines strategies to streamline enterprise workflows, boost release velocity, and overcome hybrid-cloud operational challenges.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Matt holds 7.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
speaking balance: gold is Matt, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Amr directly cuts across Matt's premise that GCP's primary objective is taking over AWS and Azure, humorously reframing their clear objective as making money.
Hardest push from Matt ▶ 19:25 Host challenges competitor run rate claimsMatt pushes back when Amr claims competitors make ten billion dollars in a single quarter, clarifying that Amazon does while questioning Azure's accounting methods.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 28:15 Reframing enterprise software update inertiaAmr educates the audience on why enterprise software updates stall due to fear of breaking core systems, explaining how modern CI/CD canary deployments solve this.
Matt holds his own ▶ 22:42 Host articulates open-source VC investment risksMatt demonstrates deep industry expertise by pressing Amr on the core VC concern that large cloud platforms strip-mine open-source startup technology.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Matt as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Matt pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Presentation Outline: The Dilbert Comic | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | Amr delivers an opening monologue framing enterprise innovation stagnation against consumer mobile application growth. Host Matt Turck is not active in this monologue segment. | |
| Pitfalls and Barriers to Enterprise Transformation | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | Amr continues his monologue presentation outlining structural friction in enterprise software adoption across platform, dev, ops, and security teams. | |
| Google's Point of View on Cloud Architecture | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | Amr explains Google's approach to containerized microservices and service mesh architecture without host participation. | |
| Anthos Overview and On-Premises Strategy | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | Amr surveys the room and introduces Anthos as the Android equivalent for enterprise software infrastructure. | |
| Enterprise Marketplace and Startup Opportunities | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | Amr details the serverless shift from legacy on-premises bare metal to cloud functions and managed operations. | |
| Real-World Business Impact: Velocity Improvement | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Host Matt Turck initiates Q&A, where Amr playfully interrupts and reframes Matt's premise about GCP trying to overtake AWS. Matt presses back on competitor quarterly revenue claims. | |
| Q&A: Open Source Strategy and Enterprise Standards | 6 | 5 | 2 | 4 | Matt demonstrates VC domain knowledge by asking how GCP handles open source and raises the risk of cloud providers taking open source code. Amr elaborates on open source standard-setting. | |
| Q&A: Cloudera Journey, Lessons Learned, and Market Valuations | 5 | 6 | 2 | 3 | Matt guides a discussion on Cloudera's market valuation journey, while Amr shares transparent breakdown figures and market perception differences compared to MongoDB. | |
| Audience Questions: Competitor Comparisons, Updates, and Tooling | 3 | 6 | 3 | 2 | Audience members ask deep technical questions regarding competitors, Istio, and Swift/TensorFlow, while Amr banteringly asks Matt if he can name 10 programming languages. |