C3 AI Lifts Its Application Suite To Google Cloud To Extend Its Hyperscaler Network

C3 AI Lifts Its Application Suite To Google Cloud To Extend Its Hyperscaler Network

In September 2021, C3 AI, an artificial intelligence software platform and applications provider, forged a strategic partnership with Google Cloud, Google’s cloud computing platform. The partnership has simple, yet aggressive, twin goals – enhance C3 AI’s software functionality and boost sales.

Bringing the portfolio of C3 AI solutions (including industry-specific AI apps, C3 AI Suite, C3 AI CRM and C3 AI Ex Machina) to Google Cloud, allows, on one hand, C3 AI to leverage Google’s cloud infrastructure, such as Google Kubernetes Engine, Google BigQuery and Vertex AI, to help clients build, deploy and scale AI models and data analytics quicker and more effectively. On the other hand, the partnership benefits Google by placing it in a position to offer a more comprehensive supply chain and manufacturing digital twin solution, enhanced by C3 AI’s analytics. The co-selling angle of the partnership is aimed at boosting sales of C3 AI’s products, primarily by addressing industry-specific challenges with dedicated applications for manufacturing, financial services, logistics, healthcare and the public sector, fuelling cross-selling opportunities on both sides.

Partnerships are quite common in enterprise tech. In fact, C3 AI solutions also run on AWS and Azure and it signed a similar deal with Microsoft back in 2018 that also included co-development and cross-selling agreements. The hyperscaler trend is driven both by customer demand and supplier push – customers typically work with multiple cloud service providers, while software application developers are seeking to make their products available across all major cloud platforms to meet the growing demand. 2020 witnessed multiple such partnerships being forged or deepened between cloud majors and industrial AI software application suppliers such as Seeq, Senseye, Software AG (TrendMiner) and SymphonyIndustrial AI.

While C3 AI missed out on a bumper year for SaaS suppliers in 2020 – primarily due to its exposure with its predictive maintenance and smart grid analytics solutions to cyclical sectors like manufacturing and energy – its 2021 first quarter financials showed positive signs of turnaround. C3 AI reported a 29% YoY rise in revenues (same for subscription) and 85% YoY increase in customer count (currently sitting at about 100). The partnership with Google Cloud comprises the right elements of a growth-accelerating deal, and Verdantix expects that it will help C3 AI penetrate deeper the industrial multi-billion dollar APM software market opportunity, which we forecast to grow at a 12% CAGR to 2025.