SaaStr 735: How to Navigate the Shift to Generative AI with PagerDuty's CEO Jennifer Tejada
Jennifer Tejada, CEO of PagerDuty, discusses the influence of AI on business workflows, focusing on automating operations, maintaining customer trust, and navigating generative AI challenges. Together with SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin, they addresses the role of AI in managing incidents, improving efficiency, and changing decision-making in enterprises. Lastly, we delve into how AI and human roles can coexist, foreseeing a shift towards high-value work as automation increases, with a call for leaders to embrace AI's potential while adapting to technological advancements.
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#113 CEO PagerDuty, Jennifer Tejada: The Re-Finder
PagerDuty CEO Jennifer Tejada has mixed feelings about how she is often portrayed in the press, as a “badass woman CEO.” The scarcity of female executives in enterprise means that it’s often the first thing anyone wants to talk about — not her performance leading a $2 billion company, or her team. She has specifically designed that team to include more under-represented people like her, so that she is not “the only one in the room” — but one executive team isn’t enough. “In my peer group, there’s still not enough Hayden Browns, there’s not enough Yamini Rangans, there’s not enough Safra Katzes,” Jennifer says. “And that is a failing of the industry.”
In this episode, Jennifer and Joubin discuss IPO chasers, the P&G Mafia, reward-centered leadership, participation trophies, serving others in a crisis, working women, plate spinning, perfect girl syndrome, unconscious bias, competitive offshore yacht racing, disconnecting from work, “re-finders,” interrupt work, consistent high standards, beginner’s mind, talent identification, weird but beloved brand names, and dealing with grief.
In this episode, we cover:
The good side of market corrections, and investing in people (00:58)
Learning how to fail and where Jennifer’s work ethic came from (05:28)
Her father’s death and how she adjusts “when shit hits the fan” (13:03)
Recognizing your own limits and working for your family (17:43)
The double-edged sword of being a visible female CEO (23:13)
Taking a break from your career to work on yourself (28:42)
Identity in Silicon Valley and getting put in a box (35:09)
How Jennifer got to PagerDuty and delivering value to customers (40:17)
PagerDuty’s IPO in the middle of a major pivot (45:23)
Responsibility overload and self-criticism (49:36)
Founder-led companies and the advantages of being a “re-finder” (52:55)
PagerDuty’s transition from one product to many (57:56)
The “unfathomable loss” of Phylicia “PJ” Jones and being vulnerable with coworkers (1:00:36)
Why grit is a requirement for success (01:06:52)
Links:
Connect with JenniferTwitter
LinkedIn
Email: jennifer@pagerduty.com
Connect with JoubinTwitter
LinkedIn
Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm
SaaStr 485: Hyperscaling Post-IPO with PagerDuty's CEO, Jennifer Tejada
PagerDuty's CEO, Jennifer Tejada, and Sameer Dholakia, former CEO of SendGrid and current PagerDuty Board Member share what fellow founders can learn from PagerDuty's post-IPO reality, and the realities of operating as a public company, two years later.
Blog post and video: https://www.saastr.com/hyperscaling-post-ipo-with-pagerdutys-ceo-jennifer-tejada-podcast-485/
Sponsors:
https://shortcut.com/saastr
https://www.litmus.com/saastr/
https://www.ontheclock.com/
SaaStr 370: Automation, The Digital Transformation Accelerator with Jennifer Tejada, CEO @ PagerDuty
As organizations race to achieve relevance and a competitive edge in the digital era, automation is fueling the fight. Join PagerDuty's CEO, Jennifer Tejada, as she discusses the need for agility and innovation and how automation is aiding adaptability and allowing enterprises to surge ahead.
This episode is an excerpt from a session at SaaStr Summit: Enterprise.
Full video: https://youtu.be/7mHQotsErWc
Podcast transcript: https://www.saastr.com/saastr-podcasts-for-the-week-with-jennifer-tejada-ben-chestnut-and-jason-lemkin/
20VC: PagerDuty CEO Jennifer Tejada on A Leader's Relationship To Risk, Insecurity, Making Decisions with Imperfect Data & What Successful Board Management Looks Like
Jennifer Tejada is the CEO @ PagerDuty, the company that provides a real-time operations platform ensuring less downtime for your digital services. Prior to their IPO in 2019 PagerDuty raised funding from some of the best in the business including Accel, a16z, Baseline, Bessemer and Harrison Metal to name a few. As for Jennifer, prior to PagerDuty, she was CEO of Keynote Systems leading to their acquisition by Dynatrace. Before Keynote, Jennifer was Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Mincom, leading them to their acquisition by ABB. If that was not enough, Jennifer is also on the The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL).
CLICK TO LISTEN ON ITUNES
In Today's Episode You Will Learn:
1.) How Jennifer made her way into the world of SaaS and came to be one of the leading enterprise CEOs today with PagerDuty? How does Jen advise graduates on joining a startup vs large incumbent?
2.) How does Jen analyse and evaluate her relationship to risk? What does Jen do to remove herself from her environment and make the clearest decisions? How has Jen's decision-making process changed? How does Jen encourage debate and free thought sharing internally?
3.) How does Jen think about the role of insecurity within leadership? What would Jen say are her biggest insecurities? How does Jen manage them and mitigate them today? What works? What does not? Why does Jen believe data is the key to overcoming insecurities?
4.) What have been Jen's biggest lessons on what successful board management looks like? What separates good vs great board members? How can CEO's structure their board in an optimal way? What do they need? What do they not need? How does scale change this?
5.) How does Jen think her style of leadership has changed over the years? What have been Jen's lessons on what it takes to both acquire and retain the very best execs? Where do many go wrong here?
Items Mentioned In Today's Show:
Jennifer's Fave Book: Tuesdays With Morrie: An old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson
As always you can follow Harry and The Twenty Minute VC on Twitter here!
Likewise, you can follow Harry on Instagram here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.
SaaStr 234: PagerDuty CEO Jennifer Tejada and Duo Security CEO Dug Song on The Top Things No One Really Tells You About Scaling
Duo Security Co-Founder and CEO Dug Song and PagerDuty CEO Jennifer Tejada discuss building, enabling, and leading great teams through 10K+ customers, $100M+ ARR, $1B+ valuation and beyond - all while earning 4.5+ Glassdoor company ratings and 98%+ CEO approvals from 500+ total employees!
Duo Security is a cloud-based provider of unified access security and multifactor authentication was acquired by Cisco for $2.35 billion in October 2018. PagerDuty is a leading digital operations management platform for organizations announced new financing in September 2018 at a $1.3 billion valuation.
Missed the session? Here's what Jennifer and Dug talk about:
When is the right time to raise money?
How can you better manage the board?
Should you worry about competitors?
If you would like to find out more about the show and the guests presented, you can follow us on Twitter here:
Jason Lemkin
SaaStr
Jennifer Tejada
Dug Song
a16z Podcast: Boards, from Both Sides of the Table
A board veteran who has sat on both sides of the table, CEO of PagerDuty Jennifer Tejada shares what you gain from board membership (vs. being only an operator). How does being a board member change you as a CEO, and vice versa?
Recorded as part of our annual Director's College held at Stanford University in April 2017, Tejada (in conversation with a16z operating partner Margit Wennmachers) in this episode of the a16z Podcast offers advice about the importance of diligence on both sides, subject matter expertise, and complex dynamics among fellow board members. Tejada also talks about how to make the best use of your board as a CEO... including what's most important when managing them (hint: no surprises!).
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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.
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