Patrick Dennis
Denver, Colorado, United States
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About
Patrick Dennis joined Avaya as President and Chief Executive Officer in September 2024…
Articles by Patrick
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Big News - HireBrain - Evidence of the AI Applications Market
Big News - HireBrain - Evidence of the AI Applications Market
Warning: this is a long post. I wanted to announce an important accomplishment, offer a related disclosure, and finally…
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Tidal Shift - Security - Encryption's RoleOct 28, 2017
Tidal Shift - Security - Encryption's Role
I am starting to put my thoughts together on the emerging relationship between security technology and human factors. I…
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Thank you.Oct 17, 2017
Thank you.
Guidance Software was acquired by Open Text (ticker OTEX) on September 14, 2017. The time is finally right to say…
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14K followers
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Patrick Dennis posted thisRolling to the airport in KL at 5:45AM - laughing because the song on the radio is “Always on Time” from Ja Rule (circa 2001) - little things in life just make you laugh.
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Patrick Dennis shared this👇💯Patrick Dennis shared thisThe $5 billion lesson hiding inside the Medallia handover. Thoma Bravo just surrendered control of Medallia to its lenders. Blackstone, KKR, Apollo, and others now hold the keys. This isn't a quiet restructuring. It's one of the largest private credit backed wipeouts on record, and it tells you something important about where enterprise SaaS actually stands right now. Here's what happened, as best I can piece together from press reports. In 2021, at the absolute peak of the software boom, Thoma Bravo took Medallia private for $6.4b. They loaded roughly $3b in debt onto the deal. With interest rates near zero, the math worked. Cheap money made ambitious leverage feel rational. Then rates climbed, and that cheap money became an anchor. By early 2026, the collision was unavoidable. Medallia's annual debt service had reportedly climbed to around $300m, while the company was generating roughly $200m in EBITDA. The interest payments were 1.5x actual earnings. No amount of operational improvement closes that gap fast enough. For a while, Payment-in-Kind relief kept things alive. Medallia deferred cash interest by adding it to the principal, buying time without buying a solution. When that window expired at the end of 2025 and lenders declined to extend it, the equity, roughly $5.1b worth, was effectively wiped out. What's worth noting is that this isn't a story about a failing product. Medallia still does about a billion dollars in revenue. It still leads in AI driven experience management. The lenders taking over aren't looking to wind it down. They're looking to clean up the balance sheet so the business can actually operate without the weight of an impossible capital structure. This is the second major SaaS handover in recent months, following Pluralsight. And it points to something I think about a lot when I look at how we run 8x8. Product-market fit has always been the obsession in enterprise software. But in 2026, we also need to think about your balance sheet. That's why over the last few years, we have paid off over 40% of our debt (while Medallia was adding, we were reducing) and lowered our interest costs by half. At the same time we have been growing our earnings. Whether this is a one-off or the opening act of a broader deleveraging cycle in enterprise SaaS is the question worth sitting with. My instinct is that we haven't seen the last of these. https://lnkd.in/gnjJsjf7Medallia Is Just the Opening Act: 12+ PE SaaS Deals With $50B+ in Debt at Risk of Blowing UpMedallia Is Just the Opening Act: 12+ PE SaaS Deals With $50B+ in Debt at Risk of Blowing Up
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Patrick Dennis reposted thisPatrick Dennis reposted thisThis one still leads the pack. Our very first episode of Regenerative Inspiration with Patrick Dennis, CEO of Avaya, is still the most-watched out of 30+ episodes—and for good reason. From growing up on a farm to leading global tech companies… From navigating billion-dollar decisions to redefining leadership, AI, and the future of work… There’s a reason this conversation keeps resonating. “If you’re building a business… build a better product, and it will get bought.” We’re resurfacing it this week—watch (or rewatch) it Thursday. 👉 And if this one hits, there are 30+ more conversations waiting for you. #RegenerativeInspiration #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #AI #BusinessGrowth
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Patrick Dennis shared thisThe confirmation of the Muon g-2 anomaly at 5.1-sigma is a vertical leap for the next decade of compute. The AI race has been a war of attrition - who has the most GPUs and the most electricity (🚨NIMBY🚨). Today, we start to shift from Brute Force (straight power law scaling) to New Physics. AI Implications: Our current silicon-based trajectory is hitting a "Power Wall." As the Strait of Hormuz crisis chokes energy supplies, the AI race was headed for a stalemate. However, the Muon results prove the Standard Model is incomplete (comments section set too extra 🌶️🌶️🌶️) ⚛️🚪⏭️ Topological Quantum Computing: Utilizing "New Physics" particles to achieve stability without the massive, helium-dependent cooling systems currently under threat (SoH = 30% of GBL supply). Sub-Atomic Logic: Push past binary silicon toward "virtual particle" architecture (Muon interactions). … and there’s propulsion: If the Muon is interacting with a new/undiscovered force, it’s not just the computers that win… we have line of sight to Propulsion without Propellant (giddy up 🚀). https://lnkd.in/gFVGDtzmMuon g-2 wins Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental PhysicsMuon g-2 wins Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
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Patrick Dennis shared thisOne of my favorite events of the year is the Avaya Journeys that we hold in D.C. There is something special about being in our nation's capital. I have to say the city looks beautiful and clean. It was such a nice morning to grab a coffee and take a long walk during the sunrise. Hope to see some of you at the event tomorrow. This group really sponsored Nexus so it will be nice to high five a few of those that made it happen!!!
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Patrick Dennis shared thisI find myself using nature to communicate often. In this clip Ivanka uses a story about crows and eagles to make an important leadership point. This is the best insight of this type I have heard this year. Time stamped close to the conversation -> give it a couple extra seconds for context. https://lnkd.in/gyaNNUebIvanka Trump: Most People Can’t Tell Signal From NoiseIvanka Trump: Most People Can’t Tell Signal From Noise
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Patrick Dennis shared thisIf you’re in PNW check it out 👇👇👇Patrick Dennis shared thisHello, All Avaya customers in the Seattle area. Please join the local chapter meeting on April 16. We will have Avaya updates, a customer presentation. Lots of discussions on Tech tips. It is a free place to enjoy networking with other local customers and business partners and Avaya. Here is the link to the registration. Looking forward to seeing you there. https://lnkd.in/gnbvP5cyWashington (PNW) Chapter April Meeting | International Avaya User GroupWashington (PNW) Chapter April Meeting | International Avaya User Group
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Patrick Dennis posted this✨ ✨ Happy Easter ✨ ✨ Most leadership books teach us how to “lean in”, “speak up”, and “defend our territory”. Easter reminds us of a different kind of strength: The strength of silence. In 1 Peter 2:23, we see Jesus, a Leader, with "all preeminence" who chose not to retaliate. The text says: "When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly." 1 Peter 2:23 He didn’t need a victory lap or a revenge tour. He had the quiet confidence of a finished work. Instead of returning to Jerusalem to settle scores with those who tortured him, he simply walked away. He joined two discouraged friends on a 7 mile walk to Emmaus to turn their heartbreak into 🙌 HOPE 🙌 The takeaway for us? Sometimes the most powerful thing a leader can do is stop trying to balance the scales themselves. Have faith and trust the process. Real authority doesn't need to shout. It just keeps walking and goes right back to work.
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Patrick Dennis reposted thisPatrick Dennis reposted this𝘼𝙫𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙄𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 is 𝟭 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗹𝗱 this month. And what a year it's been. Omdia just published their 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝘾𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙨 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚 report. 𝘼𝙫𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙄𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 scored 𝟵𝟴% in 𝙎𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝘽𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙩𝙝. Top-tier. The highest rating Omdia gives. 𝟵𝟱% in 𝙑𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙧 𝙀𝙭𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝟵𝟯% in 𝘼𝙄/𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝟵𝟬% in 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙮 & 𝙄𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. A platform that's been in market for 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧. Matching and outscoring players who've had a 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙙𝙚 head start. Here's the part nobody wants to talk about: the companies that can't afford downtime, that operate in regulated environments, that need sovereign cloud options and AI flexibility... they aren't looking for the trendiest vendor. They're looking for the 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙮 one. 𝘼𝙫𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙄𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 wasn't built to win analyst reports. It was built to solve the problem most 𝘾𝘾𝙖𝙖𝙎 vendors skip over: 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠? Turns out, when you stop chasing someone else's cloud-only playbook and start solving 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙨, the scores take care of themselves. The narrative is changing. Because the work changed first. Link to more info on the Omdia report in comments... #CustomerExperience #Avaya #AvayaInfinity #ContactCenter #CX #EnterpriseAI Avaya
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Patrick Dennis liked thisPatrick Dennis liked thisI'm hiring! We're looking for a Director of Strategy & Operations to join our early team. You'll lead our implementation operations and scalability, support our enterprise deals, and own our key vendor and partner relationships. Whoever steps into this seat will directly shape how many patients get access to advanced mental health care over the next several years. If you want to make a real impact — on mental health, on psychiatry practices, and on patient lives — I'd love to talk. Feel free to reach out and referrals are very welcome! #hiring #mentalhealth #behavioralhealth
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