It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong. That is Teradata leadership.
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The real question now is why the board is sticking with the rookie CEO. He is responsible for all the bad executive hires. He was terrible from the start. We all saw it.
"stupid is as stupid does" from Forrest Gump aptly describes the C-Suite
" ...not core to what we do. Inconsequential" Who art thou, awww white knight with shiny arm rest and a silver chalice full of soda to quench ye thirst. Share thy wisdom to peasant me and ye subject the rest...
Did the joke fly? No? Not really? My bad.
Hybrid is a good strategy, appointment of the new CPO gives me hope. That’s a good decision. Replacing ineffective ELT members is good as well.
We have gone wrong in the past… 10+ years, didn’t move to cloud in time. And then when we did, the cloud product has been inferior compared to market leaders, completely missed it.
Replaced CTO, good decision.
Replaced CPO, good decision.
Reduced fat, improved margins, good decision.
Recent firings including Chief Legal Officer, CMO, CHRO… doesn’t really matter, not core to what we do. Inconsequential.
Be specific when you blame the leadership for poor decisions.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t just about layoffs or macroeconomic trends. Many companies in this space—Snowflake, Databricks, and others—are thriving. The tide is rising across the industry, yet Teradata is drifting in the opposite direction.
The core issue isn’t a single bad decision—it’s a consistent absence of leadership, strategic clarity, and execution. Can you point to a key hire that’s made a difference? A strategy they’ve actually stuck with? Has any internal communication left you thinking, “Yes, we’re finally getting on track”?
To suggest this is just part of a broader industry pattern either ignores the facts or deliberately tries to minimize them. Teradata’s trajectory stands out for all the wrong reasons.
Can you be specific? What bad decisions in the last 6 months? Layoffs? Aren’t these necessary to keep the company viable? Most companies in the industry are doing layoffs.
It's not just the C-suite ... it's the Board who hired them, does nothing, and also collects a bunch of money. No accountability with either the Board or the C-suite. They're all in on the gravy train.
The harsh reality is the market doesn’t care about Teradata. Most people in the industry don’t even know what Teradata is. The only stakeholders who truly care are the existing customers—concerned they’ll be caught flat-footed and put their own companies at risk by still relying on Teradata without migrating off.
As for the employees, the vast majority see their time at Teradata as nothing more than a paycheck-to-paycheck situation. The executives? They’re focused on lining their pockets. Maybe there’s a brass ring at the end of the rainbow, but they’re not counting on it—annual compensation is more than enough given what little effort they put in.
The only wild card now is the activist investor. The recent leadership shake-ups suggest their influence is already being felt. And when you hear “activist investor,” you can safely assume some level of disruption is coming. But to what end? That’s the question.
Let’s be honest: are they trying to save the pig, or just dress it up for sale? If you think this company has a real path forward—great. But if you suspect this isn’t your last gig before retirement, you’d better start looking elsewhere. Otherwise, you’re risking irrelevance.
@OP Totally agree with this..add to this the blatant disregard and not recognising the incompetence of those longstanding highly paid people who have failed to perform their core duty and provide growth in the company.
Put the pressure on these individuals so there is nowhere to run or hide. Make them accountable, go through every opportunity and get them to commit to a closure plan. Any slippage, then they should face the consequences.
Many here hope for a glorious turn around of teradata. You are missing the point. The "strategy" still is to find someone who will buy this mothball. They missed the pandemic buoy. Now they are planning a google buy out. True/False/Rumor - for you to gauge. Get out if you are still willing to learn something new, possibly outside of technology.