Guidewire Software Inc

Previous wording

•the developing market for cloud services and associated sales and delivery models, including the migration of our existing term license customers to cloud-based offerings on a subscription basis;

Current wording

•the market for cloud services, including the migration of our existing term license customers to cloud-based offerings on a subscription basis, and the long-term pricing commitments in our customer contracts that are based on available information and estimates about our future costs that may change;

Previous wording

•our reliance on orders from a relatively small number of customers in the P&C insurance industry for a substantial portion of our revenue and Annual Recurring Revenue (“ARR”) and the related substantial negotiating leverage of these customers;

Current wording

•our reliance on orders from a relatively small number of customers in the property and casualty (“P&C”) insurance industry for a substantial portion of our revenue and Annual Recurring Revenue (“ARR”) and the related substantial negotiating leverage of these customers, as well as our dependence on customer renewals and expansions of their contracts for our products, which may not occur;

Previous wording

•competitive attributes of our applications, including developing and establishing our products to satisfy customer demands, maintain market acceptance, and meet local requirements of international markets;

Current wording

•competitive attributes of our applications, including the need to continuously develop and enhance our products to satisfy customer demands, maintain market acceptance, respond to competitive pressures, and meet local requirements of international markets;

Previous wording

•data security breaches of our cloud-based products or unauthorized access to our customers’ or employees’ data;

Current wording

•exposure to risks in relation to data security breaches of our cloud-based products, unauthorized access to our customers’ or employees’ data, or breaches of third-party technologies and systems we rely on and the related impact on our ability to effectively operate our cloud environment for our customers;

Previous wording

•exposure to market risks, including geographical and political events, supply chain disruptions, inflation, financial markets’ volatility, and the recent global pandemic and their impact on our stock price and its volatility and our customers, partners, vendors, or our business operations;

Current wording

•exposure to market risks, including geographical and global events, supply chain disruptions, inflation, political and regional conflicts, interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates, and financial markets’ volatility and their impact on our stock price and its volatility and our customers, partners, vendors, or our business operations; and

Previous wording

•required compliance with current and evolving local data privacy laws in all jurisdictions where we have customers, and our ability to maintain the security of our customers’ data and our cloud-based products, limit the use of information, and manage related costs and liabilities incurred.

Current wording

•required compliance with current and evolving local data privacy and cybersecurity laws and regulations in all jurisdictions where we have customers, and our ability to maintain the security of our customers’ data and our cloud-based products, appropriately limit the use of information, and manage related costs and liabilities incurred.

Previous wording

•the proportion and timing of subscription sales as opposed to term or perpetual software licenses, and the variations in revenue recognition between these contract types;

Current wording

•the proportion and timing of subscription sales as opposed to term software licenses, and the variations in revenue recognition between these contract types;

Previous wording

•the impact of a recession or any other adverse global economic condition on our business, including pandemics, geographic and political conflicts, trade tariffs, trade agreements, and other uncertainties that may cause a delay in entering into, a failure to enter into, or cancel significant customer agreements or the fulfillment of professional service arrangements;

Current wording

•the impact of a recession or any other adverse global economic condition on our business, including public health crises, such as epidemics and pandemics, changes in political climate, geographic and political conflicts, trade tariffs, trade agreements, and other uncertainties that may cause a delay in entering into, a failure to enter into, or cancellation of significant customer agreements or the fulfillment of professional service arrangements;

Previous wording

•the effects of inflation or deflation in the economies in which we operate, including Argentina, and their impact on interest rates, collection timeframes, and our revenue given the multi-year term of most customer agreements.

Current wording

•the effects of inflation or deflation in the economies in which we operate, and their impact on interest rates, collection timeframes, and our revenue given the multi-year term of most customer agreements.

Previous wording

The foregoing factors are difficult to forecast, and these, as well as other factors, could materially adversely affect our quarterly and annual results of operations. Further, due to multi-year term licenses and multi-year term license renewals, increased cloud-based subscription services, timing of and billing rates for professional services engagements, and other ongoing changes to our business, it is challenging to forecast our quarterly and annual results.

Current wording

The foregoing factors are difficult to forecast, and these, as well as other factors, could materially adversely affect our quarterly and annual results of operations. Further, due to multi-year term licenses and multi-year term license renewals, increased cloud-based subscription services, timing of and billing rates for professional services engagements, and other ongoing aspects of our business, it is challenging to forecast our quarterly and annual results.

Previous wording

We believe our ability to adjust spending quickly enough to compensate for a potential revenue shortfall is very limited and our inability to do so could magnify the adverse impact of a potential revenue shortfall on our results of operations. If we fail to achieve our quarterly forecasts, if our forecasts fall below the expectations of investors or research analysts, or if our actual results fail to meet the expectations of investors or research analysts, our stock price may decline.

Current wording

We believe our ability to adjust spending quickly enough to compensate for a potential revenue shortfall is limited and our inability to do so could magnify the adverse impact of a potential revenue shortfall on our results of operations. If we fail to achieve our quarterly forecasts, if our forecasts fall below the expectations of investors or research analysts, or if our actual results fail to meet the expectations of investors or research analysts, our stock price may decline.

Previous wording

If we fail to successfully manage our transition to a business model focused on delivering cloud-based offerings on a subscription basis or fail to meet stipulated service levels with our subscription services, our results of operations could be harmed.

Current wording

If we do not receive customer or market acceptance of our business model focused on delivering cloud-based offerings on a subscription basis, or if we fail to meet stipulated service levels with our subscription services, our results of operations could be harmed.

Previous wording

To address demand trends in the P&C insurance industry, we now offer customers the use of our software products through a cloud-based offering sold on a subscription basis in addition to our self-managed offering. This change to our business model requires a considerable investment of technical, operational, financial, legal, and sales resources. Our software and cloud services involve the storage and transmission of customer data, including in some cases, personal data, and security breaches could result in the loss of this information, which in turn could result in litigation, breach of contract claims, indemnity obligations, harm to our reputation, and other liabilities for us. Our transition to cloud offerings will continue to be the focus of existing resources, require us to hire additional resources, and increase costs, especially in cost of subscription and support revenue, cost of services revenue, and research and development, in any given period. We may not be able to efficiently scale such investments to meet customer demand and expectations, which may impact our long-term growth and results of operations. Further, the increase in some costs associated with our cloud services, such as the cost of third-party infrastructure in which we rely to host our subscription services, may be difficult to predict over time, especially in light of our limited experience with the costs of delivering cloud-based versions of our applications. Furthermore, we may assume greater responsibilities for implementation of subscription services due to our operating and maintaining the cloud environment for our customers. As a result, we may face risks associated with new and complex implementations or migrations, the cost of which may differ from original estimates. Our subscription contracts also contain penalty clauses, for matters such as failing to meet stipulated service levels or other contractual provisions, which represent new risks we are not accustomed to managing. Should these penalties be triggered, our results of operations may be adversely affected. These penalties and costs could take the form of monetary credits for current or future service engagements, reduced fees for additional services or products or upon renewal of existing agreements, and a customer’s renegotiation or refusal to pay its contractually obligated subscription or service fees.

Current wording

To address demand trends in the P&C insurance industry, we offer customers the use of our software products through a cloud-based offering sold on a subscription basis in addition to our self-managed offering. Our subscription business model has required a considerable investment of technical, operational, financial, legal, and sales resources. Our software and cloud services involve the storage and transmission of customer data, including in some cases, personal data, and security breaches could result in the loss of this information, which in turn could result in litigation, breach of contract claims, indemnity obligations, harm to our reputation, and other liabilities for us. Our cloud offerings will continue to be the focus of existing resources, require us to hire additional resources, and increase costs, especially in cost of subscription and support revenue, cost of services revenue, and research and development, in any given period. We may not be able to efficiently scale such investments to meet customer demand and expectations, which may impact our long-term growth and results of operations. Further, the increase in some costs associated with our cloud services, such as the cost of third-party infrastructure in which we rely to host our subscription services, may be difficult to predict over time. Furthermore, we may assume greater responsibilities for implementation of subscription services due to our operating and maintaining the cloud environment for our customers. As a result, we may face risks associated with new and complex implementations or migrations, the cost of which may differ from original estimates. Our subscription contracts also contain penalty clauses, for matters such as failing to meet stipulated service levels or other contractual provisions. Should these penalties be triggered, our results of operations may be adversely affected. These penalties and costs could take the form of monetary credits for current or future service engagements, reduced fees for additional services or products or upon renewal of existing agreements, and a customer’s renegotiation or refusal to pay its contractually obligated subscription or service fees.

Previous wording

Revenue under our cloud-based subscription model will generally be recognized ratably over the term of the contract. The transition to ratable revenue recognition will result in lower revenue than we otherwise would have recognized in the initial period of the customer agreement under term license agreements. This effect on recognized revenue may be magnified in any fiscal year due to the concentration of our orders in the fourth fiscal quarter. A combination of increased costs and delayed recognition of revenue would adversely impact our gross and operating margins compared to prior periods. Additionally, the change in our business model and the timing of our customers’ decision to transition from self-managed licenses to cloud-based subscription services could negatively affect our ability to forecast the timing and amount of our revenue in any period.

Current wording

Revenue under our cloud-based subscription model is generally recognized ratably over the term of the contract. Ratable revenue recognition results in lower revenue than we otherwise would have recognized in the initial period of the customer agreement under term license agreements. This effect on recognized revenue may be magnified in any fiscal year due to the concentration of our orders in the fourth fiscal quarter. Additionally, the timing of our customers’ decision to transition from self-managed licenses to cloud-based subscription services could negatively affect our ability to forecast the timing and amount of our revenue in any period.

Previous wording

In addition, market acceptance of our cloud-based offerings may be affected by a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, price, security, reliability, performance, customer preference, public concerns regarding privacy, and the enactment of restrictive laws or regulations. We are continually updating our existing products and developing new products in an effort to offer customers greater choices on how they utilize our software. As our business practices in this area develop and evolve over time, we may be required to revise our current subscription agreements, which may result in revised terms and conditions that impact how we recognize revenue and the costs and risks associated with these offerings. Whether our product development efforts or business model transition will prove successful and accomplish our business objectives is subject to numerous uncertainties and risks, including, but not limited to, customer demand, our ability to further develop, manage, and scale infrastructure, our ability to include functionality and usability in such offerings that address customer requirements, our customers’ ability to successfully migrate to and implement our subscription services, tax and accounting implications, and our costs.

Current wording

We are continually updating our existing products and developing new products in an effort to offer customers greater choices on how they utilize our software. As our business practices in this area develop and evolve over time, we may be required to revise our current subscription agreements, which may result in revised terms and conditions that impact how we recognize revenue and the costs and risks associated with these offerings. Whether our product development efforts or business model will prove successful and accomplish our business objectives is subject to numerous uncertainties and risks, including, but not limited to, customer demand, our ability to further develop, manage, and scale infrastructure, our ability to include functionality and usability in such offerings that address customer requirements, our customers’ ability to successfully migrate to and implement our subscription services, tax and accounting implications, and our costs.

Previous wording

In addition, the metrics we and our investors use to gauge the status of our business model transition may evolve over the course of the transition as significant trends emerge. It may be difficult, therefore, to accurately determine the impact of this transition on our business on a contemporaneous basis, or to clearly communicate the appropriate metrics to our investors. If we are unable to successfully establish these new cloud offerings and navigate our business model transition in light of the foregoing risks and uncertainties, our reputation could suffer and our results of operations could be harmed, which may cause our stock price to decline.

Current wording

In addition, the metrics we and our investors use to evaluate our business model may evolve over the course of time as significant trends emerge. It may be difficult, therefore, to accurately determine the impact on our business on a contemporaneous basis, or to clearly communicate the appropriate metrics to our investors. If we are unable to sell our cloud offerings in light of the foregoing risks and uncertainties, our reputation could suffer and our results of operations could be harmed, which may cause our stock price to decline.

Previous wording

Our revenue and ARR are dependent on orders from customers in the P&C insurance industry, which may be adversely affected by worldwide economic, environmental, public health, and political conditions. A relatively small number of customers have historically accounted for a significant portion of our revenue. The composition of our individual top customers has and will vary from year to year. In fiscal years 2022 and 2023, our ten largest customers in each fiscal year accounted for 23% of our revenue. Additionally, our ten largest customers based on ARR accounted for 24% of total ARR at July 31, 2023. Customers for these metrics are calculated at the parent corporation level, while our total customer count is based on entities that have placed orders for our services or products. While we expect this reliance to decrease over time as our revenue, customer base and subscription services as a percentage of revenue grows, we expect that we will continue to depend upon a relatively small number of customers for a significant portion of our revenue and ARR for the foreseeable future. As a result, if we fail to successfully sell our products to one or more of these anticipated customers in any particular period or fail to identify additional potential customers or such customers purchase fewer of our products or professional services, defer or cancel orders, fail to renew their license or subscription agreements or otherwise terminate or reduce their relationship with us, our business, results of operations, and financial condition would be harmed. Additionally, if one or more of these anticipated customers enters into or transitions to a subscription agreement in any particular period, or if we fail to achieve the required performance or acceptance criteria for one or more of this relatively small number of customers, our quarterly and annual results of operations may fluctuate significantly.

Current wording

Our revenue and ARR are dependent on orders from customers in the P&C insurance industry, which may be adversely affected by worldwide economic, environmental, public health, and political conditions. A relatively small number of customers have historically accounted for a significant portion of our revenue. The composition of our individual top customers has and will vary from year to year. In fiscal years 2023 and 2024, our ten largest customers accounted for 23% and 22% of our revenue, respectively. Additionally, our ten largest customers based on ARR accounted for 22% of total ARR at July 31, 2024. Customers for these metrics are calculated at the parent corporation level, while our total customer count is based on entities that have placed orders for our services or products. While we expect this reliance to decrease over time as our revenue, customer base, and subscription services as a percentage of revenue grows, we expect that we will continue to depend upon a relatively small number of customers for a significant portion of our revenue and ARR for the foreseeable future. As a result, if we fail to successfully sell our products to one or more of these anticipated customers in any particular period or fail to identify additional potential customers or such customers purchase fewer of our products or professional services, defer or cancel orders, fail to renew their license or subscription agreements or otherwise terminate or reduce their relationship with us, our business, results of operations, and financial condition would be harmed. Additionally, if one or more of these anticipated customers enters into or transitions to a subscription agreement in any particular period, or if we fail to achieve the required performance or acceptance criteria for one or more of this relatively small number of customers, our quarterly and annual results of operations may fluctuate significantly.

Previous wording

The typical sales cycle for our products is lengthy and unpredictable, requires pre-purchase evaluation by a significant number of employees in our customers’ organizations, often involves a significant operational decision by our customers, and could be affected by factors outside of our control. Our sales efforts involve educating our customers about the use and benefits of our products, including the technical capabilities of our products, the potential cost savings achievable by organizations deploying our products, and the benefits and risks associated with cloud-based services. Customers typically undertake a significant evaluation process, which frequently involves not only our products, but also those of our competitors. We spend substantial time, effort, and money in our sales efforts without any assurance that our efforts will produce sales, and our customers have significant negotiating power during the sales process which may result in a lengthy sales cycle and significant contractual complexity. Additionally, we may be unable to predict the size and terms of the initial contract until very late in the sales cycle, which affects our ability to accurately forecast revenue and ARR. In addition, we sometimes commit to include specific functions in our base product offering at the request of a customer or group of customers and are unable to recognize revenue until the specific functions have been added to our products. Providing this additional functionality may be time consuming and may involve factors that are outside of our control. Customers may also insist that we commit to certain time frames in which systems built around our products will be operational or that once implemented our products will be able to meet certain operational requirements. Our ability to meet such timeframes and requirements may involve factors that are outside of our control, and failure to meet such timeframes and requirements could result in us incurring penalties and costs and/or making additional resource commitments, which would adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Current wording

The typical sales cycle for our products is lengthy and unpredictable, requires pre-purchase evaluation by a significant number of employees in our customers’ organizations, often involves a significant operational decision by our customers, and could be affected by factors outside of our control. Our sales efforts involve educating our customers about the use and benefits of our products, including the technical capabilities of our products, the potential cost savings achievable by organizations deploying our products, and the benefits and risks associated with cloud-based services. Customers typically undertake a significant evaluation process, which frequently involves not only our products, but also those of our competitors. We spend substantial time, effort, and money in our sales efforts without any assurance that our efforts will produce sales, and our customers have significant negotiating power during the sales process which may result in a lengthy sales cycle and significant contractual complexity. Additionally, we may be unable to predict the size and terms of the initial contract until very late in the sales cycle, which affects our ability to accurately forecast revenue and ARR. In addition, if we commit to include specific features in our base product offering at the request of a customer or group of customers, we may be unable to recognize revenue until the specific features have been delivered with our products. Providing this additional functionality may be time consuming and may involve factors that are outside of our control. Customers may also insist that we commit to certain time frames in which systems built around our products will be operational or that once implemented our products will be able to meet certain operational requirements. Our ability to meet such timeframes and requirements may involve factors that are outside of our control, and failure to meet such timeframes and requirements could result in us incurring penalties and costs and/or making additional resource commitments, which would adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Previous wording

Our current and potential competitors may also establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties to further enhance their resources and offerings. Current or potential competitors may be acquired by other vendors or third parties with greater available resources. As a result of such acquisitions, our current or potential competitors might be more able than we are to adapt quickly to new technologies and customer needs, to devote greater resources to the promotion or sale of their services and products, to initiate or withstand substantial price competition, or to take advantage of emerging opportunities by developing and expanding their product and service offerings more quickly than we can. Additionally, they may hold larger portfolios of patents and other intellectual property rights as a result of such relationships or acquisitions. If we are unable to compete effectively with these evolving competitors for market share, our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

Current wording

Our current and potential competitors may also establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties to further enhance their resources and offerings. Current or potential competitors may be acquired by other vendors or third parties with greater available resources. As a result of such acquisitions, our current or potential competitors might be more able than we are to adapt quickly to new technologies and customer needs, to devote greater resources to the promotion or sale of their products, to initiate or withstand substantial price competition, or to take advantage of emerging opportunities by developing and expanding their product offerings more quickly than we can. Additionally, they may hold larger portfolios of patents and other intellectual property rights as a result of such relationships or acquisitions. If we are unable to compete effectively with these evolving competitors for market share, our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

Previous wording

We have experienced consistent growth and expect to continue to expand our operations, including the number of employees and the locations and scope of our international operations. Additionally, we have transitioned to a hybrid work environment in which a large portion of our workforce works either in-person on a part-time basis or remotely on a permanent basis, which brings new challenges to managing our business and workforce. This expansion and changing work environment has placed, and will continue to place, a significant strain on our operational and financial resources and our personnel. To manage our anticipated future operational expansion effectively, we must continue to maintain and may need to enhance our information technology and cybersecurity infrastructure and financial and accounting systems and controls, and manage expanded operations and employees in geographically distributed locations. Our growth could require significant capital expenditures and may divert financial resources from other projects, such as the development of new, enhanced, or more secure products or investments in cloud operations. If we increase the size of our organization without experiencing an increase in sales of our products, we will experience reductions in our gross and operating margins and net income. If we are unable to effectively manage our expanding operations or hybrid work environment, our expenses may increase more than expected, our revenue could decline or grow more slowly than expected, and we may be unable to implement our business strategy.

Current wording

We have experienced consistent growth and expect to continue to expand our operations, including the number of employees and the locations and scope of our international operations. In particular, we have been expanding and plan to continue to expand our operations in India. Additionally, we operate a hybrid work environment in which a large portion of our workforce works either in-person on a part-time basis or remotely on a permanent basis, which brings challenges to managing our business and workforce. This expansion and hybrid work environment has placed, and will continue to place, a significant strain on our operational and financial resources and our personnel. To manage our anticipated future operational expansion effectively, we must continue to maintain and may need to enhance our information technology and cybersecurity infrastructure and financial and accounting systems and controls, and manage expanded operations and employees in geographically distributed locations. Our growth could require significant capital expenditures and may divert financial resources from other projects, such as the development of new, enhanced, or more secure products or investments in cloud operations. If we increase the size of our organization without experiencing an increase in sales of our products, we will experience reductions in our gross and operating margins and net income. If we are unable to effectively manage our expanding operations or hybrid work environment, our expenses may increase more than expected, our revenue could decline or grow more slowly than expected, and we may be unable to implement our business strategy.

Previous wording

Some of our customers include the world’s largest P&C insurers. These customers have significant bargaining power when negotiating new licenses or subscriptions or renewals of existing agreements, and have the ability to buy similar products from other vendors or develop such systems internally. These customers have and may continue to seek advantageous pricing and other commercial and performance terms that may require us to develop additional features in the products we sell to them or add complexity to our customer agreements. These customers may also delay making payments under existing agreements, or at renewal, in an attempt to obtain more favorable terms from us. We have been required to, and may continue to be required to, reduce the average selling price and ARR of our products, along with agreeing to steeper ramps that delay reaching fully ramped ARR, in response to these pressures. If we are unable to avoid reducing our average selling prices or ARR, our results of operations could be harmed.

Current wording

Some of our customers include the world’s largest P&C insurers. These customers have significant bargaining power when negotiating new licenses or subscriptions or renewals of existing agreements, and have the ability to buy similar products from other vendors or develop such systems internally. These customers have and may continue to seek advantageous pricing and other commercial and performance terms that may require us to develop additional features in the products we sell to them or add complexity to our customer agreements. These customers may also delay making payments under existing agreements, or at renewal, in an attempt to obtain more favorable terms from us. We have been required to, and may again be required to, reduce the average selling price and ARR of our products, along with agreeing to steeper ramps that delay reaching fully ramped ARR, in response to these pressures. If we are unable to avoid reducing our average selling prices or ARR, our results of operations could be harmed.

Previous wording

We use machine learning and AI technologies in our offerings and business, and we are making investments in expanding our AI capabilities in our products, professional services, and tools, including ongoing deployment and improvement of existing machine learning and AI technologies, as well as developing new product features using generative AI technologies. AI technologies are complex and generative AI technologies, in particular, are rapidly evolving. We face significant competition from other companies as well as an evolving regulatory landscape in relation to these technologies. The introduction of AI technologies, including generative AI, into new or existing products may result in new or enhanced governmental or regulatory scrutiny, litigation, confidentiality or security risks, ethical concerns, or other complications that could adversely affect our business, reputation, or financial results. The intellectual property ownership and license rights, including without limitation copyright, surrounding AI technologies generally, and generative AI technologies specifically, has not been fully addressed by competent legal tribunals or applicable laws or regulations. Further, the use or adoption of third-party AI technologies, including generative AI technologies, into our products and services may result in exposure to claims of copyright infringement or other intellectual property-related causes of action.

Current wording

We use, and are continuously incorporating, machine learning and AI technologies in our offerings and business, and we are making investments in expanding our AI capabilities in our products, professional services, and tools, including the ongoing deployment and improvement of existing machine learning and AI technologies, as well as developing new product features using generative and other AI technologies. AI technologies are complex, and generative AI technologies, in particular, are rapidly evolving. We face significant competition from other companies as well as an evolving regulatory landscape in relation to these technologies. The introduction of AI technologies, including generative AI, into new or existing products may result in new or enhanced governmental or regulatory scrutiny, litigation, confidentiality or security risks, privacy concerns, ethical challenges, or other complications that could adversely affect our business, reputation, or financial results.

Previous wording

Uncertainty around new and emerging AI technologies, such as generative AI, may require additional investment in the development and maintenance of proprietary datasets and machine learning models, development of new approaches and processes to provide attribution or remuneration to creators of training data, and development of appropriate protections and safeguards for handling the use of customer data with such technologies, which may be costly and could impact our expenses if we decide to expand AI technologies, including generative AI, into our product offerings. AI technologies, including without limitation generative AI, may create content that appears facially correct but is factually inaccurate or flawed. Our customers or others may rely on or use such factually incorrect or flawed content to their detriment, which may expose us to brand or reputational harm, competitive harm, and/or legal liability. In all events, the development, marketing and use of AI technologies, including, in particular, generative AI, presents emerging ethical and social issues, and if we enable or offer solutions that draw scrutiny or controversy due to their perceived or actual impact on customers or on society as a whole, we may experience brand or reputational harm, competitive harm, and/or legal liability.

Current wording

The uncertainty around new and emerging AI technologies, such as generative AI, may require additional investment in the development and maintenance of proprietary datasets and machine learning models, development of new approaches and processes to provide attribution or remuneration to creators of training data, and development of appropriate protections and safeguards for handling the use of customer data with such technologies, which may be costly and could impact our expenses if we decide to expand AI technologies, including generative AI, into our product offerings. AI technologies, including without limitation generative AI, may create content that appears facially correct but is factually inaccurate or flawed. Our customers, employees, or others may rely on or use such factually incorrect or flawed content to their detriment, which may expose us to brand or reputational harm, competitive harm, and/or legal liability. In all events, the development, marketing and use of AI technologies, including, in particular, generative AI, presents emerging ethical and social issues, and if we enable or offer solutions that draw scrutiny or controversy due to their perceived or actual impact on customers or on society as a whole, we may experience brand or reputational harm, competitive harm, additional costs, and/or legal liability. If our AI development, deployment, content labeling or governance is ineffective or inadequate, it may result in incidents that impair the public acceptance of AI solutions or cause harm to individuals, customers or society, or result in our offerings not working as intended or producing unexpected outcomes.

Previous wording

Our customers have no obligation to renew their term licenses or subscriptions after their contract period expires, and these licenses and subscriptions, if renewed, may be done so on less favorable terms. Moreover, under certain circumstances, our customers have the right to cancel their licenses or subscriptions before they expire. We may not accurately predict future trends in customer renewals. In addition, our perpetual license customers have no obligation to renew their support arrangements after the expiration of the initial contractual period. Our customers’ renewal rates may fluctuate or decline because of several factors, including their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with our products, the prices of our products, the prices of products offered by our competitors, reduction in our customers’ business including their DWP, reductions in our customers’ spending levels due to the macroeconomic environment or other factors, or the sale of their operations to a buyer that is not a current customer.

Current wording

Our customers have no obligation to renew their term licenses or subscriptions after their contract period expires, and these licenses and subscriptions, if renewed, may be done so on less favorable terms. Moreover, under certain circumstances, our customers have the right to cancel their licenses or subscriptions before they expire. We may not accurately predict future trends in customer renewals. Our customers’ renewal rates may fluctuate or decline because of several factors, including their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with our products, the prices of our products, the prices of products offered by our competitors, reduction in our customers’ business including their DWP, reductions in our customers’ spending levels due to the macroeconomic environment or other factors, or the sale of their operations to a buyer that is not a current customer.

Previous wording

We generally see increased new orders in our fourth fiscal quarter, which is the quarter ending July 31, due to efforts by our sales team to achieve annual incentives. As a result, a significantly higher percentage of our annual license revenue and cash receipts have historically been recognized in our fourth fiscal quarter. Since a substantial majority of our license revenue has annual renewals after the initial term of the contract, we expect to continue to experience this seasonality effect in subsequent years. Generally, accounting under ASC 606 has and may continue to heighten or change the seasonal impact due to license revenue for the entire committed term of our new term licenses and multi-year term license renewals being recognized at the beginning of the agreement. Because of the upfront nature of revenue recognition for new multi-year term licenses and multi-year term license renewals, any quarter in which a significant agreement of this nature is signed, renewed, cancelled, or not renewed when scheduled to do so may be impacted.

Current wording

We generally see increased new orders in our fourth fiscal quarter, which is the quarter ending July 31, due to efforts by our sales team to achieve annual incentives. As a result, a significantly higher percentage of our annual license revenue and cash receipts have historically been recognized in our fourth fiscal quarter. Since a substantial majority of our license revenue has annual renewals after the initial term of the contract, we expect to continue to experience this seasonality effect in subsequent years. Because of the upfront nature of revenue recognition for new multi-year term licenses and multi-year term license renewals, any quarter in which a significant agreement of this nature is signed, renewed, cancelled, or not renewed when scheduled to do so may be impacted.

Previous wording

We currently anticipate that sales of, and revenue from, subscription services will continue to increase in the future. Subscriptions are recognized ratably over the term of the agreement after provisioning of the service. Over time, this may reduce the impact of our historic revenue seasonality, but in the near term the introduction of proportionally more subscription services into our revenue stream, together with their delayed and ratable recognition, will likely impact quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year revenue growth comparisons. Cash flow expectations and comparisons could also be impacted because of the ramped nature of the annual installments of these multi-year subscription services arrangements but will most likely remain concentrated in the fourth fiscal quarter. Additionally, ARR, which reflects the annualized recurring value of active customer contracts at the end of a reporting period, will be impacted by the seasonality of new sales orders, even if the revenue is recognized ratably.

Current wording

We currently anticipate that sales of, and revenue from, subscription services will continue to increase in the future. Subscriptions are recognized ratably over the term of the agreement after provisioning of the service. Over time, this may reduce the impact of our historic revenue seasonality, but in the near term the introduction of proportionally more subscription services into our revenue stream, together with their delayed and ratable recognition, will likely impact quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year revenue growth comparisons. Cash flow expectations and comparisons will most likely remain concentrated in the fourth fiscal quarter and could also be impacted because of the ramped nature of the annual installments of these multi-year subscription services arrangements. Additionally, ARR, which reflects the annualized recurring value of active customer contracts at the end of a reporting period, will be impacted by the seasonality of new sales orders, even if the revenue is recognized ratably.

Previous wording

•subscription arrangements generally have ramped invoicing schedules over the initial term, which affects ARR, but revenue is recognized ratably over the initial term;

Current wording

•subscription arrangements generally have ramped invoicing schedules over the initial term, which affects ARR and cash flows, but revenue is recognized ratably over the initial term;

Previous wording

Our success depends on our continued ability to develop, introduce, and market new and enhanced versions of our products to meet evolving customer requirements. Because some of our products are complex and require rigorous testing, new features, new functionality, and updates to our existing products can take significant time and resources to develop and bring to market. As we expand internationally, our products must be modified and adapted to comply with regulations and other requirements of the countries in which our customers do business. Additionally, market conditions may dictate that we change the delivery method of our products or the technology platform underlying our existing products or that new products be developed on different technology platforms, potentially adding material time and expense to our development cycles. The nature of these development cycles may cause us to experience delays between the time we incur expenses associated with research and development and the time we generate revenue, if any, from such expenses.

Current wording

Our success depends on our continued ability to develop, introduce, and market new and enhanced versions of our products to meet evolving customer requirements. Because our products are complex and require rigorous testing, new features, new functionality, and updates to our existing products can take significant time and resources to develop and bring to market. As we expand internationally, our products must be modified and adapted to comply with regulations and other requirements of the countries in which our customers do business. Additionally, market conditions may dictate that we change the delivery method of our products or the technology platform underlying our existing products or that new products be developed on different technology platforms, potentially adding material time and expense to our development cycles. The nature of these development cycles may cause us to experience delays between the time we incur expenses associated with research and development and the time we generate revenue, if any, from such expenses.

Previous wording

We have transitioned to a hybrid in-person and remote workforce, which will subject us to certain operational challenges and risks and potential harm to our business.

Current wording

We operate a hybrid in-person and remote workforce, which will subject us to certain operational challenges and risks and potential harm to our business.

Previous wording

We have transitioned to a hybrid work environment in which a significant portion of our workforce works either in-person on a part-time basis or remotely on a permanent basis. As a result, we expect to continue to be subject to the challenges and risks of having a remote workforce, as well as new challenges and risks from operating with a hybrid workforce. For example, certain security systems in homes or other remote workplaces may be less secure than those used in our offices, which may subject us to increased security risks, including cybersecurity-related events, and expose us to risks of data or financial loss and associated disruptions to our business operations. Members of our workforce who work remotely may not have access to technology that is as robust as that in our offices, which could cause the networks, information systems, applications, and other tools available to those remote workers to be more limited or less reliable than in our offices. We may also be exposed to risks associated with the locations of remote workers, including compliance with local laws and regulations or exposure to compromised internet infrastructure. Allowing members of our workforce to work remotely may create intellectual property risk if employees create intellectual property on our behalf while residing in a jurisdiction with unenforced or uncertain intellectual property laws. Further, if employees fail to inform us of changes in their work location, we may be exposed to additional risks without our knowledge. The transition to hybrid in-person as well as remote working may also subject us to other operational challenges and risks. For example, our shift to hybrid working may adversely affect our ability to recruit and retain personnel who prefer a fully remote or fully in-person work environment. Operating our business with both remote and in-person workers, or workers who work in flexible locations and on flexible schedules, could have a negative impact on our corporate culture, decrease the ability of our workforce to collaborate and communicate effectively, decrease innovation and productivity, or negatively affect workforce morale and retention rates. In addition, we expect to incur costs related to the transition to a hybrid workforce to, among other things, facilitate permanent remote work for a portion of our workforce and update our offices to offer more collaborative workspaces. If we are unable to effectively transition to a hybrid workforce, manage the cybersecurity and other risks of remote work, and maintain our corporate culture and workforce morale, our business could be harmed or otherwise negatively impacted.

Current wording

We operate a hybrid work environment in which a significant portion of our workforce works either in-person on a part-time basis or remotely on a permanent basis. As a result, we are subject to the challenges and risks of having a remote and hybrid workforce. For example, certain security systems in homes or other remote workplaces may be less secure than those used in our offices, which may subject us to increased security risks, including cybersecurity-related events, and expose us to risks of data or financial loss and associated disruptions to our business operations. Members of our workforce who work remotely may not have access to technology that is as robust as that in our offices, which could cause the networks, information systems, applications, and other tools available to those remote workers to be more limited or less reliable than in our offices. We may also be exposed to risks associated with the locations of remote workers, including compliance with local laws and regulations or exposure to compromised internet infrastructure. Allowing members of our workforce to work remotely may create intellectual property risk if employees create intellectual property on our behalf while residing in a jurisdiction with unenforced or uncertain intellectual property laws. Further, if employees fail to inform us of changes in their work location, we may be exposed to additional risks without our knowledge. Hybrid in-person as well as remote working may also subject us to other operational challenges and risks. For example, hybrid working arrangements may adversely affect our ability to recruit and retain personnel who prefer a fully remote or fully in-person work environment. Operating our business with both remote and in-person workers, or workers who work in flexible locations and on flexible schedules, could have a negative impact on our corporate culture, decrease the ability of our workforce to collaborate and communicate effectively, decrease innovation and productivity, or negatively affect workforce morale and retention rates. In addition, we expect to incur costs related to a hybrid workforce including, among other things, facilitating permanent remote work for a portion of our workforce and updating our offices to offer more collaborative workspaces. If we are unable to effectively operate a hybrid workforce, manage the cybersecurity and other risks of remote work, and maintain our corporate culture and workforce morale, our business could be harmed or otherwise negatively impacted.

Previous wording

Real or perceived errors or failures in our products and professional services, including implementation services, may affect our reputation, cause us to lose customers, and reduce sales and renewal rates, which may harm our business and results of operations and subject us to liability for breach of warranty claims.

Current wording

Real or perceived errors or failures in our products and professional services, including implementation and cloud support services, may affect our reputation, cause us to lose customers, and reduce sales and renewal rates, which may harm our business and results of operations and subject us to liability for breach of warranty claims.

Previous wording

Because we offer complex products, undetected errors or failures may exist or occur, especially when products are first introduced or when new versions or updates are released. Our products are often installed and used in large-scale computing environments with different operating systems, system management software, and equipment and networking configurations, which may cause errors or failures in our products or may expose undetected errors, failures, or bugs in our products. Despite testing by us, we may not identify all errors, failures, or bugs in new products or releases until after commencement of commercial sales or installation. In the past, we have discovered software errors, failures, and bugs in some of our offerings after their introduction. Additionally, our Guidewire Cloud offerings rely on third-party hosting services, primarily AWS. Any material disruption or slowdown in these services or the systems of third parties who we depend upon could cause outages or delays in our products, which could harm our reputation and adversely affect our results of operations.

Current wording

Because we offer complex products, undetected errors or failures may exist or occur, especially when products are first introduced or when new versions or updates are released. Our products are often installed and used in large-scale computing environments with different operating systems, system management software, and equipment and networking configurations, which may cause errors or failures in our products or may expose undetected errors, failures, or bugs in our products. Despite testing by us, we may not identify all errors, failures, or bugs in new products or releases until after commencement of commercial sales or installation. In the past, we have discovered software errors, failures, and bugs in some of our offerings after their introduction. While we have implemented, and continually improve, a breadth of industry standard technology controls designed to ensure system stability and availability, we may introduce errors, design flaws, software bugs, and other issues into the environment, and fail to remediate them in a timely manner, which may cause serious or prolonged service interruptions to our customers. Additionally, our Guidewire cloud offerings rely on third-party services including, but not limited to, AWS and Okta. Any material disruption, failure or slowdown in these services or the systems of third parties who we depend upon could cause outages or delays in our products, which could harm our reputation and adversely affect our results of operations.

Previous wording

Our ability to sell our services and products is highly dependent on the quality of our professional services and technical support services and the support of our SI partners, and the failure of us or our SI partners to offer high-quality professional services or technical support services could damage our reputation and adversely affect our ability to sell our services and products to new customers and renew agreements with our existing customers.

Current wording

Our ability to sell our products is highly dependent on the quality of our professional services and technical support services and the support of our SI partners, and the failure of us or our SI partners to offer high-quality professional services or technical support services could damage our reputation and adversely affect our ability to sell our products to new customers and renew agreements with our existing customers.

Previous wording

Our subscription and support revenue was 48% and 42% of total revenue for fiscal years 2023 and 2022, respectively. Our subscription and support revenue produces lower gross margins than our license revenue. The gross margin of our subscription and support revenue was 51% and 41% for fiscal years 2023 and 2022, respectively, while the gross margin for license revenue was 98% and 97% for fiscal years 2023 and 2022, respectively. As our cloud transition continues, we expect that subscription revenue will continue to increase as a percentage of total revenue as we contract with new cloud customers and existing customers migrate from term licenses to subscription services. Additionally, we are incurring significant expenses to develop our cloud services and scale our cloud operations which may not result in an improvement of our subscription and support gross margin. These trends, along with other factors, some of which may be beyond our control, may adversely affect our overall gross and operating margins. These other factors include the percentage of new customers that enter into subscription services agreements as compared to term license agreements, the revenue impact of allocating total contract consideration between license revenue and subscription and support revenue when existing customers transition from term license to subscription services agreements, investments in certain cloud implementations to assist our customers with their migration to our cloud services, continued growth and efficiency of our cloud operations and technical support teams, and the impact on the global economy as a result of economic volatility, inflation, or other global events and disasters.

Current wording

Our subscription and support revenue was 56% and 48% of total revenue for fiscal years 2024 and 2023, respectively. Our subscription and support revenue produces lower gross margins than our license revenue. The gross margin of our subscription and support revenue was 63% and 51% for fiscal years 2024 and 2023, respectively, while the gross margin for license revenue was 98% and 98% for fiscal years 2024 and 2023, respectively. We expect that subscription revenue will continue to increase as a percentage of total revenue as we contract with new cloud customers and existing customers migrate from term licenses to subscription services. Additionally, we are incurring expenses to operate our cloud services and manage our cloud operations which may not result in an improvement of our subscription and support gross margin. These trends, along with other factors, some of which may be beyond our control, may adversely affect our overall gross and operating margins. These other factors include the percentage of new customers that enter into subscription services agreements as compared to term license agreements, the revenue impact of allocating total contract consideration between license revenue and subscription and support revenue when existing customers transition from term license to subscription services agreements, investments in certain cloud implementations to assist our customers with their migration to our cloud services, continued growth and efficiency of our cloud operations and technical support teams, and the impact on the global economy as a result of economic volatility, inflation, or other global events and disasters.

Previous wording

Further, our services revenue was 23% and 26% of total revenue for fiscal years 2023 and 2022, respectively. Our services revenue produces lower gross margin than either our license revenue or our subscription and support revenue. The gross margin of our services revenue was negative in both fiscal years 2023 and 2022. If we experience an increase in the percentage of total revenue represented by services revenue, due to acquisitions or other factors, such increase could reduce our overall gross and operating margins. Fluctuation in our services revenue can result from several factors, some of which may be beyond our control, including the pace of our customers’ migration from term license to subscription services as we continue our cloud transition, change in customer demand for our services team’s involvement in the implementation of new products, the rates we charge or discounts we offer for our services, our ability to bill our customers for all time incurred to complete a project, the extent and quality of implementations and migrations provided by our SI partners, and the impact on the global economy as a result of economic volatility, inflation, or other global events and disasters. Additionally, the failure to improve, or the erosion of, our services margin, whether due to discounts related to encouraging clients to accelerate their cloud transition or otherwise, particularly in combination with any increase in services revenue, could adversely affect our overall gross and operating margins. Our services margin may erode if we hire and train additional services personnel to support cloud-based services or markets prior to having customer engagements, if we make investments in customer migrations from self-managed term licenses to subscription services, if we enter into fixed fee services arrangements, if our services personnel are underutilized, or if we require additional personnel on unexpectedly difficult projects to ensure customer success, perhaps without receiving commensurate compensation.

Current wording

Further, our services revenue was 18% and 23% of total revenue for fiscal years 2024 and 2023, respectively. Our services revenue produces lower gross margin than either our license revenue or our subscription and support revenue. The gross margin of our services revenue was negative in both fiscal years 2024 and 2023. If we experience an increase in the percentage of total revenue represented by services revenue, due to acquisitions or other factors, such increase could reduce our overall gross and operating margins. Fluctuation in our services revenue can result from several factors, some of which may be beyond our control, including change in customer demand for our services team’s involvement in the implementation of and migration to new products, the rates we charge or discounts we offer for our services, our ability to bill our customers for all time incurred to complete a project, the extent and quality of implementations and migrations provided by our SI partners, the extent to which we subcontract services to those SI partners, and the impact on the global economy as a result of economic volatility, inflation, or other global events and disasters. Additionally, the failure to improve, or the erosion of, our services margin, whether due to discounts related to encouraging customers to enter into cloud agreements or otherwise, particularly in combination with any increase in services revenue, could adversely affect our overall gross and operating margins. Our services margin may erode if we hire and train additional services personnel to support cloud-based services or markets prior to having customer engagements, if we make investments in customer migrations from self-managed term licenses to subscription services, if we enter into fixed fee services arrangements, if our services personnel are underutilized, if we subcontract out services without an adequate markup, or if we require additional personnel on unexpectedly difficult projects to ensure customer success, perhaps without receiving commensurate compensation.

Previous wording

Failure of any of our established services or products to satisfy customer demands or to maintain market acceptance could harm our business, results of operations, financial condition, and growth prospects.

Current wording

Failure of any of our established products to satisfy customer demands or to maintain market acceptance could harm our business, results of operations, financial condition, and growth prospects.

Previous wording

We sell our products to customers located outside the United States, and we are continuing to expand our international operations as part of our growth strategy. In fiscal years 2023, 2022, and 2021, $331.5 million, $296.2 million, and $271.1 million of our revenue, respectively, was from customers outside of the United States. Our current international operations and our plans to expand our international operations subject us to a variety of risks, including:

Current wording

We sell our products to customers located outside the United States, and we are continuing to expand our international operations as part of our growth strategy. In fiscal years 2024, 2023, and 2022, $347.9 million, $331.5 million, and $296.2 million of our revenue, respectively, was from customers outside of the United States. Our current international operations and our plans to expand our international operations subject us to a variety of risks, including:

Previous wording

•highly inflationary international economies and related governments, such as Argentina;

Current wording

•highly inflationary international economies and related governments;

Previous wording

•disruption to our operations caused by epidemics or pandemics; and

Current wording

•disruption to our operations caused by public health crises, such as epidemics and pandemics; and

Previous wording

Our business strategy includes the potential acquisition of shares or assets of companies with software, cloud-based services, technologies, or businesses complementary to ours. Our strategy also includes alliances with such companies. For example, we have made several acquisitions in the past, including most recently in August 2021, we acquired HazardHub, Inc., a leading insurtech provider of property risk insights. Acquisitions and alliances, such as our strategic partnerships with One Inc. and Smart Communications, may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures, be dilutive to earnings, and may not result in the benefits anticipated by such corporate activity. In particular, we may fail to assimilate or integrate the businesses, technologies, services, products, personnel, or operations of the acquired companies, retain key personnel necessary to favorably execute the combined companies’ business plan, or retain existing customers or sell acquired products to new customers. Acquisitions and alliances may also disrupt our ongoing business, divert our resources, and require significant management attention that would otherwise be available for ongoing development of our current business. In addition, we may be required to make additional capital investments or undertake remediation efforts to ensure the success of our acquisitions, which may reduce the benefits of such acquisitions. We also may be required to use a substantial amount of our cash or issue debt or equity securities to complete an acquisition or realize the potential of an alliance, which could deplete our cash reserves and/or dilute our existing stockholders.

Current wording

Our business strategy includes the potential acquisition of shares or assets of companies with software, cloud-based services, technologies, or businesses complementary to ours. Our strategy also includes alliances with such companies. For example, we have made several acquisitions in the past, including most recently in August 2021, we acquired HazardHub, Inc., a leading insurtech provider of property risk insights. Acquisitions and alliances, such as our strategic partnerships with One Inc. and Smart Communications, may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures, be dilutive to earnings, negatively impact margins, and may not result in the benefits anticipated by such corporate activity. In particular, we may fail to assimilate or integrate the businesses, technologies, services, products, personnel, or operations of the acquired companies, retain key personnel necessary to favorably execute the combined companies’ business plan, or retain existing customers or sell acquired products to new customers. Acquisitions and alliances may also disrupt our ongoing business, divert our resources, and require significant management attention that would otherwise be available for ongoing development of our current business. In addition, we may be required to make additional capital investments or undertake remediation efforts to ensure the success of our acquisitions, which may reduce the benefits of such acquisitions. We also may be required to use a substantial amount of our cash or issue debt or equity securities to complete an acquisition or realize the potential of an alliance, which could deplete our cash reserves and/or dilute our existing stockholders. Following an acquisition or the establishment of an alliance offering new products, the timing of revenue from the sale of products that we acquired or that result from the alliance, or from the sale of a bundle of products that includes such new products, may be different than the timing of revenue from existing products. In addition, our ability to maintain favorable pricing of new products may be challenging if we bundle such products with existing products. A delay in the recognition of revenue from sales of acquired or alliance products, or reduced pricing due to bundled sales, may cause fluctuations in our quarterly financial results, may adversely affect our operating margins, and may reduce the benefits of such acquisitions or alliances.