To everyone who joined us in my hometown of Austin for the 2026 NetSapiens Platform User Group Meeting, thank you. You took time away from your businesses, your customers and your families to be with us. I appreciate that commitment, and I came away from our time together grateful for the trust you place in Crexendo and in one another.
I left the UGM more confident than ever in our team, our partners and the future of the NetSapiens platform. The energy at UGM 2026 was palpable, in the sessions, on the exhibit floor and in my conversations with licensees throughout the week. To everyone who joined us, thank you. Your commitment to this community is what makes UGM so valuable.
When I first became CEO, many of my conversations with licensees focused on what we needed to fix or what we were not yet delivering. Those conversations mattered, and we took them seriously. In Austin, the overwhelming message I heard was appreciation for our team, recognition of the progress we have made and the excitement about where we are going. That means a great deal to me. It also raises the standard we have to meet.
When NetSapiens first merged with Crexendo, I heard a great deal about its community. I will admit that I wondered how companies that sometimes competed with one another could be so willing to share ideas and help each other succeed. Getting to know you answered that question. You care deeply about your customers and employees, and you recognize how much stronger your business can become when you learn from one another.
That spirit filled our gathering in Austin during the last week of October. This year’s event grew more than 20% over last year, bringing together more than 110 licensee partner companies representing approximately 65% of the platform’s eight million users. Our reach was increasingly global, with attendees from the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, South Africa, India, the Philippines and elsewhere in Asia.
Those numbers represent people who have built businesses, supported customers through difficult moments and made decisions that carry real responsibility. Some have been with NetSapiens for years. Others are just beginning their journey with us. I hope everyone left Austin knowing that they have colleagues across this community they can turn to for advice and support.
As I said in my opening remarks, I come to UGM to learn. I enjoy hearing what we are doing well, but I particularly value hearing where we can do better. Your willingness to tell us what needs attention helps us understand where to focus our efforts. Please keep those conversations going after the event. Our responsibility to listen continues throughout the year.
That exchange was especially important around NetSapiens Flow and version 46. The response to NetSapiens Flow was one of the clearest examples of that excitement. Licensees were eager to get their hands on it, and a number purchased sandbox access to begin testing and learning ahead of general release. To me, that willingness to invest time and money speaks volumes about the value they see in what our team is building. That to me was a highlight of the week. Partners could see the possibilities of a more intuitive experience, with workflows designed to reduce the need to move among separate portals and make everyday work easier for their teams and customers.
I am proud of the work our product and engineering teams have put into Flow, and grateful to the partners helping us refine it. Thousands of feedback submissions from sandbox users were already contributing to that process. Each suggestion gives us a clearer view of how the platform needs to work in practice. That involvement makes the progress we shared in Austin particularly meaningful.
Our expanding ecosystem brought another source of energy to the event. Participation by Ecosystem Partner companies grew more than 75% year over year. The range of solutions reflected how much opportunity exists around the platform, including AI applications, conversation intelligence, business integrations and communications hardware. Partners had the chance to explore capabilities that could help them serve customers in new ways.
The Ecosystem Partner Program also brings structure to those relationships, with development environments and defined support connections. That matters when a service provider is deciding which solutions to build into its business. We want partners to have both a wider choice of capabilities and a clearer understanding of the relationships supporting them.
Throughout the week, we returned to a practical question: how can we help our partners deliver greater value to their customers? AI creates opportunities to answer that question. Helping a business respond to customers more effectively or freeing employees from repetitive work can make a meaningful difference. Understanding the customer’s problem is what gives the technology its purpose.
Dom Black of Cavell offered valuable perspective on that opportunity, particularly the importance of understanding specific industries and the way their businesses operate. Our partners know their customers. Combining that knowledge with the platform and specialized ecosystem solutions gives them room to build services that fit those customers more closely. I found that an encouraging direction for our community.
My sincere thanks go to Dom, Jeff Pulver of the vCon Foundation and Rob Kurver of the CPaaS Acceleration Alliance for sharing their expertise and insights. Hearing perspectives from across the industry helps us examine our assumptions and identify opportunities to help our partners grow. We appreciated the time and thought they brought to our gathering.
Of course, some of the most enjoyable moments happened away from the sessions. Our Formula 1 theme suited a week focused on helping partners compete and adapt. Austin gave us plenty of reasons to spend time together, including live music, Speed Bump the armadillo, and Freckles the Texas Longhorn as we celebrated evening events at Banger’s and the Bullock Museum. Shared experiences like those help people get to know each other beyond a company name or a job title. The friendships that grow at UGM are part of what makes coming back so special.
A special thank you to Snom and NUSO, and to all of our sponsors. Your support helped make this year’s UGM possible, and your participation gave our licensees valuable opportunities to explore new solutions and build relationships that will continue well beyond Austin. Thank you for showing up for this community and contributing so much to the experience.
To our Crexendo team, thank you for the work behind every session, demonstration, and conversation. Bringing an event like this together takes months of preparation and care. I am proud of your commitment to our partners and grateful for everything you did to welcome them to Austin.
I am excited about the year ahead because of the people who will shape it. We have important work to do helping our partners grow. In the blogs that follow, my colleagues will explore more of the ideas and developments we discussed at UGM.
I left Austin proud of what our team has accomplished and even more excited about what comes next. You have my commitment to keep listening, keep improving and stay focused on helping your businesses succeed. Thank you for your trust, your candor and your partnership. I look forward to seeing you in San Diego in 2027. Thank you for a memorable week in Austin and for the opportunity to be part of what you are building.
