Throughout all the tumult, McDermott has steadily grown ServiceNow’s business, which provides online software for companies to manage their HR, IT, and other internal functions. Annual revenue, which was $3.46 billion the year he joined in 2019, totaled $13.3 billion in 2025, and is on track to surpass $15 billion this year.
To McDermott, it’s a false narrative that misunderstands the enterprise software market and ignores how AI is a tailwind, not a headwind, to ServiceNow’s business. “It’s nonsense,” he says of the Saaspocalypse concept.
The disconnect between Wall Street and “Main Street customers” is frustrating, acknowledged McDermott, a Long Island, New York native with the accent to match. Still, he maintained that the stock’s drubbing would not shake him. “I have walked over tougher challenges than that on my way to a fight. That’s the story of my life, man,” he said. “I ain’t going anywhere. I can take anybody’s blows and still come out on top.”
As evidence of his resolve, he pointed to his purchase of $3 million worth of ServiceNow shares in February; more than 90% of ServiceNow employees are buying the company’s stock too, he said.
“I explained very clearly to our company that when this thing breaks loose, it will break loose, and we’ll be a trillion dollar company,” he said. “It’s just a question of which day it breaks loose, it’s not a question of whether it will.”
Nonetheless, McDermott stressed that AI is not a threat to enterprise software companies. That’s because businesses can only get real benefits from AI when the technology has access to a company’s trove of data. And the gateway to that data is via enterprise software companies. “These companies have a footprint in enterprises, and they’re not going away,” he said.
Without the context of an individual company’s data, AI models are just “expensive advice,” McDermott said, repeating one of his recent talking points.
Not that he’s not bullish about the AI model makers, particularly companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceXAI, all of which are believed to be preparing to go public.
“They’ll go public, they’ll do fantastic, and I think the investors will do fantastic, and they’ll have very, very bright futures,” McDermott said.
That will be good for everyone, he said, because of the transparency it will bring. “When you’re in a public market, everything is completely clear: What you’re great at. What your revenue projections are, but also what your profitability projections are.”
“The mystery will be over,” he said, and as investors have a better understanding of the AI companies, they will be able to make more informed decisions about the broader market, including companies like ServiceNow.
“I think that will help clear things up and make the market pretty rational,” said McDermott.
