Cerence Inc.

Good day and welcome to the CERN's first quarter 2022 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during this session, you will need to press star then 1 on your touchtone telephone. If anyone should require assistance during the conference, please press star then 0 to reach an operator. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. I would like to turn the call over to Richard Gagnon, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations. You may begin.

Thank you, Michelle. Welcome to CERNS' first quarter fiscal year 22 conference call. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that this call may involve certain forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties as described in the press release preceding today's call. CERNS makes no representations to update those statements after the date hereof. In addition, the company may refer to certain non-GAAP measures, key performance indicators, and pro forma financial information during the call. Please refer to today's press release for further details of the definitions, limitations, and uses of those measures and reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the closest GAAP equivalent. Joining me on today's call are Stefan Ortmans, CEO of Serence, Mark Gallenberger, CFO of Serence, As a reminder, the only authorized spokespeople for the company are Stefan, Mark, and me. Before handing the call over to Stefan, I would like to announce several upcoming investor events. The exact timing of our participation is subject to change, so please go to the events section of our IR website for the latest information. The conferences include the virtual second annual Cowan Mobility Disruption Summit on March 2nd, the virtual Berenberg Industrials Technologies Conference 2022 on March 3rd, and the Raymond James 43rd Annual Institutional Investors Conference in Orlando, Florida on March 7th. Now on to the call. Stefan?

Thank you, Rich. Welcome to everyone on the call, and thank you for joining us to discuss our first quarter fiscal 22 earnings. I'm delighted to be here. It's been an incredibly busy and energizing few months. In addition to advancing our and launching new products and partnerships, I've spent a lot of time gathering feedback and exchanging ideas with customers, partners, employees, investors, and analysts, including many of you on this call. It is important and valuable to see the company with a fresh perspective and to get grounded both in our current realities and future opportunities. We recognize CERN has seen changes in our leadership since we last convened, and we made important decisions to advance our strategic priorities and position the business to drive long-term sustainable growth. Several factors have led us to lower guidance for the fiscal year. The reasons for this I will address later on the call. As I've told our employees, our industry is evolving at a rapid pace. and focus and speed are needed for success. This applies to CERNs and everyone else. When I think about the mobility industry and specifically for the automotive industry over the next 5 to 10 years, I believe 2022 will be an important year as electrification of the car reaches commercial scale at the end of last year. Cars powered by electricity are becoming more and more mainstream around the globe. For example, in China, over 15% of new cars sold today are electric vehicles. This tipping point has and will continue to accelerate the complete digitization of the car. Digitization will create new opportunities and challenges. In response, global automakers will accelerate the deployment of new innovation and adapt to changing consumer demands and regulatory developments. By the end of this decade, we believe the car will be fully and commercially redefined as a mobility solution, powered by two key platforms that work seamlessly together, autonomous driving and the digital cockpit and cabin. A fully digital cockpit and cabin will transform the experience for both drivers and passengers in a car. It will make possible much more than a driver simply speaking commands. It will make possible convenient, enjoyable and safe experiences for drivers and passengers, especially as our vehicles bridge our digital lives. It will create not just an enhanced driving experience, but also include the apps, content and services we use daily on our phones, in our homes and at work. These new capabilities will certainly occur inside the vehicle where CERNs today already excel for in-car experiences. They will also increasingly factor in elements outside the vehicle, such as the interactions with other cars, billboards, city infrastructure, pedestrians, and more. Taken together, CERNs will lead the way in cabin, driver, and road AI to keep the driver informed, passengers entertained, and cars on the road safe. Already, the user experience inside the car is becoming increasingly important to new car buyers, and no company enhances that experience better than Siren's. Today, our products and innovation are already in approximately 50% of all new cars, and we plan to expand more within the digital cockpit platform for future cars. As the market accelerates, we are well positioned to work with both incumbent car makers as well as new electric vehicle makers. To thrive in this world, we are focusing on things our customers really value and that we can uniquely deliver. We will continue to lead the dynamic field of conversational AI, delivering important innovations and leading technology for our customers. To that end, we have already made significant progress. We have a strong competitive position in the market, great technology that sets benchmarks for the industry and the global delivery team helping our customers create unique in-car experiences. And we have incredible employees. I deeply appreciate their dedication and resilience, their remarkable adaptability and commitment to supporting our customers. And each other is key to our continued success. I'm incredibly proud of how they continue to rise to the challenge. Taken together, We are well positioned to drive sustainable long-term growth. Going forward, we will ensure intense focus on innovation and execution to drive that kind of growth and the resulting value creation. Mark will provide additional detail, but I want to say a few words about the quarter itself. We had a strong start to the fiscal year, including recording our second largest booking quarter in the history of the company. This is a great overall indicator of the strength of our position in the markets we serve and the spectrum of products we have in our portfolio. Most profitability metrics in Q1 were above the guidance that we gave last quarter. Profitability was better than expected, mainly due to a favorable mix and lower expenses resulting from slower than anticipated hiring. Overall, today's results demonstrate the breadth and underlying strength of the business. The past two months have not only been a period of change at CERNS, but also a period of setting a stronger foundation for long-term sustainable growth at CERNS. The semiconductor shortage and its impact on our customers continues to be a headwind to our growth and the industry at large. There are still varying reports on how quickly the issue will be resolved, but clearly it is still a struggle for our customers. There continue to report of production cutbacks by our customers due to both the semiconductor shortage and the recent rise of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Even those with the most optimistic views don't get the semiconductor shortage issue to be resolved until the back half of the calendar year. We continue to focus on two fundamentals, delivering great innovation to our customers and pivoting the company towards the future. You can expect from CERN a commitment to bold innovation, to long-term success and value creation, and to accountability to our partners, customers, and shareholders. And with that, I will turn the call over to Mark to review the financial results of the quarter. Following Mark's comments, I will provide guidance for Q2 and update the full fiscal year guidance. I will provide some additional commentary, and then we will take your questions. Mark?