Welcome back to the
Dreamforce Broadcast.
I am joined by the CEO of
McLaren Racing, Zak Brown.
It is always
great to see you.
Thanks for
talking with me.
It is our annual
check in and chat.
So F1, of course, is one
of the fastest growing
sports globally and
in the United States.
And your success
record really
on and off the track
is grounded in data.
So explain to
me how you're
leveraging your data to
grow the organization
and become more and more
successful every year.
So we're very
data-centric,
The racing car has
300 sensors on it,
pulls down 1 and 1/2
terabytes of data a race
weekend to run 50 million
simulations on how should
we run this race, how
is the car working,
That's obviously on the
technical on track side.
Equally as
important, the data
that we're using,
specifically
with Salesforce
around CRM,
is around our
fan engagement.
And we used to be a sport
that just broadcast it out
and then you'd hear
at a later date
through some research
how you're doing.
Now, in today's world, we
can hear instantaneously
how we're doing, what our
fans want to see more of,
Because we've got
all these great fans,
500 million around
the world, who
digest and want to engage
with us in different ways.
Some it's about
the drivers, some
it's about the technology,
some it's about where
we're racing, some
it's about the politics
And so we use all
that data to make sure
we have the fastest race
car on the track, the best
And then when
we're engaging
with our great
fans, we need
to understand
the data that's
coming in so we can
customize on a 1 to 1
basis the 500 million fans
an experience that fits
Of that 500 million fans,
what percentage is women?
Because I have so many
conversations about women
who tell me they're
F1 racing fans,
which I would not
have guessed that.
Maybe that's my own bias.
Women and youth are the
fastest growing new fans
I can tell you more
often than not,
when people are talking
to me about their new fans
to the sport, it's
coming from women,
it's coming
from youth, it's
coming from daughters,
it's coming from wives.
And if it's a gentleman
that comes up to me,
you're expecting
him to say--
My daughter loves
Formula One.
So it's been
absolutely amazing,
the growth of the sport
to a really important fan
base, which is
what we needed.
How has Salesforce
specifically helped
Engagement with our fans,
understanding our fans,
understanding
what our fans
want from us so we can
customize the experience.
Obviously, AI is becoming
critically important.
Something that
we've been using
for a while from a
strategic manufacturing
point of view,
but now it's
allowing us to have
that customized
one on one relationship
with hundreds
And you have to
rely on technology.
And because people
want different things,
we're able to serve up
offerings, if you'd like,
on how to engage with
us in a customized way.
It felt like
today's keynote
was indicative of a
big, giant step forward.
What did you think
of the keynote
and what did you
think of what you've
We need partners
like Salesforce.
Of course, there's
an economic element
But what they
now do for us,
when they're partners
with us in our racing team
is either help us
go faster on track
or have better
engagement with our fans.
And so we're fortunate
to be working
with the Salesforces,
the Googles,
the Workday's
of the world.
And working with best in
class technology companies
allow us to be best
in class in sport.
Are there things that
you've heard today
that you think, yes, that
is the future of what
We're an organization
that enjoys the unknown.
It takes a certain type
of individual and culture
to embrace what's
coming tomorrow, never
So anytime you hear
Marc Benioff speak,
He's definitely
looking down the road.
So a lot of things he said
that were very relevant
that I'll take
back to the factory
and sit down with
our marketing
team or our technology
team, say, here's
where Salesforce is going.
Let's make sure
we go with them.
When they talked
about Agent Force,
what did you
take from that?
What can Agent Force do
for you, do you think?
I think ultimately it's
like having more people
on our racing
team, so to speak.
Obviously, it's
technology driven,
but, the way to have
engagement with everyone
within the organization,
having Salesforce
be a partner of
ours and being
an agent representing
our cause
So it's early days in
this new AI adventure,
and I think it is going
to be an adventure,
and just looking forward
to learning more.
One of the things that
Marc said in his keynote
was, Do It Yourself, DIY
AI is not a good idea.
And I was talking to some
folks who gave me examples
of how expensive it can
be for an organization
and how really
ineffective it can
be for an organization to
do a do-yourself put it
together when
instead you can
go to something
like Salesforce.
And they say,
well, here, we'll
put it together for you
in two weeks and not 18
I think it's pace of
integration and scaling.
And when you have
the amount of fans
that we have and
Formula One has,
integration can be
quite disruptive.
And so you want to
have quick integration
and be able to scale
up because technology
helps you move at
a much faster pace.
And so it's great
that they're
We're now three, four
years into the partnership
and have many more
years ahead of us.
Online the
other day, there
was a picture of you as a
kid, 13 years old maybe,
Teen Week Wheel
of Fortune.
Wheel of Fortune,
Teen Week.
And you put your the
money you won into--
So back when I
used to race,
that's how I got started.
You either need to have
some family resources
Or go on Wheel of Fortune.
So I don't know of anyone
else that's followed
But Wheel of
Fortune is still
going strong so everyone
should give it a go.
Or maybe if you're
smarter than me,
Wheel of Fortune
is a little easier
Well, if you could
think about back
when you were 13,
what you thought
the future would
look like in racing.
And I'm often
asked, what's
it going to look
like in 10, 20 years.
Well, that was
my next question.
What is it going to look
like in 10, 20 years?
I know the cars will
be faster, safer.
There'll be
even better ways
But I'm excited
to see what
It's always
nice to see you.
Thanks for
talking with me.
Zak Brown is the CEO
of McLaren Racing.
