Inside look at Tableau in Seattle | Microsoft hits $3 trillion

“The community is a bunch of raving fans. Who wouldn’t want that?” Tableau CEO Ryan Aytay (above) says his biggest challenge so far has been making sure Tableau has the leeway from Salesforce to maintain its unique approach, identity, and focus. That means catering to its passionate user base of data pros and analysts, while also serving Salesforce’s broader base of business customers. Aytay has been focusing on rebuilding Tableau’s leadership team, accelerating product development and AI innovation, and improving customer service after a Gartner report last year flagged the company for slow response times. Read more.

Welcome to the $3 trillion club. Microsoft reached a new market capitalization milestone Wednesday, reflecting investor confidence in the company’s future and its AI-related initiatives. Read more. 

Remember how police were using Ring videos for investigations? No more, at least not without a warrant. The company, owned by Amazon, is ending a controversial feature that let public safety agencies request and receive videos voluntarily from users. Read more.

The controversial capital gains tax in Washington state may appear on the November ballot later this year after an initiative to repeal the tax was certified Tuesday. The new tax, which generated nearly $900 million in its first year, sparked debate in the tech industry. Read more. 

Scientists from the University of Washington theorized that soda lakes were prime locations for the origin of life billions of years ago — and then they found a great real-world example just a few hundred miles north of their home base. 

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Hot Links:

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