Blackbaud beats on Q1 revenue: CEO tells Investing.com AI is a tailwind
Investing.com — Blackbaud posted a mixed first quarter on Tuesday, beating revenue estimates while falling slightly short on earnings, as CEO Mike Gianoni used an exclusive interview with Investing.com prior to the release to push back against the narrative that artificial intelligence poses a structural threat to the company.
BLKB’s revenue came in at $281.1 million, ahead of the consensus estimate of $279.33 million and up 4.2% year over year.
Adjusted EPS of $1.14 missed the $1.18 analyst estimate by four cents, while Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA rose to $98.7 million, with margins expanding 100 basis points to 35.1%.
Full-year guidance was reaffirmed, with the company targeting revenue of $1.173 billion to $1.179 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $5.15 to $5.25, both broadly in line with consensus.
In March, Blackbaud launched the Development Agent, which it describes as the first expert agent embedded in a dedicated social impact platform, designed to help personalize donor engagement and grow giving at scale.
The launch directly reflects a theme Gianoni emphasized in the interview with Investing.com. He pushed back firmly on the idea that AI represents a headwind for Blackbaud and other software companies, arguing that for BKLB, the opposite is true.
“While Wall Street may be taking a short-term view of how AI will affect software companies, we and our customers are seeing that rather than flattening differentiation, AI is accelerating it,” he said, pointing to Blackbaud’s proprietary data ecosystem spanning fundraising, finance, education and corporate impact as the key competitive moat.
“We’ve built one of the most comprehensive and connected data ecosystems in social impact, spanning fundraising, finance, education, and corporate impact,” Gianoni added.
“Now, Blackbaud AI is helping customers move beyond simply understanding the data to now help them act on it in meaningful, responsible ways. That shift is what we mean when we talk about moving from systems of record to systems of intelligent action.”
In social impact, especially, the CEO says “generic AI isn’t enough,” and that “contextual intelligence, built over decades of serving this sector, is what allows Blackbaud AI to be trusted and truly useful.”
When it comes to customer behavior, Gianoni highlights increased engagement from organizations that want to put their data to work more effectively.
“Many of them are already using AI in their personal lives, but they are rightly cautious about how it is applied in a sector where trust is non-negotiable,” he stated. “They are looking for partners who can help them adopt AI responsibly—with strong governance, transparency, and safeguards—while delivering better outcomes. That’s exactly where we’ve focused our investment and leadership.”
As a result, Blackbaud feels its combination of “unmatched proprietary data, deep domain expertise built over decades, and trusted relationships” with customers is “what’s enabling AI to act as a tailwind rather than a headwind.”
Gianoni also addressed the company’s partnership with Anthropic, telling Investing.com it continues to progress and that Blackbaud intends to evolve the relationship as it makes sense for the business.
The partnership is said to support the broader goal of giving customers more optionality in how they access Blackbaud’s intelligence across tools and workflows.
Furthermore, when asked about the current macro environment, Gianoni noted that the charitable sector has shown resilience despite Middle East uncertainty.
“While viral event giving has been less over the last 3 years, overall growth remains in the charitable giving sector,” he added.
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