Software, AI, and Credit: Separating disruption from defensibility
Advancing AI capabilities are poised to reshape the software industry, requiring companies in the industry to make rapid adjustments and large investments. Watch the replay on how AI is affecting investment grade and speculative grade software issuers and which business models are best positioned to defend their competitive positions and credit profiles.
Key topics included:
- AI disruption risk across the software ecosystem
Why AI risk is not uniform—and how product breadth, workflow criticality, data proximity, and financial flexibility differentiate winners and losers. - Investment grade vs. speculative grade software: a widening gap?
How scale, balance sheet strength, and access to capital influence the ability to invest in AI, defend pricing power, and adapt business models. - European software credits in focus
How European issuers compare with their North American peers. - Market reaction versus operating reality
Why recent spread and price volatility may reflect sentiment ahead of observable operating impact, and which indicators we are monitoring for early signs of pressure.
Speakers
Gretchen French
Associate Managing Director
Moody's Ratings
Brian Sanderson
Managing Director
Morgan Stanley
Lenny Ajzenman
Associate Managing Director, Corporate Finance
Moody's Ratings
Vincent Gusdorf
Associate Managing Director, Digital Economy
Moody's Ratings
Areeb Haq
Assistant Vice President - Analyst, Corporate Finance
Moody's Ratings
Artur Mendes
Assistant Vice President - Analyst, Corporate Finance
Moody's Ratings
Raj Joshi
Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance
Moody's Ratings
Matthew Jones
Vice President – Senior Credit Officer
Moody's Ratings
Bart Walas
Vice President – Senior Analyst
Moody's Ratings
Nava Greif
Ratings Associate, Corporate Finance
Moody's Ratings
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Gretchen French is an Associate Managing Director in Moody’s Corporate Finance Group, with responsibility for the Technology team.
Prior to her current role, Gretchen was heading the Homebuilding, Building Materials and Packaging Team. And prior, she was an Associate Managing Director in Ratings & Research Support (RRS), where she led a team of Associate Analyst Team Managers responsible for managing support analysts in the Corporate Finance, Project and Infrastructure Finance, and Sub-Sovereign Groups in the Americas.
Before joining the RRS team, Gretchen was a Vice President - Senior Credit Officer in the Oil and Gas team in the Corporate Finance Group. In this role, she was a lead analyst on a portfolio of investment grade and high yield exploration and production, refining and marketing, midstream, drilling and oilfield services companies in the US, Latin America and Canada.
Gretchen is an active member of the Women’s Business Resource Group (WBRG) at Moody’s and previously served in role of Co-Chair of the New York WBRG.
Gretchen holds a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College
Brian is a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, in the Technology Leveraged Finance group. Brian joined Morgan Stanley in 2012 and has spent over 13 years in Leveraged Finance serving marquee corporate and sponsor clients across the globe raising over $500Bn to support LBOs, M&A, and capital structure optimization transactions. His clients span the full technology ecosystem including cybersecurity, semiconductors, software, internet, artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, fintech and ad-tech. His team pioneered new transaction structures including direct placement transactions, Pre-IPO revolvers, and the 4(a)(2) Private Placement bond transactions, and others.
Brian graduated with honors from Northeastern University and was included on the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Finance List of 2020.
Lenny Ajzenman is an Associate Managing Director with Moody’s Ratings, and co-heads the Technology, Media and Telecom Team within U.S. Corporate Finance. Prior to his current position, Lenny chaired rating committees for companies across a variety of industry sectors and covered a portfolio of investment and speculative grade business and consumer services companies. Lenny was instrumental in the development and rollout of Moody’s Probability of Default Ratings and Loss Given Default Assessments for speculative grade issuers and has published frequently on leveraged finance topics.
Prior to joining Moody’s in June 2004, Lenny was Vice President and Controller at MacAndrews & Forbes Group Inc. In addition, Lenny was a manager in the mergers and acquisitions and audit departments of Deloitte & Touche. Lenny holds a BBA from Baruch College and an M.B.A. from NYU Stern School of Business.
Vincent Gusdorf is an Associate Managing Director in the DeFi and Digital Assets team (DFDA), leading Moody’s blockchain technology research. Before joining the DFDA team, Vincent worked for the Innovation and Data Science team, managing several machine learning projects and defining the innovation roadmap.
Vincent worked as a credit analyst for 16 years and covered investment grade and high-yield corporates. He also contributed to developing Moody’s cyber risk expertise in Europe. Before joining Moody’s, Vincent worked at Standard & Poor’s, Exane BNP Paribas, and Ernst and Young.
Vincent is a CFA charter holder and holds a Master of Finance from Sciences Po Paris and a Master of Law from Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas. He is a self-trained programmer and developed his blockchain and machine learning expertise by completing multiple online data science and cloud certifications. Vincent is also a Certified ScrumMaster and a PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP).
Areeb Haq is an AVP-Analyst on the TMT team within US CFG where he covers leveraged finance issuers in the software, diversified tech and tech-enabled services sectors. Areeb has been with Moody’s for over 5 years. Prior to joining the TMT team in early 2023, Areeb covered issuers throughout the consumer products, services, manufacturing, and healthcare industries as a Ratings Associate.
Areeb holds a BBA from Baruch College and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Artur is a lead analyst in the high yield and leveraged finance EMEA Corporate Finance Group in Frankfurt. He is currently responsible for a portfolio of issuers in the software, business services sector and manufacturing industries in EMEA.
Prior to Moody’s, Artur worked at Fitch and Deutsche Bank where he was responsible for a broad portfolio of companies, most notably in the technology, media and telecommunications space. Artur started his career as a consultant at Ernst & Young.
Artur holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Economics and Finance from NOVA School of Business and Economics, a Master’s degree in Financial Economics from LUISS and is a CFA Charterholder.
Raj Joshi is a Senior Vice President on the Corporate Finance Team. He is the lead analyst responsible for a portfolio of enterprise software, hardware and technology-enabled services companies. Raj has covered a portfolio of technology and business services companies since 2010. From 2005 to 2010, he was part of the Telecommunications and Media team. Before joining Moody’s in 2005, Raj was an International Banker at Union Bank of California (now part of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group).
Raj has an MBA from Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Mumbai. Raj is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and the New York Society of Security Analysts, Inc.
Matthew Jones is a Vice President - Senior Credit Officer within the Corporate Finance Group at Moody’s. Matthew currently specializes in the Software, Connectivity and Communications Equipment industries. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2006, Matthew spent 16 years in the banking industry including positions as Managing Director in the Leveraged Finance Group at CIBC World Markets and as Senior Vice President in the Technology Media and telecommunications group at Royal Bank of Scotland. Matthew also has an extensive background restructuring troubled credits. Matthew is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Tufts University with a Bachelors's degree in Mechanical Engineering. He also holds an M.B.A. degree from Columbia University.
Bart Walas is a Vice President – Senior Analyst on the TMT team within US CFG where he covers leveraged finance issuers in the software, diversified tech and tech-enabled services sectors. Bart has been with Moody’s for over 5 years. Prior to joining the TMT team, Bart covered issuers throughout the consumer products, services, and healthcare industries as a Ratings Associate.
Bart holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Connecticut.
Nava Greif is a Ratings Associate on the Technology, Media, and Telecom (TMT) team within the US Corporate Finance group (CFG), where she covers leveraged finance issuers across the software sector and tech-enabled services, including transaction processing and media and entertainment. Prior to joining Moody's full-time, she interned on the CFG TMT team in summer 2024.
Nava holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Binghamton University and an MBA from Binghamton University.