When Sprinklr unveiled “Project Bear Hug” in March of this year, the initiative was intended to signal a sharp pivot: fewer distractions from small accounts and a renewed push to stabilize, deepen, and expand relationships with its enterprise base.
Almost ten months on, the vendor is doubling down. The question now is whether the Bear Hug is doing more than squeezing harder and actually changing the trajectory of Sprinklr’s renewal and expansion business.
Is it ready to roar or more likely to settle down for hibernation?
During the latest earnings call, Sprinklr CEO Rory Read made the initiative’s importance abundantly clear.
“One of our most important initiatives is Project Bear Hug,” he said, emphasizing its focus on “deepening engagement with our top 700 customers, representing more than 80% of our total revenue.”
That shift – up from 500 accounts earlier in the year – reveals just how central the strategy has become to Sprinklr’s turnaround playbook.
Early Signs of Progress, But Sprinklr Isn’t Claiming Victory Yet
Sprinklr has spent the year rebuilding trust in accounts that churned or downsized during the company’s turbulent stretch.
Read highlighted “stronger C-suite relationships, tighter alignment with customer priorities and clear demonstration of Sprinklr's value” as early signs that Project Bear Hug is moving the business in the right direction.
Yet the CEO repeatedly resisted declaring the strategy a proven success:
“This was a good quarter, no question... but it's one quarter. We need to see several quarters in a row.”
That caution reflects Sprinklr’s still-shaky renewal landscape.
While forecasting has improved – Read said 3Q was “the first time we've seen real predictability in the numbers” – he stressed that Sprinklr remains in the “execution and transition phase,” not the acceleration phase he ultimately envisions.
“I’m very interested to see how 4Q, 1Q, 2Q perform,” Read added. “We have still significant improvements in all our key initiatives that we need to execute.”
What Bear Hug Looks Like Inside Troubled Accounts
During the Q&A section of the call, Aanalysts pressed Read for clarity on how Project Bear Hug is actually changing renewal outcomes.
Read pointed to the million-dollar cohort as evidence. “When he [Sprinklr CFO Anthony Coletta] talked about the $1 million-plus customers being a cohort growing 9% year-over-year with a net dollar expansion rate of 113%.
“That's a very important metric. That shows the impact of Bear Hug.”
Still, the CEO didn’t offer neat formulas. Outcomes vary, and Sprinklr is often fighting to prevent declines rather than drive immediate growth. As Read explained:
“When we do have a troubled account, if we do Bear Hug well, we have seen situations where we were looking at a down-sell or even a significant down-sell. And we've been able to change that outcome.”
That may mean turning a steep contraction into a minor one, or preserving the customer entirely.