Splunk CEO Godfrey Sullivan likes to horse around

With Splunk, Godfrey Sullivan pulled off one of 2012's strongest IPOs. But it's his hobbies and no-drama management that have made his reputation.

FORTUNE -- Godfrey Sullivan has an odd idea of fun. For the past two decades the 59-year-old chairman and CEO of data analytics firm Splunk has competed in a little-known type of race called Ride and Tie: Two partners alternate between riding a horse and running on long, MORE

Meet Hana, she's SAP's new goldmine

From the labs, a ready-made revolution in big data.

FORTUNE -- The fastest-growing product in SAP's 40-year history isn't a business software application, and it wasn't invented within the German company's massive research and development labs at the request of its co-CEOs. Rather, HANA, a new in-memory database technology capable of speeding up complex computations, was developed by a handful of university students and spearheaded by none other than SAP's 69-year-old MORE

It's time for Samsung's next act

World domination? Check. Now the electronics giant must step out of its comfort zone and not simply focus on increasing market share.

FORTUNE -- It's been a very good year for Samsung Electronics. Late last week the Korean hardware giant announced that its fourth-quarter profit rose a whopping 76% from the year before, mainly due to strong sales of its popular Galaxy line of smartphones. Overall, the company shipped an estimated MORE

Samsung's road to global domination

South Korea's Samsung is trampling rivals and gunning for Apple. Can its hot streak last?

FORTUNE -- To understand how Samsung -- yes, Samsung -- became America's No. 1 mobile phonemaker and thorn in Apple's side, it's helpful to rewind to last fall. On a mid-September morning, Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook stepped onto a stage in San Francisco to unveil the iPhone 5. Several hundred miles away, in a Wolfgang MORE

Apple v. Samsung: (Patent) trial of the century

A user's guide to the Apple v. Samsung patent battle

FORTUNE -- If there is such a thing as a titillating patent trial, Apple v. Samsung makes the top of the list. In early 2011 the iPhone maker, based in Cupertino, Calif., filed a complaint against the Korean company, claiming that 28 Samsung devices infringed on Apple's intellectual property -- including a so-called design patent for a rectangular slab with rounded MORE

Facebook's latest big idea: Group Hug

Forget search. Facebook's latest technological feat is—yeah—a motherboard.

FORTUNE -- One day after announcing a search feature that lets users quickly find information through their network, Facebook (FB) unveiled another potentially disruptive product: An open-source circuit board for servers affectionately dubbed Group Hug. Not surprisingly  the aesthetically challenged piece of hardware generated much less hype than Facebook's earlier announcement. But could have just as much impact by changing the way data centers MORE

Teaching IBM's Watson the meaning of 'OMG'

Getting supercomputers like IBM's Watson to understand slang may be the final frontier in machine intelligence.

FORTUNE -- The scientific test to gauge if a computer can "think" is surprisingly simple: Can it engage in small talk? The so-called Turing test says a computer capable of carrying on a natural conversation without giving itself away can be considered intelligent. So far, no machine has made the cut.

Eric Brown, a research scientist MORE

The next chip battleground: Data centers

Diminutive smartphone chips will help power-hungry data centers cut down on costs.

FORTUNE -- The next time you upload a photo to Facebook, consider this: All those pictures have to be processed and stored somewhere, presumably forever. Some 3 million data centers occupy more than 600 million square feet of space in the U.S. alone to help do so. Trouble is, a single location can slurp as much power as a MORE

The supercomputer will see you now

Two of tech's hottest trends - powerful analytics and mobile gadgets - are making their way into hospitals. They could soon be saving lives.

FORTUNE -- Fans of television medical dramas are probably aware of the grim condition known as septic shock. But few people know that sepsis, a disease that causes the body to attack itself in an attempt to fight off infection, kills 258,000 Americans each year. Though easy MORE

Marissa Mayer on God, family and Yahoo

In her first public interview since taking on the CEO gig at Yahoo, Marissa Mayer outlines her priorities both in and out of the company.

FORTUNE -- In her first public interview since taking on the CEO gig at Yahoo, Marissa Mayeroutlined her priorities both inside and out of the company.

"I think that for me, it's God, family and Yahoo—in that order," said the new chief executive referencing the Vince Lombardi MORE