“[I] don’t think I’ve seen a more nervous response than this.”
Strike, You’re Out!
In the aftermath of Microsoft and Crowdstrike’s disastrous glitch on Thursday that left Wall Street, airlines, and hospitals without computer services overnight and into Friday, the company’s CEO may be making things worse.
As footage from his cringe-worth TODAY Show interview shows, Crowdstrike CEO and cofounder George Kurtz seemed nearly as stumped as the rest of us when trying to explain why, exactly, a glitch left so many industries hamstrung.
Flanked by the talking heads of hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie, Kurtz tripped over his words and even had to pause for a drink of water while trying to clarify the embarrassing situation at hand.
EXCLUSIVE: CrowdStrike founder and CEO @George_Kurtz speaks on TODAY about the major computer outages worldwide that started earlier today: “We’re deeply sorry for the impact that we’ve caused to customers, to travelers, to anyone affected by this.” pic.twitter.com/fWz6KhgrcZ
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 19, 2024
Big Update
As Guthrie noted, the company admitted in a statement that a misfire with a “single content update” led to essential businesses and institutions being forced to go without internet.
“Why is there not some sort of redundancy or some sort of backup?” the host asked the CEO, whose breathing was so heavy at one point as she spoke that it was heard on camera. “How is it that one single software bug can have such a profound and immediate impact?”
While trying to discuss “the complexity of cybersecurity” in response, Kurtz’s voice began to break and he had to excuse himself to take a sip of water.
“Oh yeah,” Guthrie responded. “Take a drink of water.”
She then kindly laughed away the tension and pointed out that she was “sure it’s been a long day,” but the damage was already done — especially on X-formerly-Twitter, where such politesse is not generally extended.
“[I] don’t think I’ve seen a more nervous response than this,” one user joked.
In response, New York Post reporter James David Dickson said such a gaffe was his “biggest fear on a TV hit.”
“It’s sobering to see it actually happen to someone,” he continued.
Considering how hard it was to even witness Kurtz’s discomfort, we can’t imagine how anxious he must have felt giving it — but then again, we’re also not paid tech CEO wages, either.
More on outages: One Million Russians Lose Power When Alarm Goes Off at Nuclear Plant.
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