He said a lot of nothing in response to softball questions. He definitely presents a younger face to the company and perhaps a more modern outlook" said one. But give him credit for frequent flyer miles. In his twenty-first day on the job this week, he said he spent 15 of those racking up 21,000 travel miles going to major offices and meeting thousands of employees. Decades ago, a financial analyst told me not to put my faith in analyzing numbers to assess a company's performance. "The important thing is can leadership do what they say they are going to do?" he said. Starting with meeting employees and telling them they are important is a big first step. And the fact that Exact, which was in much worse shape, has turned things around shows rebuilding a company that had flawed strategy and execution is possible. That still leaves worrisome things, including the once thriving but now sagging payments business in the United States, which Kelly believes will turn around late next year. And there's weak growth largely built on upselling the installed base to premium support. The U.S. used to be a cornerstone of Sage results, but was barely mentioned this round. Well, he'll need to keep flying across the ocean in what he called "my dream job."