$DDOG Risk Factor changes from 00/02/24/23/2023 to 00/02/23/24/2024

Item 1A. Risk FactorsOur operations and financial results are subject to various risks and uncertainties including those described below.

You should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below, in addition to other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that adversely affect our business. If any of the following risks or others not specified below materialize, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In that case, the trading price of our Class A common stock could decline.Risks Associated with our GrowthUnfavorable conditions in our industry or the global economy, or reductions in information technology spending, could limit our ability to grow our business and negatively affect our results of operations.Our results of operations may vary based on the impact of unfavorable changes in our industry or the global economy on us or our customers and potential customers. More recently, in response to persistently high inflation, the U.S. Federal Reserve has increased interest rates, which may reduce economic growth and cause companies to decrease spending on information technology. These types of unfavorable conditions could disrupt the timing of and attendance at key industry events, which we rely upon in part to generate sales of our products. If those events are disrupted, our marketing investments, sales pipeline and ability to generate new customers and sales of our products could be negatively and adversely affected. Our competitors, many of which are larger and have greater financial resources than we do, may respond to challenging market conditions by lowering prices in an attempt to attract our 13customers and may be less dependent on key industry events to generate sales for their products. The increased pace of consolidation in certain industries may result in reduced overall spending on our products and solutions. We cannot predict the timing, strength, or duration of any economic slowdown, instability, or recovery, generally or how any such event may impact our business. Our rapid growth also makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and may increase the risk that we will not be successful.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. You should not rely on the revenue growth of any prior quarterly or annual period as an indication of our future performance. Even if our revenue continues to increase, we expect that our revenue growth rate will decline in the future as a result of a variety of factors, including the maturation of our business. Overall growth of our revenue depends on a number of factors, including our ability to:•price our products effectively so that we are able to attract new customers and expand sales to our existing customers;•expand the functionality and use cases for the products we offer on our platform;•maintain and expand the rates at which customers purchase and renew subscriptions to our platform;•provide our customers with support that meets their needs;•continue to introduce our products to new markets outside of the United States;•successfully identify and acquire or invest in businesses, products or technologies that we believe could complement or expand our platform; and•increase awareness of our brand on a global basis and successfully compete with other companies.We may not successfully accomplish any of these objectives, and as a result, it is difficult for us to forecast our future results of operations. If the assumptions that we use to plan our business are incorrect or change in reaction to changes in our market, or if we are unable to maintain consistent revenue or revenue growth, our stock price could be volatile, and it may be difficult to achieve and maintain profitability. You should not rely on our revenue for any prior quarterly or annual periods as any indication of our future revenue or revenue growth.In addition, we expect to continue to expend substantial financial and other resources on:•our technology infrastructure, including systems architecture, scalability, availability, performance and security;•our sales and marketing organization to engage our existing and prospective customers, increase brand awareness and drive adoption of our products;•product development, including investments in our product development team and the development of new products and new functionality for our platform as well as investments in further optimizing our existing products and infrastructure;•acquisitions or strategic investments;•international expansion; and•general administration.These investments may not result in increased revenue growth in our business. If we are unable to maintain or increase our revenue at a rate sufficient to offset the expected increase in our costs, our business, financial position, and results of operations will be harmed, and we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability over the long term. Additionally, we may encounter unforeseen operating expenses, difficulties, complications, delays, and other unknown factors that may result in losses in future periods. If our revenue growth does not meet our expectations in future periods, our business, financial position and results of operations may be harmed, and we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future.We have a history of operating losses and may not achieve or sustain profitability in the future.We have experienced net losses in several recent fiscal years and as of December 31, 2023, we had an accumulated deficit of $153. We also expect our costs and expenses to increase in future periods, which could negatively affect our future results of operations if our revenue does not increase. In particular, we intend to continue to expend significant funds to further develop our platform, including by introducing new products and functionality, and to expand our inside and field sales teams and customer success team to drive new customer adoption, expand use cases and integrations, and support international expansion. Our efforts to grow our business may be costlier than we expect, or the rate of our growth in revenue may be slower than we expect, and we may not be able to increase our revenue enough to offset our increased operating expenses. We may incur significant losses in the future for a number of reasons, including the other risks described herein, and unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications or delays, and other unknown events.We have a limited operating history at our current scale, which makes it difficult to forecast our future results of operations.As a result of our limited operating history at our current scale and the introduction of several new products in recent years, our ability to accurately forecast our future results of operations is limited and subject to a number of uncertainties, including our ability to plan for and model future growth. Our historical revenue growth should not be considered indicative of our future performance. Further, in future periods, our revenue growth could slow or our revenue could decline for a number of reasons, including slowing demand for our products, increasing competition, changes to technology, a decrease in the growth of our overall market, or our failure, for any reason, to continue to take advantage of growth opportunities. We have also encountered, and will continue to encounter, risks and uncertainties frequently experienced by growing companies in rapidly changing industries, such as the risks and uncertainties described herein. If our assumptions regarding these risks and uncertainties and our future revenue growth are incorrect or change, or if we do not address these risks successfully, our operating and financial results could differ materially from our expectations, and our business could suffer.We may require additional capital to support the growth of our business, and this capital might not be available on acceptable terms, if at all.We have funded our operations since inception primarily through equity and debt financings and sales of our products. We cannot be certain when or if our operations will generate sufficient cash to fully fund our ongoing operations or the growth of our business. We intend to continue to make investments to support our business, which may require us to engage in equity or debt financings to secure additional funds. Additional financing may not be available on terms favorable to us, if at all. If adequate funds are not available on acceptable terms, we may be unable to invest in future growth opportunities, which could harm our business, operating results, and financial condition. If we incur additional debt, the debt holders would have rights senior to holders of common stock to make claims on our assets, and the terms of any debt could restrict our operations, including our ability to pay dividends on our common stock. Because our decision to issue securities in the future will depend on numerous considerations, including factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing, or nature of any future issuances of debt or equity securities. As a result, our stockholders bear the risk of future issuances of debt or equity securities reducing the value of our common stock and diluting their interests.Strategic and Operational RisksOur business depends on our existing customers purchasing additional subscriptions and products from us and renewing their subscriptions. If our customers do not renew or expand their subscriptions with us, our future operating results would be harmed.Our future success depends in part on our ability to sell additional subscriptions and products to our existing customers, and our customers renewing their subscriptions when the contract term expires. The terms of our subscription agreements are primarily monthly or annual, with some quarterly, semiannual and multi-year. Our customers have no obligation to renew their subscriptions for our products after the expiration of their subscription period. In order for us to maintain or improve our results of operations, it is important that our customers renew or expand their subscriptions with us. Whether our customers renew or expand their subscriptions with us may be impacted by a number of factors, including business strength or weakness of our customers, customer usage, customer satisfaction with our products and platform capabilities and customer support, our prices, the capabilities and prices of competing products, mergers and acquisitions affecting our customer base, consolidation of affiliates’ multiple paid business accounts into a single paid business account, or reductions in our customers’ spending on IT solutions or their spending levels generally. These factors may be exacerbated by unfavorable conditions in the economy, see “Risks Associated with our Growth—Unfavorable conditions in our industry or the global economy, or reductions in information technology spending, could limit our ability to grow our business and negatively affect our results of operations” above. These factors may also be exacerbated if, consistent with our growth strategy, our customer base continues 15to grow to encompass larger enterprises, which may also require more sophisticated and costly sales efforts. If our customers do not purchase additional subscriptions and products from us or our customers fail to renew their subscriptions, our revenue may decline and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be harmed.If we are unable to attract new customers, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be adversely affected.To increase our revenue, we must continue to attract new customers. Our success will depend to a substantial extent on the widespread adoption of our platform and products as an alternative to existing solutions. Many enterprises have invested substantial personnel and financial resources to integrate traditional on-premise architectures into their businesses and, therefore, may be reluctant or unwilling to migrate to cloud computing. Further, the adoption of SaaS business software may be slower in industries with heightened data security interests or business practices requiring highly-customizable application software. In addition, as our market matures, our products evolve, and competitors introduce lower cost or differentiated products that are perceived to compete with our platform and products, our ability to sell subscriptions for our products could be impaired. Similarly, our subscription sales could be adversely affected if customers or users within these organizations perceive that features incorporated into competitive products reduce the need for our products or if they prefer to purchase other products that are bundled with solutions offered by other companies that operate in adjacent markets and compete with our products. As a result of these and other factors, we may be unable to attract new customers, which may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.Failure to effectively develop and expand our sales and marketing capabilities could harm our ability to increase our customer base and achieve broader market acceptance of our products.Our ability to increase our customer base and achieve broader market acceptance of our products and platform capabilities will depend to a significant extent on our ability to expand our sales and marketing organization. We plan to continue expanding our direct sales force, both domestically and internationally. We also plan to dedicate significant resources to sales and marketing programs. All of these efforts will require us to invest significant financial and other resources, including in channels in which we have limited or no experience to date. Our business and results of operations will be harmed if our sales and marketing efforts do not generate significant increases in revenue or increases in revenue that are smaller than anticipated. We may not achieve anticipated revenue growth from expanding our sales force if we are unable to hire, develop, integrate and retain talented and effective sales personnel, if our new and existing sales personnel, on the whole, are unable to achieve desired productivity levels in a reasonable period of time, or if our sales and marketing programs are not effective. Consequently, we may be subject to significant litigation, indemnity obligations, fines, penalties, disputes, investigations and other liabilities. In addition, many of our employees are working remotely, which may pose additional data security risks (including, for example, an increase in phishing and malicious emails we began experiencing during 2020). The reliability and continuous availability of our platform is critical to our success. However, complex software such as ours can contain errors, defects, security vulnerabilities or software bugs that, despite testing by us, are difficult to detect and correct, particularly when such vulnerabilities are first introduced or when new versions or enhancements of our platform are released. 16We may use third-party service providers and sub-processors to help us deliver services to our customers. These vendors, such as cloud infrastructure providers, may store or process personal and confidential information for us or our customers. We use third-party technology, systems and services in a variety of contexts, including, without limitation, encryption and authentication technology, employee email, content delivery to customers, back-office support, credit card processing and other functions. While we have taken steps to protect the confidential and personal information that we have access to, our security measures or those of our third-party service providers that store or otherwise process certain of our and our customers’ data on our behalf could be breached or we could suffer a loss of our or our customers’ data. Our ability to monitor our third-party service providers’ data security is limited. Ransomware attacks, including those from organized criminal threat actors, nation-states and nation-state supported actors, are becoming increasingly prevalent and can lead to significant interruptions, delays, or outages in our operations, loss of data (including customer data), loss of income, significant extra expenses to restore data or systems, reputational loss and the diversion of funds. To alleviate the financial, operational and reputational impact of a ransomware attack it may be preferable to make extortion payments, but we may be unwilling or unable to do so (including, for example, if applicable laws or regulations prohibit such payments). Similarly, supply chain attacks have increased in frequency and severity, and we cannot guarantee that third parties and infrastructure in our supply chain have not been compromised or that they do not contain exploitable defects or bugs that could result in a breach of or disruption to our platform, systems and networks or the systems and networks of third parties that support us and our services. Despite the security controls we have in place, such attacks are very difficult to avoid. There can be no assurance that any security measures that we or our third-party service providers have implemented will be effective against current or future security threats. While we have developed systems and processes designed to protect the integrity, confidentiality, and security of our and our customers’ data, our security measures or those of our third-party service providers could fail and result in unauthorized access to or disclosure, modification, misuse, loss or destruction of such data.Third parties may also conduct attacks designed to temporarily deny customers access to our cloud services. Any security breach or other security incident, or the perception that one has occurred, could result in a loss of customer confidence in the security of our platform and damage to our brand, reduce the demand for our products, disrupt normal business operations, require us to spend material resources to investigate or correct the breach and to prevent future security breaches and incidents, expose us to legal liabilities, including litigation, regulatory enforcement, and indemnity obligations, and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. These risks are likely to increase as we continue to grow and process, store, and transmit increasingly large amounts of data.In addition, we do not directly control content that our customers store in our products. If our customers use our products for the collection, transmission or storage of personal information and our security measures are or are believed to have been breached as a result of third-party action, employee error, malfeasance or otherwise, our reputation could be damaged, our business may suffer, and we could incur significant liability. In addition, our remediation efforts may not be successful.We also process, store and transmit our own data as part of our business and operations. This data may include personal, confidential or proprietary information. We may expend significant resources, fundamentally change our business activities and practices, or modify our operations or information technology in an effort to protect against security incidents and to mitigate, detect, and remediate actual and potential vulnerabilities.We take steps designed to detect, mitigate, and remediate vulnerabilities in our information systems (such as our hardware and/or software, including that of third parties upon which we rely). We may not, however, detect and remediate all such vulnerabilities on a timely basis. Among other things, our applications, systems, networks, software, other computer assets and physical facilities could be breached or could otherwise malfunction or fail, or the personal or confidential information that we store could be otherwise compromised due to employee error or malfeasance, if, for example, third parties fraudulently induce our employees or our members to disclose information or user names and/or passwords, or otherwise compromise the security of our networks, systems and/or physical facilities. Additionally, from time to time employees or service providers may inadvertently misconfigure resources or misdirect certain communications, leading to security vulnerabilities or incidents that we must then expend effort and incur expenses to correct.We may have contractual and other legal obligations to notify relevant stakeholders of security incidents. For instance, most jurisdictions have enacted laws, such as the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, requiring companies to notify individuals, regulatory authorities, and others of security breaches involving certain types of data. Such mandatory contractual and legal disclosures are costly, could lead to negative publicity, may cause our 17customers to lose confidence in the effectiveness of our security measures and require us to expend significant capital and other resources to respond to and/or alleviate problems caused by the actual or perceived security breach, and any failure to provide appropriate notice may violate the terms of our customer contracts. Applicable laws, our contracts, our representations, or industry standards may require us to use industry-standard or reasonable measures to safeguard sensitive personal information or confidential information. A security breach could lead to claims by our customers, or other relevant stakeholders, that we have failed to comply with such legal or contractual obligations. As a result, we could be subject to legal action or our customers could end their relationships with us. Further, there can be no assurance that any limitations of liability in our contracts would be enforceable or adequate or would otherwise protect us from liabilities or damages.The costs to respond to a security breach and/or mitigate any security vulnerabilities that may be identified could be significant, our efforts to address these problems may not be successful, and these problems could result in unexpected interruptions, delays, cessation of service, negative publicity, and other harm to our business and our competitive position. We could be required to fundamentally change our business activities and practices in response to a security breach or related regulatory actions or litigation, which could have an adverse effect on our business.Additionally, we cannot be certain that our insurance coverage will be adequate for fines, judgments, settlements, penalties, costs, attorney fees and other impacts that arise out of privacy or security incidents or breaches. If the impacts of a privacy or security incident or breach, or the successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceeds our available insurance coverage, or results in changes to our insurance policies (including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements), it could have an adverse effect on our business. In addition, we cannot be sure that our existing insurance coverage, cyber coverage and coverage for errors and omissions will continue to be available on acceptable terms or that our insurers will not deny coverage as to any future claim. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceed available insurance coverage, or the occurrence of changes in our insurance policies, including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements, could adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations. Our risks are likely to increase as we continue to expand, grow our customer base, and process, store, and transmit increasingly large amounts of proprietary and sensitive data.Interruptions or performance problems associated with our products and platform capabilities may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.Our continued growth depends in part on the ability of our existing and potential customers to access our products and platform capabilities at any time and within an acceptable amount of time. We have experienced, and may in the future experience, disruptions, outages, and other performance problems due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, introductions of new functionality, human or software errors, capacity constraints due to an overwhelming number of users accessing our products and platform capabilities simultaneously, denial of service attacks, or other security-related incidents. For example, in March 2023, our platform experienced widespread outages across multiple products and regions, which was substantially resolved in approximately a day.It may become increasingly difficult to maintain and improve our performance, especially during peak usage times and as our products and platform capabilities become more complex and our user traffic increases. If our products and platform capabilities are unavailable or if our users are unable to access our products and platform capabilities within a reasonable amount of time or at all, we may experience a loss of customers, lost or delayed market acceptance of our platform and products, delays in payment to us by customers, injury to our reputation and brand, legal claims against us, and the diversion of our resources. In addition, to the extent that we do not effectively address capacity constraints, upgrade our systems as needed and continually develop our technology and network architecture to accommodate actual and anticipated changes in technology, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.18We may not be able to successfully manage our growth, and if we are not able to grow efficiently, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed.As usage of our platform capabilities grow, we will need to devote additional resources to improving and maintaining our infrastructure and integrating with third-party applications. In addition, we will need to appropriately scale our internal business systems and our services organization, including customer support and professional services, to serve our growing customer base. Any failure of or delay in these efforts could result in impaired system performance and reduced customer satisfaction, resulting in decreased sales to new customers, lower dollar-based net retention rates or, the issuance of service credits or requested refunds, which would hurt our revenue growth and our reputation. Further, any failure in optimizing our spend on third-party cloud services as we scale could negatively impact our gross margins. Even if we are successful in our expansion efforts, they will be expensive and complex, and require the dedication of significant management time and attention. We could also face inefficiencies or service disruptions as a result of our efforts to scale our internal infrastructure. We cannot be sure that the expansion of and improvements to our internal infrastructure will be effectively implemented on a timely basis, if at all, and such failures could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.We rely upon third-party providers of cloud-based infrastructure to host our products. Any disruption in the operations of these third-party providers, limitations on capacity or interference with our use could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.We outsource substantially all of the infrastructure relating to our cloud solution to third-party hosting services. Customers of our cloud-based products need to be able to access our platform at any time, without interruption or degradation of performance, and we provide them with service-level commitments with respect to uptime. Our cloud-based products depend on protecting the virtual cloud infrastructure hosted by third-party hosting services by maintaining its configuration, architecture, features and interconnection specifications, as well as the information stored in these virtual data centers, which is transmitted by third-party internet service providers. Any limitation on the capacity of our third-party hosting services could impede our ability to onboard new customers or expand the usage of our existing customers, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, any incident affecting our third-party hosting services’ infrastructure that may be caused by cyber-attacks, natural disasters, fire, flood, severe storm, earthquake, power loss, telecommunications failures, outbreaks of contagious diseases, terrorist or other attacks, and other similar events beyond our control could negatively affect our cloud-based products. A prolonged service disruption affecting our cloud-based solution for any of the foregoing reasons would negatively impact our ability to serve our customers and could damage our reputation with current and potential customers, expose us to liability, cause us to lose customers or otherwise harm our business. We may also incur significant costs for using alternative equipment or taking other actions in preparation for, or in reaction to, events that damage the third-party hosting services we use.In the event that our service agreements with our third-party hosting services are terminated, or there is a lapse of service, elimination of services or features that we utilize, interruption of internet service provider connectivity or damage to such facilities, we could experience interruptions in access to our platform as well as significant delays and additional expense in arranging or creating new facilities and services and/or re-architecting our cloud solution for deployment on a different cloud infrastructure service provider, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.We offer free trials and a free tier of our platform to drive developer awareness of our products, and encourage usage and adoption. If these marketing strategies fail to lead to customers purchasing paid subscriptions, our ability to grow our revenue will be adversely affected.To encourage awareness, usage, familiarity and adoption of our platform and products, we offer free trials and a free tier of our platform. To the extent that users do not become, or we are unable to successfully attract paying customers, we will not realize the intended benefits of these marketing strategies and our ability to grow our revenue will be adversely affected.We expect fluctuations in our financial results, making it difficult to project future results, and if we fail to meet the expectations of securities analysts or investors with respect to our results of operations, our stock price could decline.Our results of operations have fluctuated in the past and are expected to fluctuate in the future due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control. As a result, our past results may not be indicative of our future performance. In addition to the other risks described herein, factors that may affect our results of operations include the following:•fluctuations in demand for or pricing of our platform and products;19•fluctuations in usage of our platform and products;•our ability to attract new customers;•our ability to retain our existing customers;•customer expansion rates and the pricing and quantity of subscriptions renewed;•the pricing of subscriptions from customers in our cloud-provider marketplaces;•timing and amount of our investments to expand the capacity of our third-party cloud infrastructure providers;•seasonality driven by industry conferences;•the investment in new products and features relative to investments in our existing infrastructure and products;•the timing of our customer purchases;•fluctuations or delays in purchasing decisions in anticipation of new products or enhancements by us or our competitors;•changes in customers’ budgets and in the timing of their budget cycles and purchasing decisions;•our ability to control costs, including our operating expenses;•the amount and timing of payment for operating expenses, particularly research and development and sales and marketing expenses, including commissions;•the amount and timing of non-cash expenses, including stock-based compensation, goodwill impairments and other non-cash charges;•the amount and timing of costs associated with recruiting, training and integrating new employees and retaining and motivating existing employees;•the effects of acquisitions and their integration;•general economic conditions, both domestically and internationally, as well as economic conditions specifically affecting industries in which our customers participate, including those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East;•the effect of other economic factors, including inflation, pricing and currency fluctuations;•the impact of new accounting pronouncements;•changes in regulatory or legal environments that may cause us to incur, among other elements, expenses associated with compliance;•changes in the competitive dynamics of our market, including consolidation among competitors or customers; and•significant security breaches of, technical difficulties with, or interruptions to, the delivery and use of our products and platform capabilities.The global economy, including credit and financial markets, has experienced extreme volatility and disruptions, including severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence, declines in economic growth, increases in unemployment rates, increases in inflation rates, higher interest rates and uncertainty about economic stability. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in widespread unemployment, economic slowdown and extreme volatility in the capital markets. The ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine has also created extreme volatility in the global capital markets and is expected to have further global economic consequences. Any such volatility and disruptions may have adverse consequences on us or the third parties on whom we rely. If the equity and credit markets deteriorate, or do not improve, including as a result of political unrest or war, it may make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult to obtain in a timely manner or on favorable terms, more costly or more dilutive. Increased inflation rates can adversely affect us by increasing our costs, including personnel costs.Any of these and other factors, or the cumulative effect of some of these factors, may cause our results of operations to vary significantly. If our quarterly results of operations fall below the expectations of investors and securities 20analysts who follow our stock, the price of our Class A common stock could decline substantially, and we could face costly lawsuits, including securities class action suits.Seasonality may cause fluctuations in our sales and results of operations. We believe that this results from the procurement, budgeting, and deployment cycles of many of our customers, particularly our enterprise customers. We expect that this seasonality will continue to affect our bookings and our results of operations in the future, and might become more pronounced as we continue to target larger enterprise customers.Downturns or upturns in our sales may not be immediately reflected in our financial position and results of operations.Because we recognize a large portion of our revenue ratably over the term of the subscription agreement, any decreases in new subscriptions or renewals in any one period may not be immediately reflected as a decrease in revenue for that period, but could negatively affect our revenue in future quarters. This also makes it difficult for us to rapidly increase our revenue through the sale of additional subscriptions in any period, as revenue is recognized over the term of the subscription agreement. In addition, fluctuations in monthly subscriptions based on usage could affect our revenue on a period-over-period basis. If our quarterly results of operations fall below the expectations of investors and securities analysts who follow our stock, the price of our Class A common stock would decline substantially, and we could face costly lawsuits, including securities class actions.We target enterprise customers, and sales to these customers involve risks that may not be present or that are present to a lesser extent with sales to smaller entities.We have a field sales team that targets enterprise customers. Sales to large customers involve risks that may not be present or that are present to a lesser extent with sales to smaller entities, such as longer sales cycles, more complex customer requirements, substantial upfront sales costs, and less predictability in completing some of our sales. For example, enterprise customers may require considerable time to evaluate and test our solutions and those of our competitors prior to making a purchase decision and placing an order. A number of factors influence the length and variability of our sales cycle, including the need to educate potential customers about the uses and benefits of our solutions, the discretionary nature of purchasing and budget cycles, and the competitive nature of evaluation and purchasing approval processes. As a result, the length of our sales cycle, from identification of the opportunity to deal closure, may vary significantly from customer to customer, with sales to large enterprises typically taking longer to complete. Moreover, large enterprise customers often begin to deploy our products on a limited basis, but nevertheless demand configuration, integration services and pricing negotiations, which increase our upfront investment in the sales effort with no guarantee that these customers will deploy our products widely enough across their organization to justify our substantial upfront investment.If we fail to retain and motivate members of our management team or other key employees, or fail to attract additional qualified personnel to support our operations, our business and future growth prospects would be harmed. From time to time, there may be changes in our executive management team or other key employees resulting from the hiring or departure of these personnel. Our executive officers and other key employees are employed on an at-will basis, which means that these personnel could terminate their employment with us at any time. The loss of one or more of our executive officers, or the failure by our executive team to effectively work with our employees and lead our company, could harm our business. We also are dependent on the continued service of our existing software engineers because of the complexity of our products and platform capabilities.In addition, to execute our growth plan, we must attract and retain highly qualified personnel. Competition for these personnel is intense, especially for engineers experienced in designing and developing SaaS applications and experienced sales professionals. If we are unable to attract such personnel in cities where we are located, we may need to hire in other locations which may add to the complexity and costs of our business operations. We have experienced, and we expect to continue to experience, difficulty in hiring and retaining employees with appropriate qualifications. Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than we have. If we hire employees from competitors or other companies, their former employers may attempt to assert that these employees or we have breached their legal obligations, resulting in a diversion of our time and resources. In addition, prospective and existing employees often consider 21the value of the equity awards they receive in connection with their employment. If the value or perceived value of our equity awards declines, experiences significant volatility, or increases such that prospective employees believe there is limited upside to the value of our equity awards, it may adversely affect our ability to recruit and retain key employees. If we fail to attract new personnel or fail to retain and motivate our current personnel, our business and future growth prospects would be harmed.If we fail to maintain and enhance our brand, our ability to expand our customer base will be impaired and our business, financial condition and results of operations may suffer.We believe that maintaining and enhancing the Datadog brand is important to support the marketing and sale of our existing and future products to new customers and expand sales of our platform and products to existing customers. We also believe that the importance of brand recognition will increase as competition in our market increases. Successfully maintaining and enhancing our brand will depend largely on the effectiveness of our marketing efforts, our ability to provide reliable products that continue to meet the needs of our customers at competitive prices, our ability to maintain our customers’ trust, our ability to continue to develop new functionality and use cases, and our ability to successfully differentiate our products and platform capabilities from competitive products. Our brand promotion activities may not generate customer awareness or yield increased revenue, and even if they do, any increased revenue may not offset the expenses we incur in building our brand. If we fail to successfully promote and maintain our brand, our business, financial condition and results of operations may suffer.If we cannot maintain our company culture as we grow, our success and our business and competitive position may be harmed.We believe our culture has been a key contributor to our success to date and that the critical nature of the platform that we provide promotes a sense of greater purpose and fulfillment in our employees. Any failure to preserve our culture could negatively affect our ability to retain and recruit personnel, which is critical to our growth, and to effectively focus on and pursue our corporate objectives. If we fail to maintain our company culture, our business and competitive position may be harmed.If we fail to offer high-quality support, our reputation could suffer.Our customers rely on our customer support personnel to resolve issues and realize the full benefits that our platform provides. High-quality support is also important for the renewal and expansion of our subscriptions with existing customers. The importance of our support function will increase as we expand our business and pursue new customers. If we do not help our customers quickly resolve issues and provide effective ongoing support, our ability to maintain and expand our subscriptions to existing and new customers could suffer, and our reputation with existing or potential customers could suffer.Acquisitions, strategic investments, partnerships, or alliances could be difficult to identify, pose integration challenges, divert the attention of management, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value, and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.We have in the past and may in the future seek to acquire or invest in businesses, joint ventures, products and platform capabilities, or technologies that we believe could complement or expand our services and platform capabilities, enhance our technical capabilities, or otherwise offer growth opportunities. Any such acquisition or investment may divert the attention of management and cause us to incur various expenses in identifying, investigating and pursuing suitable opportunities, whether or not the transactions are completed, and may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures. These transactions may also disrupt our business, divert our resources, and require significant management attention that would otherwise be available for development of our existing business. Any such transactions that we are able to complete may not result in any synergies or other benefits we had expected to achieve, which could result in impairment charges that could be substantial. In addition, we may not be able to find and identify desirable acquisition targets or business opportunities or be successful in entering into an agreement with any particular strategic partner. These transactions could also result in dilutive issuances of equity securities or the incurrence of debt, which could adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, if the resulting business from such a transaction fails to meet our expectations, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected or we may be exposed to unknown risks or liabilities.Industry and Competitive Risks22If we fail to adapt and respond effectively to rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards, changing regulations, or to changing customer needs, requirements or preferences, our platform and products may become less competitive.Our ability to attract new users and customers and increase revenue from existing customers depends in large part on our ability to enhance and improve our existing products, increase adoption and usage of our products, and introduce new products and capabilities. The market in which we compete is relatively new and subject to rapid technological change, evolving industry standards, and changing regulations, as well as changing customer needs, requirements and preferences. The success of our business will depend, in part, on our ability to adapt and respond effectively to these changes on a timely basis. For example, some of our products use artificial intelligence, or AI, and machine learning, and we are making investments in expanding our artificial intelligence capabilities, which will require significant investment in infrastructure and personnel. However, AI technologies are complex and rapidly evolving in a changing competitive market and market acceptance of AI technologies remains uncertain, see “Industry and Competitive Risks—We use artificial intelligence in our products and services which may result in operational challenges, legal liability, reputational harm, competitive risks and regulatory concerns that could adversely affect our business and results of operations.” below.The success of our platform depends, in part, on its ability to be deployed in a self-service installation process. We currently offer more than 700 out-of-the-box integrations to assist customers in deploying Datadog, and we need to continuously modify and enhance our products to adapt to changes and innovation in existing and new technologies to maintain and grow our integrations. We expect that the number of integrations we will need to support will continue to expand as developers adopt new software platforms, and we will have to develop new versions of our products to work with those new platforms. This development effort may require significant engineering, sales and marketing resources, all of which would adversely affect our business. Any failure of our products to operate effectively with future infrastructure platforms and technologies could reduce the demand for our products. If we are unable to respond to these changes in a cost-effective manner, our products may become less marketable and less competitive or obsolete, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.The markets in which we participate are competitive, and if we do not compete effectively, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed.Our unified platform combines functionality from numerous traditional product categories, and hence we compete in each of these categories with home-grown and open-source technologies, as well as a number of different vendors. With respect to on-premise infrastructure monitoring, we compete with diversified technology companies and systems management vendors including IBM, Microsoft Corporation, and SolarWinds Corporation. With respect to APM, we compete with companies including Cisco Systems, Inc., New Relic, Inc. and Dynatrace Software Inc. With respect to log management, we compete with companies including Splunk Inc. and Elastic N.V. With respect to cloud monitoring, we compete with native solutions from cloud providers such as AWS, GCP and Microsoft Azure. In addition, we may increasingly choose to allow these third-party hosting providers to offer our solutions directly through their customer marketplaces. An increasing number of sales through cloud provider marketplaces could reduce both the number of customers with whom we have direct commercial relationships as well as our profit margins on sales made through such marketplaces.With the introduction of new technologies and market entrants, we expect that the competitive environment will remain intense going forward. Some of our actual and potential competitors have been acquired by other larger enterprises and have made or may make acquisitions or may enter into partnerships or other strategic relationships that may provide more comprehensive offerings than they individually had offered or achieve greater economies of scale than us. In addition, new entrants not currently considered to be competitors may enter the market through acquisitions, partnerships or strategic relationships. As we look to market and sell our products and platform capabilities to potential customers with existing internal solutions, we must convince their internal stakeholders that our products and platform capabilities are superior to their current solutions.Our competitors vary in size and in the breadth and scope of the products offered. Many of our competitors and potential competitors have greater name recognition, longer operating histories, more established customer relationships and installed customer bases, larger marketing budgets and greater resources than we do. Further, other potential competitors not currently offering competitive solutions may expand their product or service offerings to compete with our products and platform capabilities, or our current and potential competitors may establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties that may further enhance their resources and product offerings in our addressable market. Our competitors may be able to respond more quickly and effectively than we can to new or changing opportunities, technologies, standards, and customer requirements. An existing competitor or new entrant could introduce new technology that reduces demand for our products and platform capabilities. In addition to product and technology competition, we face pricing competition. Some of our competitors offer their solutions at a lower price, which has resulted in, and may continue to result in, pricing pressures.For all of these reasons, we may not be able to compete successfully against our current or future competitors, and this competition could result in the failure of our platform to continue to achieve or maintain market acceptance, any of which would harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.The market for our solutions may develop more slowly or differently than we expect.It is difficult to predict customer adoption rates and demand for our products, the entry of competitive products or the future growth rate and size of the cloud-based software and SaaS business software markets. The expansion of these markets depends on a number of factors, including: the cost, performance, and perceived value associated with cloud-based and SaaS business software as an alternative to legacy systems, as well as the ability of cloud-based software and SaaS providers to address heightened data security and privacy concerns. If we have a security incident or other cloud-based software and SaaS providers experience security incidents, loss of customer data, disruptions in delivery or other similar problems, which is an increasing focus of the public and investors in recent years, the market for these applications as a whole, including our platform and products, may be negatively affected. If cloud-based and SaaS business software does not continue to achieve market acceptance, or there is a reduction in demand caused by a lack of customer acceptance, technological challenges, weakening economic conditions, data security or privacy concerns, governmental regulation, competing technologies and products, or decreases in information technology spending or otherwise, the market for our platform and products might not continue to develop or might develop more slowly than we expect, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.We use artificial intelligence in our products and services which may result in operational challenges, legal liability, reputational harm, competitive risks and regulatory concerns that could adversely affect our business and results of operations.We incorporate AI, including generative AI, into our products. These technologies are complex and rapidly evolving and building them requires significant investment in infrastructure and personnel with no assurance that we will realize the desired or anticipated benefits. Our competitors may more successfully incorporate AI into their products and achieve higher market acceptance of their AI solutions, which could impair our ability to compete effectively and adversely affect our results of operations. We may also encounter new risks, challenges, and unintended consequences as a result of our use of AI. For example, the issue of intellectual property ownership and license rights surrounding AI technologies has not been fully 24addressed by U.S. courts or federal or state laws and regulations, and the incorporation of AI technologies into our products and services could expose us to intellectual property claims or mandatory compliance with open source software or other license terms. Our use of AI may also lead to novel cybersecurity or privacy risks which may adversely affect our operations and reputation. Various governments have proposed policy and regulatory responses to oversee the use of AI, including the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act, which would apply beyond the European Union’s borders. Compliance with regulations as well as social and ethical standards relating to AI may require significant research and development costs as well as management and employee attention. Any actual or perceived failure to comply with these laws, regulations or ethical standards could include severe penalties, reputational harm, and slow adoption of AI in our products and services. In addition, our business may be disrupted if any of the third-party AI services we use become unavailable due to extended outages or commercially unreasonable terms of service. If we fail to meet these contractual commitments, we could be obligated to provide credits for future service or face subscription termination with refunds of prepaid amounts, which would lower our revenue and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.Our subscription agreements typically contain service-level commitments. If we are unable to meet the stated service-level commitments, including failure to meet the uptime and response time requirements under our customer subscription agreements, we may be contractually obligated to provide these customers with service credits which could significantly affect our revenue in the periods in which the failure occurs and the credits are applied. We could also face subscription terminations and a reduction in renewals, which could significantly affect both our current and future revenue. Any service-level failures could also damage our reputation, which could also adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.Indemnity provisions in various agreements to which we are party potentially expose us to substantial liability for infringement, misappropriation or other violation of intellectual property rights, data protection and other losses.Our agreements with our customers and other third parties may include indemnification provisions under which we agree to indemnify or otherwise be liable to them for losses suffered or incurred as a result of claims of infringement, misappropriation or other violation of intellectual property rights, data protection, damages caused by us to property or persons, or other liabilities relating to or arising from our software, services, platform, our acts or omissions under such agreements or other contractual obligations. Some of these indemnity agreements provide for uncapped liability and some indemnity provisions survive termination or expiration of the applicable agreement. Large indemnity payments could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Although we attempt to contractually limit our liability with respect to such indemnity obligations, we are not always successful and may still incur substantial liability related to them, and we may be required to cease use of certain functions of our platform or products as a result of any such claims. Any dispute with a customer or other third party with respect to such obligations could have adverse effects on our relationship with such customer or other third party and other existing or prospective customers, reduce demand for our products and services and adversely affect our business, financial conditions and results of operations. In addition, although we carry general liability insurance, our insurance may not be adequate to indemnify us for all liability that may be imposed or otherwise protect us from liabilities or damages with respect to claims alleging compromises of customer data, and any such coverage may not continue to be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. Actual or perceived failure by us or our third-party service providers to comply with such laws, regulations, standards, or contractual obligations could harm our business.We have legal, contractual and other applicable obligations regarding the protection and appropriate use of personal information, confidential information, and other proprietary information that we, our third-party service providers or other partners process. The regulatory framework for and users' expectations around privacy and security issues worldwide is rapidly evolving and as a result, implementation standards and enforcement practices are likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future resulting in possible significant operational costs for compliance and risk to our business. In addition, new technologies we use in our products or in our business, like AI and machine learning, may also subject us to new or enhanced governmental or regulatory scrutiny, litigation, ethical concerns, or other complications that could adversely affect our business, reputation, or financial results. For example, the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, or EU GDPR, contains numerous requirements and changes from previously existing law, including more robust obligations on data processors and heavier documentation requirements for data protection compliance programs by companies and data protection authorities. Under the EU GDPR, companies may face temporary or definitive bans on data processing and other corrective actions, significant monetary fines, and private litigation related to processing of personal data brought by classes of data subjects or consumer protection organizations authorized at law to represent their interests. For example, the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom have significantly restricted the transfer of personal data to the United States and other countries whose privacy laws it generally believes are inadequate. Although there are currently various mechanisms that may be used to transfer personal data from the EEA and United Kingdom to the United States in compliance with law, such as the EEA standard contractual clauses, the United Kingdom’s International Data Transfer Agreement/Addendum, and the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and the United Kingdom extension thereto (which allows for transfers for relevant U.S.-based organizations who self-certify compliance and participate in the Framework), these mechanisms are subject to legal challenges, and there is no assurance that we can satisfy or rely on these measures to lawfully transfer personal data to the United States.Additionally, other countries outside of Europe have enacted or are considering enacting similar cross-border data transfer restrictions and laws requiring local data residency, and strict limitations to the processing of personal information, which could increase the cost and complexity of delivering our services and operating our business. For example, Brazil enacted the General Data Protection Law, New Zealand enacted the New Zealand Privacy Act, China enacted its Personal Information Protection Law, and Canada introduced the Digital Charter Implementation Act.If we are unable to implement a valid compliance mechanism for cross-border personal information transfers, we may face increased exposure to regulatory actions, substantial fines and injunctions against processing or transferring personal information from Europe or elsewhere. Inability to import personal information from other jurisdictions to the United States may significantly and negatively impact our business operations, including by lowering sales on our platform due to the difficulty of establishing a lawful mechanism for personal information transfers out of Europe or other jurisdictions, or requiring us to increase our data processing capabilities in Europe or elsewhere at significant expense. Some European regulators have ordered certain companies to suspend or permanently cease certain transfers out of Europe for allegedly violating the GDPR’s cross-border data transfer limitations.Additionally, European legislative proposals and present laws and regulations apply to cookies and similar tracking technologies, electronic communications, and marketing. In the EU and the United Kingdom, regulators are increasingly focusing on compliance with requirements related to the online behavioral advertising ecosystem and requirements around consent. It is anticipated that the ePrivacy Regulation will replace the current national laws that implement the ePrivacy Directive that governs electronic communications. Other comprehensive U.S. state privacy laws extend similar rights to residents. As a result of these developments, we may be required to change the way we market our products, which would impair our ability to reach new or existing customers.Complying with these and other applicable laws may cause us to incur substantial operational costs or require us to change our business practices. Despite our efforts to bring practices into compliance with all applicable laws, we may not be successful in our efforts to achieve compliance either due to internal or external factors such as resource allocation limitations or a lack of vendor cooperation. Non-compliance could result in proceedings against us by governmental entities, customers, data subjects or others. We may also experience difficulty retaining or obtaining new European or multi-national customers due to the legal requirements, compliance cost, potential risk exposure, and uncertainty for these entities, and we may experience significantly increased liability with respect to these customers pursuant to the terms set forth in our engagements with them.Domestic laws in this area are also complex and developing rapidly, and we are, or may become, subject to numerous U.S. data privacy and security laws. Many state legislatures have adopted legislation that regulates how businesses operate online, including measures 26relating to privacy, data security and data breaches. Laws in all 50 states require businesses to provide notice to customers whose personal information has been disclosed as a result of a data breach. The laws are not consistent, and compliance in the event of a widespread data breach is costly. States are also constantly amending existing laws, requiring attention to frequently changing legal requirements. The CCPA provides a private right of action and statutory damages for data breaches and may increase our compliance costs and potential liability with respect to other personal information we collect about California residents. In addition, the amendments to the CCPA made by the California Privacy Rights Act, or the CPRA, went into effect on January 1, 2023. The CPRA amends the CCPA to give California residents the ability to limit the use of their sensitive information, provide additional penalties for CPRA violations concerning California residents under the age of 16, and establish a new California Privacy Protection Agency to implement and enforce the law. These changes to the CCPA could impact our business activities depending on how they are interpreted. These laws exemplify the vulnerability of our business to the evolving regulatory environment related to the protection of personal information. Other states have enacted or proposed comprehensive privacy laws as well. For example, privacy laws in Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Virginia have recently gone into effect and similar laws in other states, such as Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Oregon, Tennessee, and Texas have been enacted and are expected to go into effect over the next several years.Because the interpretation and application of many privacy and data protection laws and regulations, along with contractually imposed industry standards are uncertain, it is possible that they may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our existing data management practices or the features of our products and platform capabilities. In particular, plaintiffs have become increasingly more active in bringing privacy-related claims against companies, including class claims and mass arbitration demands. Some of these claims allow for the recovery of statutory damages on a per violation basis, and, if viable, carry the potential for monumental statutory damages, depending on the volume of data and the number of violations. Any inability to adequately address privacy and security concerns, even if unfounded, or comply with applicable privacy and data security laws, regulations, or contractual obligations, could result in additional cost and liability to us, damage our reputation, inhibit sales, and adversely affect our business. Furthermore, the costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, the laws, regulations, and contractual obligations that are applicable to the businesses of our customers may limit the use and adoption of, and reduce the overall demand for, our products. Privacy and data security concerns, whether valid or not valid, may inhibit market adoption of our products, particularly in certain industries and foreign countries. If we are not able to adjust to these changing laws, regulations, and contractual obligations, our business may be harmed.We publicly post our policies and other documentation regarding our practices concerning the collection, processing, use, transfer, and disclosure of data. Although we endeavor to comply with our published policies and documentation, we may at times fail to do so or be alleged to have failed to do so. The publication of our policies and other documentation that provide promises and assurances about privacy and security can subject us to potential state and federal action if they are found to be deceptive, unfair, or misrepresentative of our actual practices. Any failure by us, our third-party service providers or other parties with whom we do business to comply with our policies or other documentation could result in proceedings against us by governmental entities, private parties or others. We are or may also be subject to the terms of our external and internal privacy and security policies, codes, representations, certifications, industry standards, publications and frameworks and contractual obligations to third parties related to privacy, information security, including contractual obligations to indemnify and hold harmless third parties from the costs or consequences of non-compliance with data protection laws or other obligations.We are subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, and similar laws, and non-compliance with such laws can subject us to criminal or civil liability and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.We are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, U.S. domestic bribery laws, the UK Bribery Act, and other anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws in the countries in which we conduct activities. Anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws have been enforced aggressively in recent years and are interpreted broadly to generally prohibit companies, their employees and their third-party intermediaries from authorizing, offering, or providing, directly or indirectly, improper payments or benefits to recipients in the public or private sector. As we increase our international sales and business and sales to the public sector, we may engage with business partners and third-party intermediaries to market our products and 27to obtain necessary permits, licenses, and other regulatory approvals. In addition, we or our third-party intermediaries may have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or state-owned or affiliated entities. We can be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of these third-party intermediaries, our employees, representatives, contractors, partners and agents, even if we do not explicitly authorize such activities.While we have policies and procedures to address compliance with such laws, we cannot assure you that all of our employees and agents will not take actions in violation of our policies and applicable law, for which we may be ultimately held responsible. As we increase our international sales and business, our risks under these laws may increase.Detecting, investigating, and resolving actual or alleged violations of anti-corruption laws can require a significant diversion of time, resources, and attention from senior management. In addition, noncompliance with anti-corruption, anti-bribery, or anti-money laundering laws could subject us to whistleblower complaints, investigations, sanctions, settlements, prosecution, enforcement actions, fines, damages, other civil or criminal penalties or injunctions, suspension or debarment from contracting with certain persons, reputational harm, adverse media coverage, and other collateral consequences. If any subpoenas or investigations are launched, or governmental or other sanctions are imposed, or if we do not prevail in any possible civil or criminal proceeding, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed. In addition, responding to any action will likely result in a materially significant diversion of management’s attention and resources and significant defense costs and other professional fees.Sales to government entities and highly regulated organizations are subject to a number of challenges and risks.We may sell to U.S. federal, state, and local, as well as foreign, governmental agency customers, as well as to customers in highly regulated industries such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare. Sales to such entities are subject to a number of challenges and risks. Selling to such entities can be highly competitive, expensive, and time-consuming, often requiring significant upfront time and expense without any assurance that these efforts will generate a sale. Government demand and payment for our products are affected by public sector budgetary cycles and funding authorizations, with funding reductions or delays adversely affecting public sector demand for our products.Further, governmental and highly regulated entities may demand contract terms that differ from our standard arrangements and are less favorable than terms agreed with private sector customers. Such entities may have statutory, contractual, or other legal rights to terminate contracts with us or our partners for convenience or for other reasons. Any such termination may adversely affect our ability to contract with other government customers as well as our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.We are subject to governmental export and import controls that could impair our ability to compete in international markets or subject us to liability if we violate the controls.Our platform and products are subject to U.S. export controls, including the Export Administration Regulations, and we incorporate encryption technology into certain of our products. These encryption products and the underlying technology may be exported outside of the United States only with the required export authorizations, including by license, a license exception, or other appropriate government authorizations, including the filing of an encryption classification request or self-classification report.Furthermore, our activities are subject to U.S. economic sanctions laws and regulations administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control that prohibit the shipment of most products and services to embargoed jurisdictions or sanctioned parties without the required export authorizations. Obtaining the necessary export license or other authorization for a particular sale may be time-consuming and may result in the delay or loss of sales opportunities. Violations of U.S. sanctions or export control regulations can result in significant fines or penalties and possible incarceration for responsible employees and managers.If our channel partners fail to obtain appropriate import, export, or re-export licenses or permits, we may also be adversely affected through reputational harm, as well as other negative consequences, including government investigations and penalties.Also, various countries, in addition to the United States, regulate the import and export of certain encryption and other technology, including import and export licensing requirements, and have enacted laws that could limit our ability to distribute our products or could limit our end-customers’ ability to implement our products in those countries. Changes in our 28products or future changes in export and import regulations may create delays in the introduction of our platform in international markets, prevent our end-customers with international operations from deploying our platform globally or, in some cases, prevent the export or import of our products to certain countries, governments, or persons altogether. From time to time, various governmental agencies have proposed additional regulation of encryption technology. Any change in export or import regulations, economic sanctions or related legislation, increased export and import controls, or change in the countries, governments, persons, or technologies targeted by such regulations, could result in decreased use of our platform by, or in our decreased ability to export or sell our products to, existing or potential end-customers with international operations. Any decreased use of our platform or limitation on our ability to export or sell our products would adversely affect our business, results of operations, and growth prospects.Any future litigation against us could be costly and time-consuming to defend.We are and in the future may become subject to legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business, such as claims brought by our customers in connection with commercial disputes or employment claims made by our current or former employees. Litigation might result in substantial costs and may divert management’s attention and resources, which might seriously harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Insurance might not cover such claims, might not provide sufficient payments to cover all the costs to resolve one or more such claims, and might not continue to be available on terms acceptable to us. A claim brought against us that is uninsured or underinsured could result in unanticipated costs, potentially harming our business, financial position and results of operations.We are subject to risks related to our environmental, social, and governance practices and disclosures.There is an increasing focus from regulators, certain investors and other stakeholders concerning environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, matters, both in the United States and internationally. In response, we are in the process of evaluating and developing our ESG practices. Any of our current or future ESG practices and initiatives, if any, could be difficult to achieve and costly to implement. Furthermore, if these practices are not perceived to be adequate, or if the initiatives and positions we take (or choose not to take) on ESG issues are unpopular with some of our employees, customers or potential customers, our reputation could be harmed, which could negatively impact our ability to attract or retain employees or customers.Standards for tracking and reporting ESG matters continue to evolve. Our interpretation or application of frameworks and standards may change from time to time or differ from those of others. This may result in a lack of consistent or meaningful comparative data from period to period or between us and other companies in the same industry. In addition, our processes and controls may not comply with evolving standards for identifying, measuring and reporting ESG metrics, including ESG-related disclosures that may be required by various regulators, and such standards may change over time, which could result in significant revisions to our ESG metrics. The costs of changing any of our current practices to comply with any new legal and regulatory requirements in the United States and elsewhere may be substantial.We could be required to collect additional sales taxes or be subject to other tax liabilities that may increase the costs our clients would have to pay for our products and adversely affect our results of operations.An increasing number of states have considered or adopted laws that attempt to impose tax collection obligations on out-of-state companies. Additionally, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. et al, or Wayfair, that online sellers can be required to collect sales and use tax despite not having a physical presence in the buyer’s state. In response to Wayfair, or otherwise, states or local governments may adopt, or begin to enforce, laws requiring us to calculate, collect, and remit taxes on sales in their jurisdictions. A successful assertion by one or more states requiring us to collect taxes where we presently do not do so, or to collect more taxes in a jurisdiction in which we currently do collect some taxes, could result in substantial tax liabilities, including taxes on past sales, as well as penalties and interest. The imposition by state governments or local governments of sales tax collection obligations on out-of-state sellers could also create additional administrative burdens for us, put us at a competitive disadvantage if they do not impose similar obligations on our competitors, and decrease our future sales, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.Our ability to use our net operating losses to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations.As of December 31, 2023, we had NOL carryforwards for federal and state income tax purposes of approximately $148.4 million, respectively, which may be available to offset taxable income in the future, and which expire in 2026 for state purposes if not utilized. Unused U.S. federal NOLs for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2018, may be carried forward to offset future taxable income, if any, until such unused NOLs expire. Under current law, U.S. federal NOLs incurred in taxable years after December 31, 2017, can be carried forward indefinitely, but the deductibility of such U.S. 29federal NOLs is limited to 80% of taxable income. It is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to federal tax laws. A lack of future taxable income would adversely affect our ability to utilize portions of these NOLs before they expire. In general, under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, a corporation that undergoes an “ownership change” (as defined under Section 382 of the Code and applicable Treasury Regulations) is subject to limitations on its ability to utilize its pre-change NOLs to offset post-change taxable income. We may experience a future ownership change under Section 382 of the Code that could affect our ability to utilize the NOLs to offset our income. Furthermore, our ability to utilize NOLs of companies that we have acquired or may acquire in the future may be subject to limitations. There is also a risk that due to regulatory changes, such as suspensions on the use of NOLs or other unforeseen reasons, our existing NOLs could expire or otherwise be unavailable to reduce future income tax liabilities, including for state tax purposes. For these reasons, we may not be able to utilize a material portion of the NOLs reflected on our balance sheets, even if we attain profitability, which could potentially result in increased future tax liability to us and could adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.Changes in our effective tax rate or tax liability may have an adverse effect on our results of operations.Our effective tax rate or tax liability could change due to several factors, including:•changes in the relative amounts of income before taxes in the various jurisdictions in which we operate that have differing statutory tax rates;•changes in tax laws, tax treaties, and regulations or the interpretation of them, including changes to IRC Section 174 under the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act;•any implementation of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) international tax framework, including the Pillar II minimum tax regime;•changes to our assessment about our ability to realize our deferred tax assets that are based on estimates of our future results, the prudence and feasibility of possible tax planning strategies, and the economic and political environments in which we do business;•the outcome of current and future tax audits, examinations, or administrative appeals; and•limitations or adverse findings regarding our ability to do business in some jurisdictions.We will continue to monitor these developments and pending legislation, and evaluate any potential impact on our results of operations.Our reported financial results may be adversely affected by changes in accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.GAAP is subject to interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC and various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret applicable accounting principles. A change in these principles or interpretations could have a significant effect on our reported results of operations and could affect the reporting of transactions already completed before the announcement of a change.If our estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting policies prove to be incorrect, our results of operations could be adversely affected.The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, as described in Note 2 in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in “Part II, Item 8.

Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The results of these estimates form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities and equity, and the amount of revenue and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. Significant estimates and judgments involve revenue recognition, business combinations, and internal-use software development costs. Our results of operations may be adversely affected if our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions, which could cause our results of operations to fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the market price of our Class A common stock.30Risks Related to Intellectual PropertyAny failure to obtain, maintain, protect or enforce our intellectual property and proprietary rights could impair our ability to protect our proprietary technology and our brand.Our success depends to a significant degree on our ability to obtain, maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights, including our proprietary technology, know-how and our brand. We rely on a combination of trademarks, trade secrets, patents, copyrights, contractual restrictions, and other intellectual property laws and confidentiality procedures to establish and protect our proprietary rights. However, the steps we take to obtain, maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights may be inadequate. We will not be able to protect our intellectual property rights if we are unable to enforce our rights or if we do not detect unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights. If we fail to protect our intellectual property rights adequately, our competitors may gain access to our proprietary technology and develop and commercialize substantially identical products, services or technologies, our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects may be harmed. In addition, defending our intellectual property rights might entail significant expense. Any patents, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights that we have or may obtain may be challenged or circumvented by others or invalidated or held unenforceable through administrative processes, including re-examination, inter partes review, interference and derivation proceedings and equivalent proceedings in foreign jurisdictions (e.g., opposition proceedings) or litigation. Despite our pending patent applications, there can be no assurance that our patent applications will result in issued patents. Even if we continue to seek patent protection in the future, we may be unable to obtain or maintain patent protection for our technology. In addition, any patents issued from pending or future patent applications or licensed to us in the future may not provide us with competitive advantages, or may be successfully challenged by third parties. There may be issued patents of which we are not aware, held by third parties that, if found to be valid and enforceable, could be alleged to be infringed by our current or future technologies or products. There also may be pending patent applications of which we are not aware that may result in issued patents, which could be alleged to be infringed by our current or future technologies or products. Furthermore, legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability, and scope of protection of intellectual property rights are uncertain. Despite our precautions, it may be possible for unauthorized third parties to copy our products and platform capabilities and use information that we regard as proprietary to create products that compete with ours. Patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret protections may not be available to us in every country in which our products are available. For example, as we have expanded internationally, we have been unable to register and obtain the exclusive right to use the Datadog trademark in certain jurisdictions, including certain European countries outside of the EU, and as we continue to expand, we may face similar issues in other jurisdictions. The value of our intellectual property could diminish if others assert rights in or ownership of our trademarks and other intellectual property rights, or trademarks that are similar to our trademarks. We may be unable to successfully resolve these types of conflicts to our satisfaction. In some cases, litigation or other actions may be necessary to protect or enforce our trademarks and other intellectual property rights. Furthermore, third parties may assert intellectual property claims against us, and we may be subject to liability, required to enter into costly license agreements, or required to rebrand our products and/or prevented from selling some of our products if third parties successfully claim that we infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate their trademarks or other intellectual property rights. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries may not be as protective of intellectual property rights as those in the United States, and mechanisms for enforcement of intellectual property rights may be inadequate. As we expand our international activities, our exposure to unauthorized copying and use of our products and platform capabilities and proprietary information will likely increase. Moreover, policing unauthorized use of our technologies, trade secrets, and intellectual property may be difficult, expensive, and time-consuming, particularly in foreign countries where the laws may not be as protective of intellectual property rights as those in the United States and where mechanisms for enforcement of intellectual property rights may be weak. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may be unable to prevent third parties from infringing upon, misappropriating or otherwise violating our intellectual property rights.We enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees and consultants and enter into confidentiality agreements with other third parties, including suppliers and other partners. However, we cannot guarantee that we have entered into such agreements with each party that has or may have had access to our proprietary information, know-how and trade secrets. Moreover, no assurance can be given that these agreements will be effective in controlling access to, distribution, use, misuse, misappropriation, reverse engineering or disclosure of our proprietary information, know-how and trade secrets. Further, these agreements may not prevent our competitors from independently developing technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to our products and platform capabilities. These agreements may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any such breach.In order to protect our intellectual property rights, we may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and protect our intellectual property rights. Litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights and to protect our trade secrets. Litigation brought to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could be costly, time-consuming, and distracting to management, and could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property. Further, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims, and countersuits 31attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights, and if such defenses, counterclaims or countersuits are successful, we could lose valuable intellectual property rights. Our inability to protect our proprietary technology against unauthorized copying or use, as well as any costly litigation or diversion of our management’s attention and resources, could delay further sales or the implementation of our products and platform capabilities, impair the functionality of our products and platform capabilities, delay introductions of new solutions, result in our substituting inferior or more costly technologies into our products, or injure our reputation.We may become subject to intellectual property disputes, which are costly and may subject us to significant liability and increased costs of doing business.We have been and may continue to be subject to intellectual property disputes. Our success depends, in part, on our ability to develop and commercialize our products and services without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the intellectual property rights of third parties. However, we may not be aware that our products or services are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating third-party intellectual property rights and such third parties may bring claims alleging such infringement, misappropriation or violation. Lawsuits are time-consuming and expensive to resolve and they divert management’s time and attention. The software industry is characterized by the existence of a large number of patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and other intellectual and proprietary rights. Companies in the software industry are often required to defend against litigation claims based on allegations of infringement, misappropriation or other violations of intellectual property rights. Our technologies may not be able to withstand any third-party claims against their use. In addition, many companies have the capability to dedicate substantially greater resources to enforce their intellectual property rights and to defend claims that may be brought against them. We do not currently have a large patent portfolio, which could prevent us from deterring patent infringement claims through our own patent portfolio, and our competitors and others may now and in the future have significantly larger and more mature patent portfolios than we have. Any litigation may also involve patent holding companies or other adverse patent owners that have no relevant product revenue, and therefore, our patent portfolio may provide little or no deterrence as we would not be able to assert them against such entities or individuals. If a third party is able to obtain an injunction preventing us from accessing such third-party intellectual property rights, or if we cannot license or develop alternative technology for any infringing aspect of our business, we would be forced to limit or stop sales of our products and platform capabilities or cease business activities related to such intellectual property. Although we carry general liability insurance, our insurance may not cover potential claims of this type or may not be adequate to indemnify us for all liability that may be imposed. We cannot predict the outcome of lawsuits and cannot ensure that the results of any such actions will not have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Any intellectual property litigation to which we might become a party, or for which we have been or may continue to be required to provide indemnification, may require us to do one or more of the following:•cease selling or using products or services that incorporate the intellectual property rights that we allegedly infringe, misappropriate or violate;•make substantial payments for legal fees, settlement payments or other costs or damages;•obtain a license, which may not be available on reasonable terms or at all, to sell or use the relevant technology; or•redesign the allegedly infringing products to avoid infringement, misappropriation or violation, which could be costly, time-consuming or impossible.Even if the claims do not result in litigation or are resolved in our favor, these claims, and the time and resources necessary to resolve them, could divert the resources of our management and harm our business and operating results. Moreover, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our common stock. We expect that the occurrence of infringement claims is likely to grow as the market for our platform and products grows. Accordingly, our exposure to damages resulting from infringement claims could increase and this could further exhaust our financial and management resources.We use open source software in our products, which could negatively affect our ability to sell our services or subject us to litigation or other actions.We use open source software in our products and we expect to continue to incorporate open source software in our services in the future. Few of the licenses applicable to open source software have been interpreted by courts, and there is a risk that these licenses could be construed in a manner that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our products. Moreover, we cannot ensure that we have not incorporated additional open source software in our software in a manner that is inconsistent with the terms of the applicable license or our current policies and procedures. If we 32fail to comply with these licenses, we may be subject to certain requirements, including requirements that we offer our solutions that incorporate the open source software for no cost, that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon, incorporating or using the open source software and that we license such modifications or derivative works under the terms of applicable open source licenses. If an author or other third party that distributes such open source software were to allege that we had not complied with the conditions of one or more of these licenses, we could be required to incur significant legal expenses defending against such allegations and could be subject to significant damages, enjoined from the sale of our products that contained the open source software and required to comply with onerous conditions or restrictions on these products, which could disrupt the distribution and sale of these products. From time to time, there have been claims challenging the ownership rights in open source software against companies that incorporate it into their products and the licensors of such open source software provide no warranties or indemnities with respect to such claims. As a result, we and our customers could be subject to lawsuits by parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open source software. Litigation could be costly for us to defend, have a negative effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, or require us to devote additional research and development resources to change our products. In addition, although we employ open source software license screening measures, if we were to combine our proprietary software products with open source software in a certain manner we could, under certain open source licenses, be required to release the source code of our proprietary software products. Some open source projects have known vulnerabilities and architectural instabilities and are provided on an “as-is” basis which, if not properly addressed, could negatively affect the performance of our product. If we inappropriately use or incorporate open source software subject to certain types of open source licenses that challenge the proprietary nature of our products, we may be required to re-engineer such products, discontinue the sale of such products or take other remedial actions.Risks Associated with our International OperationsOur current operations are international in scope, and we plan further geographic expansion, creating a variety of operational challenges.A component of our growth strategy involves the further expansion of our operations and customer base internationally. Revenue, as determined based on the billing address of our customers, from regions outside of North America was 30% for the year ended December 31, 2023. Beyond North America, we now have sales presence internationally, including in Amsterdam, Dublin, London, Paris, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, and Tokyo. We are continuing to adapt to and develop strategies to address international markets, but there is no guarantee that such efforts will have the desired effect. For example, we anticipate that we will need to establish relationships with new partners in order to expand into certain countries, and if we fail to identify, establish and maintain such relationships, we may be unable to execute on our expansion plans. As of December 31, 2023, approximately 39% of our full-time employees were located outside of the United States, 36% of whom were located in France. We expect that our international activities will continue to grow for the foreseeable future as we continue to pursue opportunities in existing and new international markets, which will require significant dedication of management attention and financial resources.Our current and future international business and operations involve a variety of risks, including:•slower than anticipated availability and adoption of cloud and hybrid IT infrastructures by international businesses;•changes in a specific country’s or region’s political or economic conditions;•the need to adapt and localize our products for specific countries;•greater difficulty collecting accounts receivable and longer payment cycles;•potential changes in trade relations, sanctions, regulations, or laws;•unexpected changes in laws, regulatory requirements, or tax laws;•more stringent regulations relating to privacy and data security and the unauthorized use of, or access to, commercial and personal information, particularly in Europe and the United Kingdom;•differing and potentially more onerous labor regulations, especially in Europe, where labor laws are generally more advantageous to employees as compared to the United States, including deemed hourly wage and overtime regulations in these locations;•challenges inherent in efficiently managing, and the increased costs associated with, an increased number of employees over large geographic distances, including the need to implement appropriate systems, policies, benefits, and compliance programs that are specific to each jurisdiction;33•potential changes in laws, regulations and costs affecting our U.K. operations and local employees due to Brexit;•difficulties in managing a business in new markets with diverse cultures, languages, customs, legal systems, alternative dispute systems, and regulatory systems;•increased travel, real estate, infrastructure, and legal compliance costs associated with international operations;•currency exchange rate fluctuations and the resulting effect on our revenue and expenses, and the cost and risk of entering into hedging transactions if we chose to do so in the future;•limitations on our ability to reinvest earnings from operations in one country to fund the capital needs of our operations in other countries;•laws and business practices favoring local competitors or general market preferences for local vendors;•limited or insufficient intellectual property protection or difficulties obtaining, maintaining, protecting or enforcing our intellectual property rights, including our trademarks and patents;•political instability, terrorist activities and military conflict, including the war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East;•an outbreak of a contagious disease, which may cause us or our third-party providers and/or customers to temporarily suspend our or their respective operations in the affected city or country; •exposure to liabilities under anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws, including the FCPA, U.S. bribery laws, the UK Bribery Act, and similar laws and regulations in other jurisdictions; and•adverse tax burdens and foreign exchange controls that could make it difficult to repatriate earnings and cash.If we invest substantial time and resources to further expand our international operations and are unable to do so successfully and in a timely manner, our business and results of operations will suffer.We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which could negatively affect our results of operations.Our sales contracts are denominated in U.S. However, a strengthening of the U.S. dollar could increase the real cost of our products and platform capabilities to our customers outside of the United States, which could adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, an increasing amount of our operating expenses are incurred outside the United States. These operating expenses are denominated in foreign currencies and are subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. If we are not able to successfully hedge against the risks associated with currency fluctuations, our results of operations could be adversely affected.Our international operations may subject us to potential adverse tax consequences.We are expanding our international operations to better support our growth into international markets. Our corporate structure and associated transfer pricing policies contemplate future growth in international markets, and consider the functions, risks, and assets of the various entities involved in intercompany transactions. The amount of taxes we pay in different jurisdictions may depend on the application of the tax laws of the various jurisdictions, including the United States, to our international business activities, changes in tax rates, new or revised tax laws or interpretations of existing tax laws and policies, and our ability to operate our business in a manner consistent with our corporate structure and intercompany arrangements. The taxing authorities of the jurisdictions in which we operate may challenge our methodologies for pricing intercompany transactions pursuant to our intercompany arrangements or disagree with our determinations as to the income and expenses attributable to specific jurisdictions. If such a challenge or disagreement were to occur, and our position was not sustained, we could be required to pay additional taxes, interest, and penalties, which could result in one-time tax charges, higher effective tax rates, reduced cash flows and lower overall profitability of our operations. Our financial statements could fail to reflect adequate reserves to cover such a contingency.Risks Related to Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock34Our stock price may be volatile, and the value of our Class A common stock may decline.The market price of our Class A common stock may be highly volatile and may fluctuate or decline substantially as a result of a variety of factors, some of which are beyond our control, including:•actual or anticipated fluctuations in our financial condition or results of operations;•variance in our financial performance from expectations of securities analysts;•changes in the pricing of subscriptions to our products;•changes in our projected operating and financial results;•changes in laws or regulations applicable to our platform and products;•announcements by us or our competitors of significant business developments, acquisitions, or new offerings;•significant data breaches, disruptions to or other incidents involving our software;•our involvement in litigation;•future sales of our Class A common stock by us or our stockholders;•changes in senior management or key personnel;•the trading volume of our Class A common stock;•changes in the anticipated future size and growth rate of our market; and•general economic and market conditions. In addition, technology stocks have historically experienced high levels of volatility. In the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their securities have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future, which could result in substantial expenses and divert our management’s attention.The dual class structure of our common stock has the effect of concentrating voting control with holders of our Class B common stock, including our executive officers, directors and their affiliates, which will limit the ability of holders of our Class A common stock to influence the outcome of important transactions.Our Class B common stock has ten votes per share and our Class A common stock has one vote per share. As of December 31, 2023, our outstanding shares of Class B common stock represented approximately 46% of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock. As a result, the holders of our Class B common stock, which includes certain of our directors, executive officers and their affiliates, exercise considerable influence over matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions, such as a merger or other sale of our company or our assets, even if their stock holdings represent less than 50% of the outstanding shares of our capital stock. This concentration of ownership limits the ability of other stockholders to influence corporate matters and may cause us to make strategic decisions that could involve risks to holders of our Class A common stock or that may not be aligned with the interests of holders of our Class A common stock. This control may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.Further, future transfers by holders of our Class B common stock will generally result in those shares converting into shares of our Class A common stock, subject to limited exceptions, such as certain transfers effected for tax or estate planning purposes. The conversion of shares of our Class B common stock into shares of our Class A common stock has had and will continue to have the effect, over time, of increasing the relative voting power of those holders of Class B common stock who retain their Class B shares.35We cannot predict the impact our dual class structure may have on the market price of our Class A common stock.We cannot predict whether our dual class structure, combined with the concentrated control of our stockholders who held our capital stock prior to the completion of our initial public offering, or IPO, including our executive officers, employees and directors and their affiliates, will result in a lower or more volatile market price of our Class A common stock or in adverse publicity or other adverse consequences. Given the sustained flow of investment funds into passive strategies that seek to track certain indexes, exclusion from stock indexes would likely preclude investment by many of these funds and could make our Class A common stock less attractive to other investors. As a result, the market price of our Class A common stock could be adversely affected.Future sales of our Class A common stock in the public market could cause the market price of our Class A common stock to decline.Sales of a substantial number of shares of our Class A common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our Class A common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. Many of our stockholders who held our capital stock prior to the completion of our IPO have substantial unrecognized gains on the value of the equity they hold based upon the price at which shares were sold in our IPO, and therefore they may take steps to sell their shares or otherwise secure the unrecognized gains on those shares. We are unable to predict the timing of or the effect that such sales may have on the prevailing market price of our Class A common stock.We have registered all of the shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock issuable upon exercise of outstanding options or other equity incentives we may grant in the future, for public resale under the Securities Act. The shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock will become eligible for sale in the public market to the extent such options are exercised, subject to compliance with applicable securities laws.Our issuance of additional capital stock in connection with financings, acquisitions, investments, our equity incentive plans or otherwise will dilute all other stockholders.We expect to issue additional capital stock in the future that will result in dilution to all other stockholders. We expect to continue to grant equity awards to employees, directors and consultants under our equity incentive plans. We may also raise capital through equity financings in the future. As part of our business strategy, we have and may continue to acquire or make investments in companies, products or technologies and issue equity securities to pay for any such acquisition or investment. Any such issuances of additional capital stock may cause stockholders to experience significant dilution of their ownership interests and the per share value of our Class A common stock to decline. Furthermore, if we issue additional equity or convertible debt securities, the new equity securities could have rights senior to those of our common stock. For example, if we elect to settle our conversion obligation under our 0.125% Convertible Senior Notes due 2025, or our 2025 Notes, in shares of our Class A common stock or a combination of cash and shares of our Class A common stock, the issuance of such Class A common stock may dilute the ownership interests of our stockholders and sales in the public market could adversely affect prevailing market prices.If securities or industry analysts cease publishing research or publish unfavorable or inaccurate research about our business, or if we fail to meet or significantly exceed our publicly announced financial guidance or the expectations of analysts or public investors, the market price and trading volume of our Class A common stock could decline.The market price and trading volume of our Class A common stock will be heavily influenced by the way analysts interpret our financial information and other disclosures. We do not have control over these analysts. If securities or industry analysts cease coverage of us, downgrade our Class A common stock, or publish negative reports about our business, our stock price would likely decline. In addition, the stock prices of many companies in the technology industry have declined significantly after those companies have failed to meet, or significantly exceed, the financial guidance publicly announced by those companies or the expectations of analysts. If our financial results fail to meet, or significantly exceed, our announced guidance or the expectations or analysts or public investors, analysts could downgrade or Class A common stock or publish unfavorable research on us. As a result, demand for our Class A common stock could decrease, which might cause our stock price to decline and could decrease the trading volume of our Class A common stock.36We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future.We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock, and we do not intend to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors. Accordingly, holders of our Class A common stock may need to rely on sales of their holdings of Class A common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment.We incur costs and demands upon management as a result of complying with the laws and regulations affecting public companies in the United States, which may harm our business.As a public company in the Unites States, we incur significant legal, accounting, insurance, and other expenses. Our management and other personnel devote a substantial amount of time to compliance with these requirements. These rules and regulations contribute to increased legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time-consuming and costly.We are obligated to develop and maintain proper and effective internal controls over financial reporting, and any failure to maintain the adequacy of these internal controls may adversely affect investor confidence in our company and, as a result, the value of our Class A common stock.We are required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting on an annual basis. This assessment must include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, our independent registered public accounting firm is required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Our compliance with Section 404 requires that we incur substantial expenses and expend significant management efforts. We have hired, and need to continue to hire, additional accounting and financial staff with appropriate public company experience and technical accounting knowledge to comply with Section 404.During the evaluation and testing process of our internal controls in future years, if we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we will be unable to certify that our internal control over financial reporting is effective. We cannot assure you that there will not be material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting in the future. Any failure to maintain internal control over financial reporting could severely inhibit our ability to accurately report our financial condition or results of operations. If we are unable to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm determines we have a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, the market price of our Class A common stock could decline, and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities. Failure to remedy any material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, or to implement or maintain other effective control systems required of public companies, could also restrict our future access to the capital markets.Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of our company more difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management and limit the market price of our Class A common stock.Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control or changes in our management.These provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management. In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which generally, subject to certain exceptions, prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any of a broad range of business combinations with any “interested” stockholder for a period of three years following the date on which the stockholder became an “interested” stockholder. Any of the foregoing provisions could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our Class A common stock, and they could deter potential acquirers of our company, thereby reducing the likelihood that holders of our Class A common stock would receive a premium for their shares of our Class A common stock in an acquisition.Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and the federal district courts of the United States of America as the exclusive forums for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could restrict our stockholders’ ability to choose the judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or employees.Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for the following types of actions or proceedings under Delaware statutory or common law: any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; any action asserting a breach of a fiduciary duty; any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, or our amended and restated bylaws; or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. The provisions would not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act.These choice of forum provisions may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees. While the Delaware courts have determined that such choice of forum provisions are facially valid, a stockholder may nevertheless seek to bring a claim in a venue other than those designated in the exclusive forum provisions. In such instance, we would expect to vigorously assert the validity and enforceability of the exclusive forum provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. This may require significant additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions and there can be no assurance that the provisions will be enforced by a court in those other jurisdictions.Risks Related to Our Outstanding 2025 NotesWe may not have sufficient cash flow from our business to make payments on our significant debt when due, and we may incur additional indebtedness in the future.In June 2020, we issued the 2025 Notes in a private placement. We may be required to use a substantial portion of our cash flows from operations to pay interest and principal on our indebtedness. Our ability to make scheduled payments of the principal of, to pay interest on or to refinance our indebtedness, including the 2025 Notes, depends on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive and other factors beyond our control. Our business may not continue to generate cash flow from operations in the future sufficient to service our debt and make necessary capital expenditures. If we are unable to generate such cash flow, we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, such as selling assets, restructuring debt or obtaining additional equity capital on terms that may be onerous or highly dilutive. Our ability to refinance 38our indebtedness will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. We may not be able to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on desirable terms, which could result in a default on our debt obligations.In addition, we may incur substantial additional debt in the future, subject to the restrictions contained in our future debt agreements, some of which may be secured debt. We are not restricted under the terms of the indenture governing the 2025 Notes, from incurring additional debt, securing existing or future debt, recapitalizing our debt, repurchasing our stock, pledging our assets, making investments, paying dividends, guaranteeing debt or taking a number of other actions that are not limited by the terms of the indenture governing the 2025 Notes that could have the effect of diminishing our ability to make payments on the 2025 Notes when due.The conditional conversion feature of the 2025 Notes may adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.In the event the conditional conversion feature of the 2025 Notes is triggered, as it was during the quarter ended March 31, 2022, holders of the 2025 Notes are entitled to convert the notes at any time during specified periods at their option. If one or more holders elect to convert their 2025 Notes, unless we elect to satisfy our conversion obligation by delivering solely shares of our Class A common stock (other than paying cash in lieu of delivering any fractional share), we would be required to settle a portion or all of our conversion obligation through the payment of cash, which could adversely affect our liquidity. In addition, even if holders do not elect to convert their 2025 Notes when these conversion triggers are satisfied, we could be required under applicable accounting rules to reclassify all or a portion of the outstanding principal of the 2025 Notes as a current rather than long-term liability, which would result in a material reduction of our net working capital.The capped call transactions may affect the value of the 2025 Notes and our Class A common stock.In connection with the pricing of the 2025 Notes, we entered into capped call transactions with the option counterparties. The capped call transactions cover, subject to customary adjustments, the number of shares of our common stock that initially underlie the 2025 Notes. The capped call transactions are expected generally to partially offset the potential dilution to our Class A common stock as a result of conversion of the 2025 Notes. In connection with establishing their initial hedges of the capped call transactions, the option counterparties or their respective affiliates entered into various derivative transactions with respect to our Class A common stock concurrently with or shortly after the pricing of the 2025 Notes, including with certain investors in the 2025 Notes.In addition, the option counterparties or their respective affiliates may modify their hedge positions by entering into or unwinding various derivatives with respect to our common stock and/or purchasing or selling our Class A common stock or other securities of ours in secondary market transactions following the pricing of the 2025 Notes on June 2, 2020 and prior to the maturity of the 2025 Notes. They are likely to do so on each exercise date for the capped call transactions, which are expected to occur during each 30 trading day period beginning on the 31st scheduled trading day prior to the maturity date of the 2025 Notes, or following any termination of any portion of the capped call transactions in connection with any repurchase, redemption or early conversion of the 2025 Notes. This activity could also cause or prevent an increase or decrease in the price of our Class A common stock or the 2025 Notes. The potential effect, if any, of these transactions on the price of our Class A common stock or the 2025 Notes will depend in part on market conditions and cannot be ascertained at this time. Any of these activities could adversely affect the value of our Class A common stock.We are subject to counterparty risk with respect to the capped call transactions.The counterparties to the capped call transactions are financial institutions, and we will be subject to the risk that one or more of the option counterparties may default, fail to perform or exercise their termination rights under the capped call transactions. Our exposure to the credit risk of the option counterparties will not be secured by any collateral. If a counterparty to the capped call transactions becomes subject to insolvency proceedings, we will become an unsecured creditor in those proceedings with a claim equal to our exposure at the time under such transaction. Our exposure will depend on many factors but, generally, our exposure will increase if the market price or the volatility of our common stock increases. In addition, upon a default, failure to perform or a termination of the capped call transactions by a counterparty, we may suffer more dilution than we currently anticipate with respect to our common stock.Item 1B. Unresolved Staff CommentsNone. Cybersecurity39Risk Management and StrategyWe utilize various processes and tools to assess, identify, and manage risks from cybersecurity threats. In the development of our products and features, our security teams work with our engineering and product teams to identify, assess, and agree upon mitigation or remediation measures with respect to product development. On an ongoing basis, we encourage an environment of openness in which our engineering and product teams, led by our security teams, proactively identify, manage and discuss actual or perceived cybersecurity risks. These teams also use automated and manual processes to identify and track risks from cybersecurity threats. The identified risks are triaged, prioritized for remediation, and reported by the security teams to various levels of our senior management, as appropriate. We also deploy technical safeguards that are designed to protect our platform and systems from cybersecurity threats, including firewalls, intrusion prevention, and detection systems. We have established an incident response plan that addresses our response to cybersecurity incidents, and we require periodic training for our employees on cybersecurity threats. In addition, we maintain cybersecurity insurance, however, the costs related to cybersecurity threats or disruptions may not be fully insured. In addition, we maintain third-party vendor management standards that are used to evaluate cybersecurity risks associated with our third-party service providers, and we assess information technology and software vendors to determine their security posture and maturity. All vendors that process our data or access our systems go through a security and privacy review before they are engaged that is targeted to the services to be provided and the systems and data involved. Based on the information provided by the vendor and depending on the nature of the services provided, our vendor management process may involve security questionnaires and contractual obligations such as audit rights and breach reporting. We also periodically perform various types of security audits and assessments, including penetration tests, via internal and external parties. In addition, certain Datadog products are subject to specific compliance requirements and standards, including, as applicable, ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI, and FedRAMP (Low and Moderate), and are tested and evaluated by third-party auditors against those applicable compliance requirements and standards. The identified risks from such audits and assessments are triaged, prioritized, reported by our security teams to various levels of our senior management and tracked and remediated depending on the severity.Our internal audit function conducts annual interviews across business groups to identify key areas of risk, including cybersecurity risk. This enterprise risk assessment helps inform the internal audit plan, and both the assessment and progress against the internal audit plan are periodically presented to the Audit Committee. Our Chief Information Security Officer also reports separately to our Audit Committee on cyber and information security risk on a quarterly basis. As a result, we have expended and plan to continue to expend significant resources in an effort to protect against security incidents and to mitigate, detect, and remediate actual and potential vulnerabilities. Notwithstanding the measures and processes we take to manage cybersecurity risk, there is no guarantee that these measures and processes will be successful in preventing or mitigating a cybersecurity incident that could have a material adverse effect on us. For a description of the risks from cybersecurity threats that may materially affect the Company and how those risks may affect the Company, see our risk factors under Part 1. Item 1A.

Risk Factors in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including without limitation “Strategic and Operational Risks—If we or our third-party service providers experience, or are unable to protect against cyber-attacks, ransomware, security incidents, or security breaches, or if unauthorized parties otherwise obtain access to or otherwise compromise our customers’ data, our data, or our platform and information technology systems, then our solution may be perceived as not being secure, our reputation may be harmed, demand for our platform and products may be reduced, and we may incur significant liabilities or additional expenses.”GovernanceOur Board of Directors has delegated its oversight of risks associated with cybersecurity to its Audit Committee. Generally, each quarter, the Audit Committee reviews and discusses with our Chief Information Security Officer material cybersecurity risks and our processes for assessing, identifying, and managing such risks, and the Audit Committee will receive updates as necessary between each quarterly meeting. In the event of a material cybersecurity incident, the Audit Committee will be notified, and the Board of Directors will also receive updates on cybersecurity risks and incidents, as appropriate.Our Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Technology Officer are the members of our executive team who are principally responsible for overseeing our cybersecurity risk management program. Our Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Technology Officer are informed about cybersecurity threats through their involvement with the processes set forth above. For example, our Chief Information Security Officer receives regular reports on identified cybersecurity risks and 40progress toward remediation from our security teams and both our Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Technology Officer are notified of cybersecurity incidents and the management of such incidents in accordance with the escalation procedures of our incident response plan. We believe these members of our executive team have the appropriate expertise, background, and experience to manage risks arising from cybersecurity threats. Alexis Lê-Quôc is one of the co-founders of our company and has served as our Chief Technology Officer and a member of our board of directors since June 2010. Mr. Lê-Quôc has extensive knowledge and experience from building and leading the development of our technology and from his decades of experience in the technology industry. Prior to co-founding Datadog, Mr. Lê-Quôc worked at Wireless Generation from March 2004 to December 2010, where he most recently served as Director of Live Operations. Previously, Mr. Lê-Quôc held engineering positions at a number of technology and software companies, including IBM Research and France Télécom S.A. Mr. Lê-Quôc received his M.S. in Computer Science from CentraleSupélec. Emilio Escobar has served as our Chief Information Security Officer since September 2020. With two decades of experience in information security and compliance, Mr. Escobar has worked at large enterprises, medium-sized companies, and governmental organizations. Previously, Mr. Escobar served as the Vice President of Information Security for Hulu, where he played a pivotal role in setting up key security functions. Prior to that, Mr. Escobar worked for PlayStation, where he built and ran the software security teams. Mr. Escobar holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Puerto Rico..

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