Next in Tech S&P Global Market Intelligence

Recent study results are identifying where AI is being put to work and how customers and end users are reacting to its use. Sheryl Kingstone, head of the experiences team, returns to look at the Voice of the Connected User Landscape: Connected Customer, Disruptive Experiences 2024 study with host Eric Hanselman. This longitudinal study tracks changes in attitude and use of AI. While there is significant use of AI, there are strong differences between generations across the study. One of the questions the study raises is how users will work with AI capabilities that are integrated into products and services. There has been a slight positive shift in attitudes as there is more practical use in writing assistance and content creation. Enterprises are starting to integrate traditional AI techniques, such as machine learning, with generative AI capabilities and having success in customer service applications. It’s a complex landscape that impacts how AI will be viewed and leveraged.

Sentiment analysis is a common use case for large language models in generative AI and we’re kicking off Pride Month with a discussion of a recent study that examined the way firms are talking about LGBTQ+ issues in public statements. Returning guest Emily Jasper and Ilan Attar of Pronto NLP, who led the analysis, join host Eric Hanselman to look at what the study explored, how they trained the model used for the analysis, and some of the results. While many organizations make supporting statements around diversity, equity and inclusion, insights can be gleaned on the depth of the commitment expressed. It requires much more than the typical sentiment analysis, not only because of the common use of the word pride, but also because of the complexity of the environments in which supporting statements are made. In a year where DEI initiatives have been under strain, determining the level of “pinkwashing” that may be taking place can offer useful perspectives on positioning and support.

The power required to fuel the wave of generative AI use could be massive, but there are many factors that will determine when the crest of that demand will arrive. Analysts Leika Kawasaki and Dan Thompson join host Eric Hanselman to look at recent research in current demand profiles and discuss where it’s headed. The demand for AI infrastructure is here today, but additional datacenter capacity takes years to build. Feeding AI hunger has become a supply chain problem. It’s demand that can reach 92 MW and will certainly go higher, when the full force of AI requirements are evaluated.

As organizations push to realize the benefits of AI, they are increasingly challenged to deliver the necessary data to fuel their initiatives. While most have data repositories to draw from, the quality and accessibility of that data can be an issue. Shiv Trisal of Databricks and John Schirripa of S&P Global Market Intelligence, join host Eric Hanselman to explore the nature of these challenges and ways to address them. One of the major benefits of AI tooling is the democratization of access to data and it has to be a primary goal, but it’s not always easy to achieve. It means pulling together complex data sets and being able to wrap the necessary controls around them. Governance concerns demand better data quality at the outset, to make the path to implementation simpler.
This week’s guests:
Shiv Trisal, global industry lead for manufacturing and industry at Databricks
John Schirripa, VP, product management, distribution solutions, at S&P Global Market Intelligence

In this special report from the RSA Conference, we hear from seven of the team who were there at the event. It’s a set of quick takes on the latest trends and take aways from the conference in discussions with host Eric Hanselman. Whether it’s AI, cybersecurity or M&A, there was a lot going on and a lot to sort out.
Guests:
Scott Crawford, Research director for information security
Garrett Bekker, Principal research analyst
Dan Kennedy, Principal research analyst
Paige Bartley, Senior research analyst
Mark Ehr, Principal research analyst
Justin Lam, Senior research analyst
Brenon Daly, Research director, M&A

The flexibility and adaptability of cloud-based infrastructure brings great value to enterprises, but most have been wrestling with managing cloud costs. Melanie Posey, Jean Atelsek and William Fellows join host Eric Hanselman to look at FinOps, the cost management initiative that is looking to regain control of infrastructure costs in this new model. Hyperscalers are expanding their tooling and a bevy of startups are angling to optimize both operations and deployment. It’s not a simple path.