Podcasts about cloud wars

This week, we discuss Apple reversioning macOS, the steady state of private cloud, and Snowflake's acquisition of CrunchyData. Plus, the eternal quest for a 5-star Uber rating. Watch the YouTube Live Recording of Episode (https://youtube.com/live/2_81_RK24u0?feature=share) 522 (https://youtube.com/live/2_81_RK24u0?feature=share) Runner-up Titles Saudi crypto money You know what humans like? Buses I think we need 10 stars Snow lion Maslow's hierarchy of enterprise needs The Alexandria datacenter for French Telecom Always be cobbling (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_vSirIJEsY) 20-plus years of Internetting Rundown Apple is reportedly going to rename all of its operating systems (https://www.theverge.com/news/675945/apple-operating-systems-new-name-year-ios-macos) Private Cloud Still a lot - private cloud check-in, Spring 2025 (https://newsletter.cote.io/p/still-a-lot-private-cloud-check-in) Private cloud still matters—but it doesn't matter most (https://www.infoworld.com/article/3999740/private-cloud-still-matters-but-it-doesnt-matter-most.html) Re: Still a lot of private cloud, numbers of cloud repatriation (higher than I thought) (https://newsletter.cote.io/p/re-still-a-lot-of-private-cloud-numbers?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbc49b775-41bb-4e71-807b-e6a892885c7f_1920x1080.png&open=false) Cloud Repatriation is Getting Complicated (https://www.lastweekinaws.com/blog/cloud-repatriation-is-getting-complicated/?ck_subscriber_id=512840665&utm_source=convertkit&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=[Last%20Week%20in%20AWS%20Extras]:%20Cloud%20Repatriation%20is%20Getting%20Complicated%20-%2017787123) Snowflake to Buy Crunchy Data for $250 Million (https://www.wsj.com/articles/snowflake-to-buy-crunchy-data-for-250-million-233543ab?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1) The AI browser wars are about to begin (https://www.platformer.news/ai-web-browsers-openai-perplexity-opera/?ref=platformer-newsletter&attribution_id=6838e4d00b5b820001b1eff6&attribution_type=post) An Interview with Cursor Co-Founder and CEO Michael Truell About Coding With AI (https://stratechery.com/2025/an-interview-with-cursor-co-founder-and-ceo-michael-truell-about-coding-with-ai/) After Klarna, Zoom's CEO also uses an AI avatar on quarterly call (https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/22/after-klarna-zooms-ceo-also-uses-an-ai-avatar-on-quarterly-call/) The OpenAI board drama is reportedly turning into a movie (https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/03/the-openai-board-drama-is-reportedly-turning-into-a-movie/) Lonny Ross (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743622/?ref_=tt_cst_t_14) from 30 Rock Relevant to your Interests Exclusive: Meta splits AI team to move faster (https://www.axios.com/2025/05/27/meta-ai-restructure-2025-agi-llama?utm_source=superhuman&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=claude-gets-voice-mode&_bhlid=03c16bf9c459c21bcde136b3b7ddcda9c76bf8da) The Monster-Slaying Game You Can Play Almost Anywhere (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/arts/play-doom-ports.html?unlocked_article_code=1.KU8.W3qp.3oxjIeBU4gMc) DOGE Days (https://sahillavingia.com/doge) Thanks to AI, Gen Z is replacing pitch decks with pitchforks (https://thehustle.co/news/thanks-to-ai-gen-z-is-replacing-pitch-decks-with-pitch-forks) Mark Zuckerberg says Meta AI has 1 billion monthly active users (https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/28/zuckerberg-meta-ai-one-billion-monthly-users.html?utm_source=tldrai) The Future of Comments is Lies, I Guess (https://aphyr.com/posts/388-the-future-of-comments-is-lies-i-guess) Walmart Enters the Cloud Wars and Challenges Microsoft, Salesforce, Oracle, and SAP (https://cloudwars.com/cloud/walmart-enters-the-cloud-wars-and-challenges-microsoft-salesforce-oracle-and-sap/) It's Waymo's World. We're All Just Riding in It. (https://www.wsj.com/tech/waymo-cars-self-driving-robotaxi-tesla-uber-0777f570?st=uDVyF2&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink) Exclusive | Meta Aims to Fully Automate Ad Creation Using AI (https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/meta-aims-to-fully-automate-ad-creation-using-ai-7d82e249) Space Forge raises $30M Series A to make chip materials in space (https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/31/space-forge-raises-30m-series-a-to-make-chip-materials-in-space/) AI company files for bankruptcy after being exposed as 700 Indian engineers (https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/ai-company-files-for-bankruptcy-after-being-exposed-as-700-human-engineers-3208136/) Clouded Judgement 5.30.25 - Moats in the Age of AI (https://cloudedjudgement.substack.com/p/clouded-judgement-53025-moats-in?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=56878&post_id=164602647&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=2l9&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email) Reddit Sues Anthropic, Alleges Unauthorized Use of Site's Data (https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/reddit-lawsuit-anthropic-ai-3b9624dd?mod=tech_lead_pos1) Ciroos.AI Emerges From Stealth, Raises $21M To Scale Agentic AI Tool For Operations Teams (https://www.crn.com/news/networking/2025/ciroos-ai-emerges-from-stealth-raises-21m-to-scale-agentic-ai-tool-for-operations-teams) IBM Said to Have Pursued Informatica Ahead of Salesforce Deal (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-05/ibm-said-to-have-pursued-informatica-ahead-of-salesforce-deal?srnd=phx-deals) Gemini will now automatically summarize your long emails unless you opt out (https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/30/gemini-will-now-automatically-summarize-your-long-emails-unless-you-opt-out/) Nonsense WeatherStar 4000+ (https://weatherstar.netbymatt.com/?hazards-checkbox=true¤t-weather-checkbox=true&latest-observations-checkbox=true&hourly-checkbox=true&hourly-graph-checkbox=true&travel-checkbox=true®ional-forecast-checkbox=true&local-forecast-checkbox=true&extended-forecast-checkbox=true&almanac-checkbox=true&spc-outlook-checkbox=true&settings-wide-checkbox=false&settings-kiosk-checkbox=false&settings-scanLines-checkbox=true&settings-speed-select=1.00&settings-units-select=us&latLonQuery=78759%2C+Austin%2C+TX%2C+USA&latLon=%7B%22lat%22%3A30.4036%2C%22lon%22%3A-97.7519%7D) Conferences SREDay Cologne, June 12th, 2025 (https://sreday.com/2025-cologne-q2/#tickets) - Coté speaking, discount: CLG10, 10% off. SDT News & Community Join our Slack community (https://softwaredefinedtalk.slack.com/join/shared_invite/zt-1hn55iv5d-UTfN7mVX1D9D5ExRt3ZJYQ#/shared-invite/email) Email the show: questions@softwaredefinedtalk.com (mailto:questions@softwaredefinedtalk.com) Free stickers: Email your address to stickers@softwaredefinedtalk.com (mailto:stickers@softwaredefinedtalk.com) Follow us on social media: Twitter (https://twitter.com/softwaredeftalk), Threads (https://www.threads.net/@softwaredefinedtalk), Mastodon (https://hachyderm.io/@softwaredefinedtalk), LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/software-defined-talk/), BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/softwaredefinedtalk.com) Watch us on: Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/sdtpodcast), YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi3OJPV6h9tp-hbsGBLGsDQ/featured), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/softwaredefinedtalk/), TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@softwaredefinedtalk) Book offer: Use code SDT for $20 off "Digital WTF" by Coté (https://leanpub.com/digitalwtf/c/sdt) Sponsor the show (https://www.softwaredefinedtalk.com/ads): ads@softwaredefinedtalk.com (mailto:ads@softwaredefinedtalk.com) Recommendations Brandon: Snapware Pyrex 18-piece Glass Food Storage Set (https://www.costco.com/snapware-pyrex-18-piece-glass-food-storage-set.product.100358145.html) Matt: Rick Rubin: Vibe Coding is the Punk Rock of Software (https://a16z.simplecast.com/episodes/rick-rubin-vibe-coding-is-the-punk-rock-of-software-9QhxjZpI) (A16Z podcast) Photo Credits Header (https://unsplash.com/photos/man-driving-vehicle-with-gps-system-turned-on-kARZuSYMfrA)

HighlightsGoogle Cloud's AI Revolution and Customer Success (00:10)Renner talks about how, for Google Cloud, delivering great outcomes for customers must come before achieving returns. Efforts are underway to push brainpower and expertise directly to customers, while simplifying the sales process by infusing more industry-specific knowledge. Customers are focused on realizing tangible business outcomes with AI.Google Cloud's Ecosystem and Partner Ecosystem (02:02)Google Cloud is the fastest-growing company in the Cloud Wars, achieving $12 billion in revenue last quarter. A sharp focus on business outcomes, paired with a robust ecosystem of expertise, is credited for this success. Renner discusses Google Cloud's partner ecosystem development under Kevin Ichhpurani, president, global partner ecosystem. Growth across the partner ecosystem, including SIs, ISVs, and boutique functional experts, remains a key driver of momentum.Customer Success and Innovation at Google Cloud Next (03:46)Innovation and customer success were on full display at Google Cloud Next in Las Vegas, with major product launches and enthusiastic customer testimonials. Marking his two-year anniversary, Renner reflects on how AI has accelerated customer success' evolution. The volume of customer stories and advocacy is proof of exceptionally high engagement. Many customers have already moved beyond experimentation into full production.Customer Mindset and Business Outcomes (06:09)Today's customers are reimagining what's possible through AI, marking a profound shift in mindset. Renner talks about the eagerness and commitment of Google's engineering and consulting teams to work side-by-side with customers. As customers become more sophisticated, they are increasingly focused on identifying business impact and making strategic investments. A collaborative and creative problem-solving approach is central to how Google Cloud delivers value.Budget Shifts and Business Engagement (07:37)AI adoption is driving a major shift in spending away from traditional IT control toward broader enterprise engagement. Renner notes that while business engagement has always been important, AI has accelerated the breakdown of old barriers across industries. Teams are approaching go-to-market strategies more mindfully. Verticalization and deep industry focus have become essential in driving business outcomes.Ecosystem Growth and Customer Demand (11:17)Google Cloud's ecosystem continues to expand, with ISVs and SIs playing an increasingly critical role. Renner points to partnerships with Salesforce, ServiceNow, and others as key to expanding Google Cloud's reach, building credibility, and scaling to meet growing customer demand. The expansion of regional SIs is equally important, ensuring global customer needs are met effectively.Google Cloud's Growth and Market Position (13:23)Renner attributes Google Cloud's leadership as the fastest-growing company in the Cloud Wars to its focus on customer business outcomes. This strategy has fueled new customer acquisition, a growing sales backlog, and sustained high demand. AI is transforming how Google Cloud engages with customers, driving growth across every product line and deepening its market position.Leadership and Team Enabling (15:35)Under the leadership of CEO Thomas Kurian, Google Cloud has made extraordinary strides in customer success and growth. Renner praises Kurian's passion, energy, and clarity of vision. A major focus remains on providing field teams with the right assets, tools, and alignment to be successful. The addition of new talent to oversee the customer experience journey, reflects Google Cloud's commitment to strengthening its leadership bench.Final Thoughts and Future Plans (18:32)Renner shares his appreciation for the opportunity to reflect on Google Cloud's strategic focus and achievements. The interview closes with a reaffirmation of the AI revolution's significance and Google Cloud's central role in shaping the future of business innovation. The outlook is positive.Google Cloud's central role in shaping the future of business innovation. The outlook is positive. This episode is sponsored by Google Cloud.---The content displayed on the platform is the intellectual property of Acceleration Economy. You may reuse, republish, or reprint such content with attribution: Content by cloudwars.comAll information posted is informational purposes. Should you decide to act upon any information on this website, you do so at your own risk. While the information on this platform has been verified to the best of our abilities, we cannot guarantee that there are no mistakes or errors.We reserve the right to change this policy at any given time.  

Erwan Menard is the director of product management for Google Cloud's Cloud AI division, where he helps lead innovation at the intersection of AI agents, enterprise systems, and business outcomes. In part two of our series, Google Cloud and the AI Revolution, Erwan joins Bob Evans to discuss how governance, intentionality, and rapid scaling are critical to AI agent success, share insights on Google Cloud's Agentspace and Agent Builder tools, and explore how multi-agent collaboration is reshaping the future of enterprise technology.Purpose Driven AI InnovationThe Big Themes:Intentionality Drives Impact: Menard advises organizations not to jump into AI agent development for novelty's sake, but to begin with a clearly defined problem and desired business outcome. However, once value is proven, it's crucial to scale intentionally. He shares the example of a customer rolling out 40,000 licenses of Agentspace only after deeply considering what kind of first experience they wanted their employees to have.Organizational Culture Shapes AI Adoption: There's no universal model for who should “own” AI governance. It depends on the company's culture. Some companies may create centralized AI governance teams; others may embed responsibilities within existing business units or IT teams. The key is cultural acknowledgment: governance must be understood as a shared responsibility, not just an operational afterthought.Anchor in Business Value: With so many tools, models, and frameworks emerging, it's easy for companies to fall into what he calls “optionality evaluation.” That is, spending so much time chasing the latest innovations that they lose sight of why they started exploring AI in the first place. Instead, he urges leaders to ask: What are we trying to improve? Whether it's speeding up contract workflows, freeing up data scientists from routine tasks, or enhancing customer service, the goal should be clear.The Big Quote: "If you find yourself in a constant evaluation loop for the new shiny object, maybe it's worth taking a pause and saying, 'Why are we doing this again?'"

Want a quick estimate of how much your business is worth? With our free valuation calculator, answer a few questions about your business and you'll get an immediate estimate of the value of your business. You might be surprised by how much you can get for it: https://flippa.com/exit -- In this episode of The Exit: Derek Collison, founder and CEO of Senadia and previously AppSera and creator of Cloud Foundry, explores his storied career in tech, entrepreneurship, and building platforms that shaped modern cloud computing. From starting with a Commodore 64 at age 12 to working at Google, VMware, and founding AppSera—Derek shares how he turned distributed systems challenges into billion-dollar ideas. He unpacks the high-speed growth, fundraising challenges, and exit to Ericsson, before launching his latest venture, Senadia, built on the NATS open-source tech now downloaded over 300 million times. Derek opens up about: Getting into tech as a teenager in the 1980s Building Cloud Foundry at VMware after a call from Paul Maritz Starting AppSera and scaling to 150 employees in 12 months Navigating an acquisition by Ericsson amidst Kubernetes disruption How to survive the VC game: from seed to Series B His playbook for product-led platform companies and why most fail The emotional toll, decision-making pressure, and rewards of being a founder Why introverts need to lean in and chase serendipity How Senadia is powering AI at the edge, connected cars, and Industry 4.0 "Be humble, lean in, and don't delay hard decisions" — Derek's advice rings true for every founder navigating the speed and pressure of today's tech ecosystem -- Derek Collison is a 30 year industry veteran, entrepreneur, and pioneer in secure and large-scale distributed systems and cloud computing. He helped change the way financial, transportation, and logistics systems fundamentally worked while spending over a decade at TIBCO, designing systems that still power much of those industries today. During his time at VMWare, Derek designed and architected CloudFoundry, the first open-source enterprise PaaS. He then founded Apcera, a company designed to drive security and policy into easy to use platform technologies. After the successful sale of Apcera to Ericsson, Derek took the messaging technology he designed to power the CloudFoundry and Apcera systems, NATS.io, and created Synadia. Synadia is pioneering secure and global messaging as a digital utility to help drive security and powerful communication and collaboration into IoT, edge, and cloud computing systems. Derek on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derekcollison/ Website: https://www.synadia.com/ -- The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You'll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

Building a great product isn't enough; you need to find your place in the right ecosystem.This week on Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Dr. Alejandro Canonero, a 35-year technology veteran, PhD, and author, to dive deep into the power of ecosystems and why companies fail when they ignore them. With leadership experience at AWS, Google, Oracle, and HP, Alejandro has seen firsthand how tech giants build and scale through partnerships and what happens when they don't.- Why AWS struggled to gain enterprise traction before investing in partners- The biggest mistake SaaS and AI companies make when entering the market- How understanding ecosystem battlegrounds gives companies a competitive edge- Why hyperscalers like AWS, Google, and Microsoft dominate cloud partnerships and what it means for vendors- The operational mistakes that separate high-performing partner programs from failing onesAlejandro also shares surprising lessons from Ironman training and how endurance sports offer powerful parallels to building long-term channel success.If you want a masterclass on ecosystem strategy, go-to-market alignment, and the future of partnerships, this episode is packed with insights you won't want to miss!Connect with Dr. Alejandro: https://www.linkedin.com/in/canonero/_________________________Learn more about Channext

Salesforce's Excitement for 2025 and the Role of Agents (01:04)Benioff shares his enthusiasm for the current technological moment. He explains that agents will help businesses operate at lower costs and improve key performance indicators (KPIs). Agents are being rapidly adopted, with Salesforce deploying its agent platform at scale and significantly reducing the workload on human support agents. "We are in an opportunity, I think, for all of our customers, to connect with their customers in this incredible new way that we call agentics or agents . . . we're witnessing something I think, that we've only seen in the movies."Salesforce's Market Position and Digital Labor (02:35)Salesforce is the second largest software company in the world, with a $38 billion market cap and $12.9 billion in cash flow. "I think we're one of the first enterprise software companies to deliver an agentic platform at scale with the level of performance and capability that everybody wants." Its platform, Customer 360, integrates various products, creating a comprehensive solution. It's well-positioned to address the issue of digital labor, which has the potential to transform businesses. Benioff says there's a multi-trillion-dollar total addressable market (TAM) for digital labor.The Importance of Data and AI in Salesforce's Strategy (10:30)Benioff outlines three core initiatives at Salesforce over the past 24 months: integrating acquired apps into the core platform, developing a high-performing data cloud, and enhancing the agentic layer. He discusses the importance of a unified data model and the integration of the data cloud with Salesforce's apps. AI and machine learning have made many advancements in recent years and while AI is not yet perfect, it has significantly improved over the past decade.Salesforce's Core Values and Commitment to Partnership (15:29)Salesforce's core values — trust, customer success, innovation, equality, and sustainability — have remained unchanged for 25 years. As Salesforce moves into new technological frontiers, including AI, Benioff stresses the importance of transparency, communication, and collaboration. "We are moving into a new world together, and we're going to be better together." He reaffirms Salesforce's dedication to working closely with customers and welcomes them into the future of innovation and technology.The Role of Agents in Enhancing Human Potential (17:11)Benioff discusses the potential of agents to enhance human capabilities, citing examples from Disney and Gucci where AI has improved employee performance and customer satisfaction. "We also saw that in Gucci, for one of the call centers where we deployed this technology, revenue [rose] 35% because the agents were just making those employees just better." He touches upon the need for rebalancing roles within the company as AI takes over certain tasks, ensuring that employees are continuously skill-building and evolving.The Future of Agents and Applications (20:50)He addresses the misconception that traditional databases and applications will be entirely replaced by voice-driven AI interfaces, like those depicted in the movie Her. He explains that AI models are not data storage systems but intelligence engines that augment and extend existing capabilities. While AI is evolving rapidly, Benioff says that current enterprise systems still rely on databases, applications, and workflows. He clarifies that AI will complement these systems rather than replace them entirely.

AI's Role in Business Transformation (00:59)Bill McDermott notes a shift in CEOs from mere fascination with AI to AI-led business strategies. He sees ServiceNow's role in AI transformation as being that of a "control tower." AI has impacted several business areas including customer service, supply chains, employee onboarding, and risk mitigation. It's also a great tool for labor arbitrage. That's not to mention that AI agents can operate 24/7 without breaks, complementing human efforts.Agentic AI, A Holistic Solution (04:01)Agentic AI is on the rise and will serve customers, employees, and operations, taking over tasks computers handle more efficiently than humans. While current AI agents are often siloed within departments, ServiceNow's platform integrates these agents across the enterprise, offering a holistic solution. "So now you have the agents working together to accomplish something," McDermott says, "as opposed to just doing something for one function." The foundation for this integration lies in a unified data model and architecture.Customer Trust and Innovation (06:53)Trust is the ultimate human currency. Without it, McDermott says, there's no progress. Customers know they can trust ServiceNow and its technology. He mentions its investments in customer success programs, innovation accelerators, and strategic partnerships to drive business impact. Net new innovation must be delivered to customers, employees, and shareholders through both traditional and new consumption models.Partnerships and Integration (10:29)McDermott discusses ServiceNow's partnerships and the potential for a multi-cloud approach similar to the infrastructure side. He's confident in the market's ability to accommodate multiple players and points to expanded collaborations with Cognizant, NVIDIA, and others. He talks about ServiceNow's integration with hyper-scalers including Microsoft, AWS, and Google Cloud, showcasing the benefits of a comprehensive platform for business processes. "We're open, and we integrate with everybody."Balancing Trust and Innovation (14:29)Balancing trust and innovation in the AI era is a challenge as ServiceNow becomes increasingly embedded in customers' operations. McDermott emphasizes the value of trusted partnerships and selective collaboration to sustain customer trust. He highlights ServiceNow's partnership with NVIDIA and its recognition in the American Opportunity Index, which measures employee prosperity post-employment.The Future of Work and AI (16:34)In the future, AI will revolutionize work by reducing monotonous tasks and freeing up time for innovation. ServiceNow is part of creating that future, already using AI to simplify complex workflows, saving employees significant time and allowing them to focus on higher-value tasks. "This is a renaissance moment for the workers. They get to get rid of the soul-crushing work that they've never wanted to do anyway." Reskilling the workforce will be necessary for this revolution and is being done through initiatives like ServiceNow University and the AI Institute.

Top 10 CEO Outlook 2025 series. Krishna shared with Cloud Wars Founder Bob Evans the company's optimistic outlook for 2025 amid geopolitical and economic uncertainties. They also discuss IBM's shift towards software, its AWS and Palo Alto Network partnerships, and how Red Hat has flourished since joining IBM.HighlightsIBM's Optimistic Outlook (01:18)Despite current geopolitical and economic uncertainties, Krishna remains optimistic about technology's role, especially in terms of automation and AI, in driving business transformations. He notes there's an increased appetite for technology globally, including in Europe, as a response to these uncertainties. Technology is a way to deliver better services at lower costs, which makes it an exciting time for the technology business.Focus on Delighting Clients (03:41)IBM exists to serve clients, focusing on delighting them through technology deployment and support. Krishna discusses the importance of taking risks to innovate and the need to cut bureaucracy and unnecessary processes. He emphasizes that partnerships should be win-win scenarios. "Can we expand the pie in which case we both win because the client is happier?"IBM's Shift to Software and Impact on Clients (06:36)There's been a significant shift in IBM's revenue mix, with software now accounting for almost half of IBM's revenue. Krishna explains that software's flexibility allows for incremental improvements, unlike hardware, which often require more disruptive changes. IBM focuses on software and providing unique value to clients in automation, hybrid cloud, data, and AI.Enterprise Adoption of Large Language Models (10:05)Krishna talks about the current state of enterprise understanding of large language models, or LLMs: "If I look at the enterprise understanding of large language models and what we can do for them, it's like we're in the first innings of a baseball game." Krishna advises enterprises to move forward in three steps: First, start with low-risk applications like customer experience functions such as answering service calls, as well as internal enterprise functions. Second, move to a little more risky but not totally risky use cases, like accounts receivable, procurement, and supply chain. Then, step three is applying LLMs to things like oncology and diagnosis in healthcare -- vertical-industry-specific functions. The excitement is more on step three, but customers should initially focus on the first two, where there's a lot of value.Leveraging Automation to Drive Innovation (15:04)All enterprises understand the importance of running lean and using productivity gains to focus resources on high-value activities. Krishna shares that IBM has freed up resources by automating tasks, allowing for more R&D to develop innovative products. He notes that overall employment has increased, but more focus is on high-value activities that enhance growth rates.Red Hat's Growth and Role in Hybrid Cloud (16:59)Red Hat has had impressive growth since joining IBM. Krishna says it has more than doubled its revenue since joining IBM in 2019, now exceeding $6 billion. He explains that Red Hat is the leading hybrid cloud platform, allowing for flexibility in deploying workloads across data centers and cloud environments.R&D as a Growth Engine (21:40)R&D should focus on innovation and quickly bringing those innovations to clients. R&D is about identifying unmet needs. "Henry Ford was asked like, how did you think of the Model T? And his answer was 'Look, if I had surveyed my customers, they would have said they wanted a stronger horse or a longer whip, but the automobile was the right answer.' Krishna mentions that quantum computing is a key area of focus for IBM in terms of research and development.The Benefits of Strategic Partnerships (24:56)IBM's strategic partnerships impact client value and IBM's growth. Krishna notes that half of IBM's consulting team's revenue now comes from these partnerships. He provides the example of IBM helping Delta Airlines move to AWS, while integrating Red Hat and other tools to enhance the client's experience. Krishna talks about a new partnership with security software provider Palo Alto Networks that's expected to generate significant pipeline for IBM's consulting team.Final Thoughts and Future Outlook (27:56)Krishna encourages clients to assign technology the same importance as other critical functions like finance and marketing. "Do you give tech the same importance that you give your CFO?" He reiterates the importance of technology and the need for businesses to adapt to its rapid pace of change. Evans closes by observing that in 2025, there's potential for the Cloud Wars Top 10 companies to exceed $10 trillion in combined market cap.

Generative AI and Business Transformation (00:57)Klein discusses the increasing adoption of GenAI among SAP's customers. They see it as a way to improve productivity and business processes. Additionally, SAP software now integrates human language capabilities, enhancing user experience and efficiency. Customers' focus for 2025 and beyond is using GenAI and SAP Business AI to solve complex business challenges and orchestrate end-to-end business processes.Technology Investments and Business Outcomes (02:37)Among customers, there's been a shift from reconciling past actions to optimizing future planning and growth opportunities. "Now we are talking about business model transformation but also, how can agentic AI and Joule . . . help me to orchestrate my new business model." He explains how SAP's offerings help customers bring all business elements to the table for comprehensive transformation.AI's Tangible Benefits (04:10)Proving the outcomes of AI investments is critical in times of financial pressure. SAP's Business AI offerings are designed to demonstrate tangible business benefits, such as improving the quote-to-cash process. "We make sure that you can quote more intelligent, that you can sell more, that you can price more effectively, and that you can run all the fulfillment processes in the back end way more productive. Then the customers [says], 'Absolutely, I'm all in for buying more AI units from SAP'."End-to-End Processes and Customer-Centric Approach (06:39)Klein discusses the cultural shift towards end-to-end processes that meet customer needs and explains how SAP's AI Foundation and tools are agnostic to various large language models. SAP's suite of offerings provides a unified approach, avoiding the silos created by working with multiple tech companies.The Rise of Agents (08:24)Agents are ascendant and playing a significant role in driving better business outcomes. Klein provides a concrete example of how agents will collaborate in demand, supply chain, and procurement processes. He explains how agents collaborate, to "[make] sure the customer gets an extremely valuable output end to end." Orchestration and Collaboration of Agents (10:59)Klein describes how SAP's generative AI assistant, Joule, can help orchestrate agents across different end-to-end processes. "Joule can help you to predict demand with our sales agent and Joule orchestrates to work with the supply chain agents on the inventory side, and then Joule helps, you know, to orchestrate the work, you know, with the procurement agent."SAP's Growth and Future Vision (12:44)SAP has had significant growth in applications, outpacing competitors. Klein attributes this to SAP's suite approach, which provides a comprehensive solution for core business processes. He talks about the importance of integration and extensibility, allowing customers to choose the best solutions for their needs.Under Klein's leadership, SAP has transformed into a cloud and AI-focused company. Klein discusses SAP's vision as an end-to-end solution provider, delivering continuous innovation and enabling holistic business transformation. He explains, "The perception is yes, SAP is really delivering end-to-end solutions to me, but they [are] also helping me because they have a ton of industry knowledge, they have a ton of business process knowledge, and they are by far more than only a technology partner, they are also helping me with RISE and GROW, a kind of a methodology on how to transform my business."SAP Management Team and Final Thoughts (19:56)SAP has a strong management team, including new executives from Microsoft and other top companies. Klein expresses confidence in SAP's ability to continue delivering value to customers and partners. The conversation concludes with his encouraging everyone to embrace the new year with enthusiasm in particular for the opportunities of agentic AI and Joule to drive business outcomes.

 Customer Mindset and Priorities in 2025 (01:47)The current climate of geopolitical and economic uncertainty is driving the need for speed and agility when delivering value to customers. Google Cloud customer projects that do just that include improving logistics at UPS, enhancing search functionality, and boosting customer service at Hanesbrands and Macy's. "Uncertainty means the great CEOs want action," Kurian says. "You control the controllable, and you do that by improving speed in your organization." Kurian also discusses significant AI integrations, such as Google Cloud's collaboration with Samsung on its phones and Snap's in-app coach, which are shaping the future of customer interaction.Cloud and AI as a Continuum (04:08)Kurian explains that cloud services actually simplify the deployment and management of AI because they provide models and accelerators as services, reducing the complexity of managing AI systems. In turn, AI helps to streamline cloud services by enabling faster and more efficient application development. Customer examples of how cloud and AI work together to deliver innovative offerings can be found in AI-driven risk calculations at Hiscox, tailored advertising for Puma and Radisson, and content discovery for Warner Brothers Discovery.AI's Impact on Business and Productivity (07:48)AI is no longer confined to IT departments but is now influencing a wide range of business functions. It's improving productivity by streamlining operations, such as facilitating live patient handoffs at hospitals. "Allowing the nurses to do live handoff to another nurse means more time at the bedside. It means more productivity."AI is also enhancing product development by enabling customers to articulate complex needs, which AI can then translate into tailored recommendations. Furthermore, AI's role in call center automation is improving efficiency by handling high volumes of customer inquiries and providing superior service.Customer Service and AI Integration (13:01)Google Cloud's approach to integrating AI with customer service helps businesses create more cohesive and efficient customer experiences by improving reach, understanding, and interactions across multiple channels. Kurian discusses innovations such as the self-service retail search at InterContinental Hotels and digital concierge services for Orange. AI agents manage customer queries, upsell products, and improve service efficiency in call centers.Cost Optimization and Efficiency in AI (15:52)There are several ways in which Google Cloud is addressing the challenges of AI tool affordability. Kurian outlines initiatives aimed at improving the efficiency of AI, such as new software capabilities and optimizations to AI models. In the last six months, Google Cloud has significantly reduced costs, with model costs dropping by more than 10 times. Additionally, improvements in latency and the reduction of AI response iterations are also helping to make AI more efficient and cost-effective.Customer Acknowledgment (18:46)In closing, Kurian expresses his gratitude to Google Cloud's customers, partners, and all those who have supported the company's journey. "To every customer, every partner, everyone who gave us a shot, you were the reason that all of our people worked so hard. Thank you."

AI Adoption and Business ValueEschenbach explains that there's been a shift from experimental AI phases to practical implementation. The shift means that "customers are going to look to go to trusted partners, partners they have an existing relationship with, partners that they know have a highly curated set of data." Workday has such a curated data set. Further, as part of the shift, there's now a need for ROI and total cost of ownership analysis in AI investments.CEO Priorities for 2025 AI, enterprise consolidation, and talent are Eschenbach's key priorities for 2025. When it comes to talent, he says CEOs and other leaders need to think about how "that talent is going to ultimately peacefully coexist with AI and things like agents in the future." He also discusses Workday's AI mindset — it's not just about delivering it to customers but also successfully integrating AI internally — along with AI's role in driving productivity. Customers are looking to do "more with less." They want to consolidate point solutions onto more comprehensive platforms like Workday.AI Deployment and Talent Integration CEOs should foster an AI-first culture. Eschenbach provides examples of AI use cases, such as job description automation and recruiter agents, showcasing the tangible ROI and productivity gains in HR and finance. Integrating AI with existing talent helps drive business benefits.Competitive Advantages and Market Position Workday's success stems from its technology, large client base, and on-time delivery. "Our customers have greater than a 95% on-time delivery of the Workday platform and on budget," Eschenbach points out "We know how to deploy this at scale across the biggest companies in the world, which gives us a leg up versus our competition, who, at times, have very complex data sets and environments and can't implement at the speed and pace and at the dollar value that a Workday can." Other Workday attributes include its platform's open architecture, as well as its strong company culture and high levels of employee engagement.Partner Growth and International Expansion Eschenbach reports significant growth in the partner community and its impact on business. "Historically, we've had really good partners . . . 10% of our new business in New ACV [annual contract value] last quarter came from our partners. Our partners are having a meaningful impact on our business. We have grown our partner community by five times in 18 months." He speaks about the focus on selling through hyperscalers and forming strategic partnerships, as well as the potential in international markets and continued investments in new sectors, such as the U.S. federal market.Data Set and AI Partnerships "We're opening up the aperture," Escenbach says, explaining how Workday is tackling AI. "We're thinking about AI in multiple ways." Curated data is essential for AI tools. Eschenbach discusses the Workday platform's integration with Slack and Microsoft to enable agent-to-agent communication, underscoring that data is important in powering AI tools and delivering customer benefits.Innovation and External ConcernsIn the face of the potential impact of global macro situations, there's a need to stay focused on innovation."We focus on innovation, and we focus on each other here inside the building and our workmates, and we continue to support our partner ecosystem on a global basis. So while there are some concerns out there, if you focus too much on them, it's a distraction."

HighlightsCustomer Boldness (00:21)In previous keynotes, Catz has encouraged customers to be more bold – and customers are responding to that. Oracle's cloud business is growing at a rate of 50% a year. “More and more of our customers are willing to not only jump in with one foot but their entire bodies because they're getting more comfortable and they're also seeing that competition is moving,” Catz says.“Transformation and transforming yourself and modernizing yourself, that is not a destination; it's a constant journey.” Businesses are recognizing that they become more adaptable to meet customer expectations when they embrace these new technologies.Multi-Cloud Agreements (04:25)Multi-cloud agreements with Microsoft, Google Cloud, and AWS kicked off in 2024. “We have always believed that the customer should get to choose what they want to use and what environment they want to run in and how to really advance their agenda,” Catz expresses. Oracle doesn't believe in building walls or trapping customers; being open to this idea is central to Oracle's success. Because Oracle Cloud has different capabilities, the company has been able to collaborate with other providers to make their offerings work together to best meet customer needs.Healthcare Industry Offerings (08:55)Oracle has put extra energy into its industry suites, particularly for the healthcare industry. It aims to be able to handle everything from clinical trials to inventory to nursing schedules and more. At a recent health summit, Oracle launched new AI-powered capabilities for healthcare. While the company competes in several industries, Oracle acquired Cerner because “we knew that we needed to bring healthcare into the 21st century.”Larry Ellison previously shared that “we can't do it alone.” This means partnering with customers and being open to partner with other companies to apply their capabilities to ensure a quality customer experience is being delivered for patients, doctors, administrators, and others in the healthcare industry. “Do more, spend less doing it – that's our job, to give them that ability,” Catz summarizes.Revenue Goals (17:06)At its financial analyst meeting last fall, Oracle released its vision for $100 billion in revenue a few years out. Catz describes what that will look like within Oracle and how customers will contribute to the company achieving those figures. “We're telling you now, every year is going to be bigger and accelerating more,” Catz says. “The way that that curve works – it's almost unstoppable once it starts.”Cloud Data Centers (22:30)Oracle has been developing cloud data centers that are “small enough to go on a ship” as well as what Ellison has called the world's largest data centers, Evans notes. This will be important to Oracle customers in the coming years and beyond because “it gives them flexibility,” Catz explains. “We can start at any size and expand as they need it.”Ellison and New Products (24:59)2024 was a busy year for Ellison and 2025 will continue in the same manner. “This fellow does not rest,” Catz says. The Oracle team loves the new capabilities and new product lines that they've been rolling out to customers that there are no signs of slowing down.

The Future of AI and Data in 2025:  There's a lot of excitement and prototyping around AI. "People are excited that they can ask questions and get real answers instead of getting the proverbial 10 blue links. I think people see the promise of things like that. How do you make that work at scale? How do you make that work in a reliable way, and how do you make it work in a way that's not expensive?" Ramaswamy shares a recent experience in India, describing the cost-consciousness of customers and the focus on making data accessible and valuable.Shifting Priorities for Snowflake Customers:  What do customers want? Ramaswamy identifies goals including empowering business users with data faster and unlocking the value of unstructured information. In response, Snowflake is helping customers access and utilize historical information and build hybrid systems. He notes that SQL enables easier data transformations and extractions.Cultural Change and AI Adoption: Cultural change is required for companies to handle AI. Even within Snowflake, adopting AI has been a challenging process. Snowflake's engineering and sales teams are beginning to use AI tools like Copilot and Cortex, but there's a need for ongoing practice to fully integrate AI into daily operations. The Promise of AI and Data Platforms: AI has the potential to free up significant time for employees, allowing them to focus on higher-value tasks. Snowflake aspires to make data platforms simple and accessible, allowing users to perform complex tasks with ease. Its consumption model has several benefits and aligns it with business goals of making more money or spending less. Companies like Siemens are using chatbots to improve efficiency and access to information.Competition and Innovation in the Data Market: Competition, Ramaswamy says, drives innovation and improves products. It only strengthens Snowflake, which stands apart due to its unified platform, tight integration, and ease of use. "If you create a chatbot with Snowflake, it will automatically obey all of the access control rules that you have set up. It will automatically obey all of the data masking that your administrator has set up." Ramaswamy discusses the challenges of balancing innovation with maintaining simplicity and efficiency in Snowflake's product offerings.Mega Trends and Challenges for Snowflake: Ramaswamy sees two mega trends for 2025: the rise of interoperable data formats and the acceleration of AI. Snowflake is well-positioned to take advantage of these trends through its end-to-end offerings and data engineering capabilities. However, there are challenges to maintaining data quality and speed while innovating rapidly. AI tools like agents must drive real utility and value for customers.Data Literacy Initiative: One Million Minds Plus One: Snowflake has a new initiative aimed at improving data literacy. Data can be difficult to interpret, and the right skills are necessary to do so. Snowflake is spearheading an ambitious program to educate over a million people in data literacy, free of charge. The initiative includes teaching concepts like data engineering, data analytics, and using BI tools and notebooks for interactive analysis.Excitement for 2025: Sridhar expresses excitement about the potential for AI and data to drive real business transformations in 2025. Snowflake will continue to play a vital role in helping customers become truly data-driven organizations. Navigating growth, competition, and innovation while maintaining simplicity and value for customers is key.

Episode 47 | 2024 Tech Insights & 2025 StrategiesThe Big Themes:Trends in Technology Implementation Success Rates: Bonnie shares insights from 742 enterprise software implementation customer reviews. Average satisfaction for implementation processes scored 3.8 out of 5, while partners involved in these projects received a higher rating of 4.7. Projects were completed on time 72% of the time, though 25% faced delays. Budget compliance was slightly better, with 76% staying on budget. Delays often result from incomplete scoping or unforeseen change orders during the discovery phase.Lessons Learned for 2025 Enterprise Projects: Reflecting on 2024, Bonnie offers three lessons for future enterprise projects. First, businesses should prioritize selecting the right partner and involve them early. Second, companies should account for unforeseen delays and cost overruns by padding budgets and timelines by at least 25%. Finally, projects are increasingly complex; ensuring collaboration between vendors, partners, and internal teams is vital.Change Management Tailored to the Audience Drives Adoption: Modern change management extends beyond traditional training and rollout strategies. Effective change management involves clear communication, peer influence, and user-friendly training materials. In 2025, organizations must consider their workforce demographics and preferences — offering bite-sized, engaging content (e.g., TikTok-style videos) and gamified elements to ensure adoption.The Big Quote: “The most successful projects were ones that had the blueprint of success that was clear and . . . a clear set of business requirements, policies, and processes that were in place prior to starting the project itself."

HighlightsExpansions Through Acquisitions (01:32)SignUp Software has been expanding its product portfolio, moving from a focus on the office of the CFO more broadly into the operations world. Through acquisitions, its product suite has evolved. In December 2023, SignUp Software acquired Axtension, a Netherlands-based company. It has been working with Axtension on emphasizing the “I” in ISV (independent software vendor).One of the six products involved an overlap with ExFlow AP. This led the team to taking the best of IP (invoice processing) and moving it into ExFlow to build out an offering for AP automation. The other five products are targeted toward manufacturing and project-based businesses. “They fill great gaps with the Microsoft platform toward other ERP systems as well, so we're really thrilled to present this,” Hedin says.Easy Integration for Microsoft Users (06:20)With these offerings, it becomes easier for customers to manage this integration within their ERP environments, especially for Microsoft users. Bigger, more complex Microsoft users often use three to five different ISVs, Hedin notes. Now, the company's offering enables customers to use one solution to integrate Axtension and SignUp Software.Autonomous Finance (10:05)SignUp has been working on low-touch, autonomous finance for a while. It's been set up with strict parameters. The system helps automate financial processes, such as processing invoices from suppliers. Gradually, the level of automation will increase as the system is used, reducing the need for hands-on processing.Community Summit North America (13:13)SignUp Software will be at Community Summit North America, which takes place on October 13-17 in San Antonio, Texas. “I think it's the greatest event when we get the combination of Microsoft and customers, partners and product suppliers,” Hedin says. He encourages attendees to “mix and mingle across those borders…and have fun.”Attendees can find Hedin and the SignUp Software team at Booth #1133. They are looking forward to chatting about the latest innovations from SignUp Software — including AI, e-invoicing, and more — and getting input from the customers.

HighlightsThe Significance of E-Invoicing for Modern Business (00:50)Hedin describes e-invoicing as an evolution toward an easier, more standardized way to exchange information. It can include all the documents needed during the procure-to-pay process.Electronic invoicing differs from traditional digital invoicing. E-invoicing started with a point-to-point connection. With e-invoicing, everything comes pre-validated because the invoice has to comply with certain formats, standards, and machines, such as ERP systems.Continuous Transaction Controls (03:50)Hedin provides a breakdown of the shift toward continuous transaction controls (CTC) and its benefits. CTC involves invoice data being transmitted to tax authorities in real time. He notes that governments getting more tax money is the biggest benefit; this is a main driving force behind the trend toward CTC. “It's a fantastic driving force that will not stop this steam train that started rolling,” Hedin says.This also introduces the business-to-government flow. Different countries can also have different country conditions. For instance, in some countries, before sending invoices, it has to be approved. Navarro acknowledges that this is an ongoing, evolving process.E-Invoicing Compliance Mandates (07:57)Hedin and Navarro share a few pieces of advice for how businesses can ensure they comply with e-invoicing mandates:Where is your business based and running? Organizations must have a very clear map this. Larger companies may have different subsidiaries with different legal backgrounds; business leaders must be aware of all of them.Where are you sending the invoice? There may be additional requirements to comply with depending on where the invoice is being sent.Find a partner that knows the legal frameworks of all the countries you work with. It's vital to stay up-to-date with the mandates in the countries of your customers and partners.While there may be challenges and growing pains with this, it will be helpful in the long run.Looking Ahead (15:36)Currently, there are a little over 50 countries that have government mandates. The expectation is that it will be well over 100 countries in five years from now. This is going fast and all the governments will want to jump on this bandwagon, Hedin notes.Navarro suggests that one day, “the tax office will be just another business party.” While businesses will have to invoice customers and inform their tax authority, in the end, it will save time with tax return processes. “Take the tax authority as a business party, and the CTC is going to help in that direction.”

HighlightsCreating Opportunities for the CFO (01:50)The foundation for the CFO role is to keep customer costs under control and be compliant. With the emergence of copilot technology, it has created new opportunities for business; not only impacting tech roles but finance roles as well. It has become a great tool for making financial processes autonomous and reaching the first three Cs faster and more efficiently. For instance, it can make suggestions to improve workflows. Copilots can also perform actions based on data to create purchase orders or help with elements of ERP systems.Strategic Decision Making (04:45)CFOs and financial leaders can use copilots to make more informed, strategic decisions. With processes generating a variety of traces with transactions, CFOs can use copilots to consolidate that data. SignUp Software provides a dashboard for financial processes. Copilot can be applied to gain greater financial analytics; it can identify a problem efficiently, enabling users to find the root problem and resolve it faster.AI-Driven Financial Management (06:25)Financial processes can be time-consuming, such as the invoice approvals process. “We can help the approver with the most common ways that would be coded and just showing them with a little light bulb,” Hedin describes. “It's an advanced algorithm…but it's giving you advice on how you could do that and what has worked in the history, and also giving you the probability that the AI algorithm is actually right.” While there may be parts of AI that bundle inside the processes and work behind the scenes, copilot can be applied to specific processes to assist users.Investing to Innovate (08:30)SignUp Software has a full team focusing specifically on investing in AI to further innovations. This team has built a bot for support flows to help their customers. Users can ask the bot questions as well as use it for action-based scenarios, such as assistance with coding invoices and automating processes.

Highlights2025 Expectations (02:07)Ashe has had the opportunity to meet with and hear from customers about the challenges they're facing so SignUp can determine the kind of support customers need. A common theme that he has noticed is around "measuring what matters and trying to see how they can move to a predictive model because there's a lot of uncertainty." When business leaders are looking at solutions like ExFlow by SignUp, Ashe explains that it's "something that when we get through our implementation, we feel like we've got a path for them to be able to help meet those goals and, hopefully, improve their relationships with their vendors and reduce some of those risks."ExFlow as an Enabler (05:30)ExFlow focuses on AP automation within Dynamics 365 on both F&O and BC. The office of the CFO is changing to be more strategic with investments, mitigating risks, and predicting potential opportunities. ExFlow takes the amount of time that an organization spends on invoicing, for instance, and compresses it to reduce potential errors and give time back to the business. It also helps organizations measure key elements so they can re-architect their business to be more efficient and plan more effectively. "I think that's where a lot of the real value comes from," Ashe says.Future of AI (08:10)AI will continue to have a huge impact, Ashe considers. For most organizations, AI will have a wider impact of a big-bang approach. "I think some organizations are prepared for that...People are going to slowly but surely get more used to just having an autonomous agent there to help them do their jobs."Previously, Hedin has discussed the premise of three horizons of AI that can be aligned with strategic decision-making and financial control. He elaborates on these horizons: The first horizon is having an immediate impact now, as it includes using copilots to optimize processes and models to become more efficient. The second horizon involves using AI to drive the setup of systems. The third horizon is more autonomous, allowing agents to manage reoccurring tasks, for example.Driving an AI-Strategic View into 2025 (14:46)"We're actually doing what we've always been doing," Hedin confirms. "We've been 100% a Microsoft-dedication ISV." He describes how SignUp Software builds on Microsoft's platform for industry-specific, horizontal solutions. "We need to be smart and use what they are doing and then build the last touch on top of that." This enables the company to build AI models that become better and better with each new generation.Although AI and its evolution is becoming faster and faster, as people are increasingly absorbing the technology, the learning curve still takes time. While AI technology is being adoption, it still requires knowledge to work through prompts, asking the right questions, and fine-tuning models. We need to be maybe one to two years patient before achieving the real autonomous level, Hedin explains, but there are a lot of efficient processes on the way.

HighlightsCurrent Challenges (00:48)Manny names capital allocation as a major challenge for the office of the CFO. They spend much time thinking about which technologies and industry solutions are best to invest in. They have to determine which investments take priority, such as investing in tech that benefits the company's back office versus their customers. Value creation is also a key consideration. “Our analysis on where do we invest those dollars has gotten a lot more granular and a lot more scrutiny around those decisions,” he says.“Many of the CFOs face the challenge of doing more with less when money has gotten a bit more expensive,” Hedin raises. Another challenge he notes is regulatory aspects. The three C's — cost, control, and compliance — need to be as efficient as possible. Determining how to leverage AI can be a challenge on the technology side.AI Impact (07:17)When building out large language models (LLMs) and algorithms, you have to ensure you have the right governance and controls internally on the data to get the desired outcome. This is vital when starting out leveraging new technologies to drive business decisions and efficiencies. While this can be daunting, “there's a lot of value to it,” Manny notes. Once it's tested and secure internally, the next phase of an AI journey is to look at it from a customer-facing perspective.Hedin shares customer examples of applying machine learning and AI. “In the financial process automation space, AI is definitely saving a lot of time already today for a lot of CFOs,” Hedin says.CFO AI Concerns and Second Half Mindset (11:30)Korakis says the biggest risk is that AI outputs don't necessarily align with the question an employee is seeking to answer. If a person thinks they're feeding the algorithm or LLM all the right data points but they're actually not, that's a big issue. His company is ensuring good data governance.Microsoft has made Copilot actionable for ISVs like Signup; since it's embedded in Finance and Operations as well as Business Central, there are actions that weren't available before, Hedin says. It's one thing to get intelligent responses, but when you can also start doing things such as generating a PO if one's missing, then you have an assistant that can do a lot more things for you. It's really exciting in terms of customer problems that can be solved.Korakis says in the first half of the year there's been a lot of disruption in the macro environment that followed supply chain challenges: rising interest rates that created caution and the need to be very thoughtful in using investment dollars has slowed things down a bit. “I see that starting to phase off” and CFOs are more willing to spend as the second half approaches.D365 Trends (15:09)Hedin says AI is one big, obvious trend with Dynamics 365. The other is new regulatory demands. If you send an invoice to a customer in Italy you need to go through their tax authorities now so they can track it. A US customer asked to start invoicing in Germany and needed guidance. It varies by country. That's a big challenge for the international companies as well – how to handle that in an efficient way.

ChatGPT finds its voice! Join Paul Roetzer and Mike Kaput as they discuss OpenAI's cautious rollout of voice features for ChatGPT, assess Chris Miller's insights on the emerging "cloud war," and examine Microsoft's latest AI-driven financial results. Our hosts also touch on Perplexity's publishers program, concerns behind California's AI Bill SB-1047 and Google's experimental version of Gemini 1.5 Pro in our rapid fire section. 00:04:02 — OpenAI Begins to Roll Out Voice Assistant Feature 00:19:26 — Global Chip/Cloud War 00:30:54 — Microsoft AI Stats and Usage 00:41:54 — Meta Earnings and AI 00:44:54 — Perplexity Introduces Publishers Program 00:48:35 — Concerns over California AI Bill SB-1047 00:53:35 — Writer's New Models Designed for Healthcare and Finance 00:58:14 — Google has released an experimental version of Gemini 1.5 Pro  01:03:47 — Microsoft and OpenAI This week's episode is brought to you by MAICON, our 5th annual Marketing AI Conference, happening in Cleveland, Sept. 10 - 12. Early bird pricing ends Friday. If you're thinking about registering, now is the best time. The code POD200 saves $200 on all pass types.  For more information on MAICON and to register for this year's conference, visit www.MAICON.ai.  Want to receive our videos faster? SUBSCRIBE to our channel! Visit our website: https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com Receive our weekly newsletter: https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/newsletter-subscription Looking for content and resources? Register for a free webinar: https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/resources#filter=.webinar Come to our next Marketing AI Conference: www.MAICON.ai Enroll in AI Academy for Marketers: https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/academy/home Join our community: Slack: https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/slack-group-form LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mktgai Twitter: https://twitter.com/MktgAi Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marketing.ai/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marketingAIinstitute

This week's Inside Scoop episode focuses on the earnings reports of major tech companies, including Tesla, Microsoft, Google, Meta, and ServiceNow. The conversation covers several themes, including the Cloud Wars, ad spending, and the future of AI. The key takeaways include the strong demand for cloud services from Microsoft and Google, the growth of AI unicorns as customers of Google Cloud, the positive ad revenue growth rates for Meta, Snapchat, and YouTube, and the challenges faced by Tesla in terms of revenue and margins. The discussion also touches on the potential impact of AI on productivity and job growth. Strong demand for cloud services from Microsoft and Google AI unicorns are major customers of Google Cloud Positive ad revenue growth rates for Meta, Snapchat, and YouTube Challenges faced by Tesla in terms of revenue and margins Potential impact of AI on productivity and job growth 00:00 Introduction to Earning Season and Tech Themes 08:10 Tesla's Revenue and Margin Challenges 13:47 Summary and Conclusion

Today on Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different, John Siefert and Bob Evans, the leaders and founders of Acceleration Economy, join in on the dialogue about DEI, AI, and what's in store for 2024. In addition, Bob Evans is also the host of the podcast called Cloud Wars Live, which Christopher has actually been a guest to a few times. They also have some great guests and amazing discussions over there, so go check them out after this episode. That said, let's dive in into this dialogue and prepare ourselves for the upcoming year. You're listening to Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different. We are the real dialogue podcast for people with a different mind. So get your mind in a different place, and hey ho, let's go. John Siefert on DEI in Tech Industry The discussion opens up on the topic of what they have learned in the past year. One thing they agreed on immediately is that people seem to have gotten a little dumber in 2023. Not like major blunders and the like, but more like small things that might seem inconsequential at first, and came back to bite them before the year's end. After this brief exchange, the topic shifts to the topic of morals and intellectual decay that they have observed in the tech industry, particularly in the implementation of DEI statutes and the like. John Siefert comments on DEI, more specifically how a well-intentioned thing on paper could become twisted and be exploited when applied in the current social landscape. An example in the discussion is that people are being told to hire a diverse staff not because of being inclusive, but rather to meet certain numbers and get benefits out of it. Given these circumstances seemingly are the norm nowadays, Christopher believes that the floodgates might open once this one particular case sets precedence. Bob Evans on how DEI is distorted in practice Bob adds to the topic of DEI and points out that the distortion often comes on how it was implemented, e.g. if it's already done in bad faith from people up in management for a few people's benefit, then the struggle to actually implement a proper setup will be that much harder. It has come to the point that Inclusion is being used to actually exclude people. The example that the group gives is that certain analysts believe that Asians are overrepresented in Tech. So rather than hiring someone that is very capable in the required position, companies end up not opting to hire such talent because the person is Asian, and therefore skew their DEI scores. They would end up hiring for diversity rather than skill, and this dilutes their products and services, causing overall loss in the long run. The point of DEI was to be fair and impartial, and yet in practice it just became a way to fulfill certain requirements for special perks, sometimes to the detriment of the company. To hear more about Bob Evans' and John Siefert's thoughts on DEI, AI, and what 2024 has in store for us, download and listen to the episode. Bio  John Siefert Chief Executive Officer, Acceleration Economy Co-founder John is a strategic thinker and business builder who loves to reimagine what is possible with smart people who are not afraid of the future. He has the ability to visualize voids in the market and then define a people, product, process, and position approach to creating a brand where that void once existed. Bob Evans Cloud Wars Founder, Acceleration Economy Co-founder, Analyst Bob analyzes business innovation, cloud technology, leadership, corporate strategy, and the global digital economy. He's the founder of Cloud Wars, was recruited by and worked for Larry Ellison, and shares his thinking via daily videos, daily articles, newsletters, and podcasts. Links Connect with John Siefert and Bob Evans! Acceleration Economy Network | Cloud Wars Live: Apple Podcast & Spotify Bob's LinkedIn | John's LinkedIn We hope you enjoyed this episode of Christopher Lochhead: Follow Your Different™!

From the BBC World Service: In the United Kingdom, Amazon and Google have called out Microsoft’s cloud computing practices, alleging that the tech giant is restricting customer options. The multi-billion dollar sector is being investigated by the U.K.’s anti-trust authority. Plus, Vladimir Putin heads to the Middle East. And, amid rising tensions with an oil-rich neighbor, how is Venezuela’s economy faring?

From the BBC World Service: In the United Kingdom, Amazon and Google have called out Microsoft’s cloud computing practices, alleging that the tech giant is restricting customer options. The multi-billion dollar sector is being investigated by the U.K.’s anti-trust authority. Plus, Vladimir Putin heads to the Middle East. And, amid rising tensions with an oil-rich neighbor, how is Venezuela’s economy faring?

CFO — From Scorekeeper to Tech-Driven VisionaryThe CFO's changing role: Technology, specifically AI, is transforming the role of the chief financial officer (CFO) from a traditional scorekeeper who deals with financial reporting and risk management, to a futurist who leads enterprise-wide transformations. It allows CFOs to shift their focus from routine, time-consuming tasks to more strategic and forward-thinking responsibilities.The essential contribution of human skills: Value creation is a collaborative effort between humans and technology. Skills needed included empathy, communication, and consensus-building. In a future where automation handles routine tasks, finance professionals must harness these human skills to co-create and work together.Value creation through intangible assets: CFOs must shift their focus from managing financial and tangible assets to managing intangible assets like human capital, intellectual capital, social and relationship capital, and natural capital. These intangible assets often account for a significant portion of a company's value. Finance professionals need to use proxies and metrics to understand and quantify their impact on business outcomes.The Big Quote: "It's not just about automation for the sake of reducing workload, but actually to look at technology as an enabler of . . . transformational changes in your business model. How do you serve your customers in new ways? How do you transform your business model with new products?"

Episode 47 | The Impact of the GenAI RevolutionThe Big Themes:The fast-paced nature of the GenAI Revolution: Because generative AI is being developed at a rapid pace, companies are able to accelerate their progress and pace of innovation. GenAI brings greater time to value, leading to quick adoption and impact.Reimagine business processes: Organizations must consider how they can harness generative AI to maintain a competitive edge. By optimizing this technology, business leaders can reimagine business processes to enable greater productivity and better outcomes.New expectations from customers and vendors: The capabilities coming from the GenAI Revolution are raising the expectations and experiences of customers as well as employees and vendors. As generative AI is developed to be more user-friendly, it can enhance recruitment and retention as well as open new possibilities for leveraging the technology. The Big Quote: "I am not a fan of fear, uncertainty, and doubt causing people anxiety of 'Oh you have to act now, or you're going to go out of business' or any of that kind of nonsense. However, this is one of those moments — this is a stop, drop, and roll moment — where I think people have to say, 'This is different. I need to understand how I can harness the power of what's happening these days.'"

We return this week with the Generative AI News (GAIN) rundown for September 8, 2023. Get ready for a lot of product announcements and some special segments on NVIDIA and how cloud providers are influencing the competitive landscape: NVIDIA Blowout revenue - GPU purchases are upstream of generative AI software sales. NVIDIA just announced a record quarter that was nearly double the previous quarter and quarterly record. It also forecasted a new revenue quarter for the next quarter. We put into context how this will flow down into cloud and software revenue. Cloud Wars and LLMs - What role do the cloud hyperscalers AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud play in the LLM competitive landscape? We look at the ecosystems and how cloud distribution could make or break an LLM's adoption. Generative AI winners and losers of the week. Commentary this week is led by Voicebot.ai's head writer, Eric Schwartz, and Bret Kinsella from Synthedia and Voicebot.

Episode 30 | Embracing the Future TodayNote: this episode contains explicit language.The Big ThemesDigital transformation reshapes industries: McDonald's has seen a significant shift in its sales, with 40% of its revenue coming from apps, delivery, or kiosk orders. This reflects the growing preference for digital ordering and the decline of in-person dining, prompting changes in restaurant layouts and services.AI's impact on creativity and innovation: AI is influencing various aspects of creativity, including the generation of creative content like movie scripts and even the creation of consumer products like Coca-Cola flavors. Christopher had a ChatGPT song in the style of Tom Waits and thought it did a great job.Technological advancements come in unexpected ways: There's a ripple effect with scientific research and exploration. Breakthroughs in one area can lead to advancements in various other fields. Researchers developed new technology, such as AI and deep-sea exploration equipment, as a result of their search for interstellar objects.The Big Quote: "If you look back in history, America's striving for the moon and space travel . . .[what] doesn't get talked about are all of the sub-breakthroughs that it led to, many of which form the basis of our industry: miniaturization, communication. All these things lead us to the internet and ultimately impact how we think about computing and a lot of other things."

What's Next With DataThe Big ThemesBusiness and IT convergence: IT and business operations are increasingly converging. CEOs and executives are recognizing the critical role of technology in achieving strategic business objectives. Juergen is seeing more and more "fusion teams" where IT and business come together.Generative AI impact: Generative AI is a transformative technology with significant implications across industries. Businesses are exploring how generative AI can enhance operations, decision-making, and create entirely new opportunities. Business that are still on-prem may see the advent of Gen AI as a pressing reason to move onto the cloud.Data management and data access: Effective data management is necessary for leveraging generative AI and other advanced technologies. SAP's Datasphere is an answer for remote data access and federation. The Big Quote: "No customer I'm aware of is successful with the central data lake. The efforts of bringing data together in their heterogeneous application landscape are just too big. And therefore, we firmly believe that data federation will be the prevailing method of accessing data."

Episode 21 | Thriving in ChangeThe Big Themes:The power of curiosity: Follow your curiosity. It may not be readily apparent how one activity will connect to another, but you might find unexpected synergy. Christian had no idea that his interest in high-tech lavender farming would actually help his consulting business, but it has deepened his knowledge of ag-tech.Fear has multiple aspects: Fear is ever-present, but can be overcome. Fear may obviate curiosity and keep you on the known path. One aspect of fear is being worried about what other people will think, but this shouldn't dictate your behavior.The courage to say no: To say yes to something, you have to say no to something else. Companies dislike saying no, but it's essential to have the courage to say no to what's not working.The Big Quote: “We should embrace our curiosity, we should satisfy our curiosity, we should feel free to explore, to experience, to learn, and to understand. And that is about people. That is about ideas, that is about practices, that is about processes, that is about businesses, it's about relationships, it's about love... we should embrace our curiosity and never ever, ever... be ashamed of it or... try and squelch it."

The Big Themes:The current era could be compared to 1995, when there was a lot of hype around the internet. John Doerr said then that the internet was underhyped. Today, AI might be underhyped.In business, there are two types of people, those who are the stewards of the status quo and those who work on the exponential different. The exponential different break the status quo and create new things. Now is the time for the exponential different: an example is Larry Ellison and Oracle.The traditional knowledge worker is in a lot of trouble due to AI, but there are new avenues available to them. They must become creators.The Big Quote: "If a robot can do your job, you need a new job . . . [as someone] who creates net new thinking, creates net new knowledge, who takes existing knowledge, stands on its shoulders, and bring[s] it forward."

Episode 30 | Customer Learnings on Software Implementation ProjectsThe Big Themes:Oracle: As it relates to Oracle, customers have expressed on ravenintel.com that a particular challenge was around user acceptance testing (UAT). Specifically, one customer noted to "ensure ample time is built in for UAT and assume there will be errors and fixes that need to be done." Another customer noted that "it's essential that all key stakeholders at the operations level are included."SAP: A top challenge shared by customers who have implemented SAP software is to "challenge assumptions, and do not rely solely on your partner or vendors solution...don't assume the partner always has the right answer." It's critical that if customers don't feel confident in the assumptions being presented by the partner, they challenge it.Workday: Cusotmers have expressed that relating to implementing Workday software, a seasoned project manager is mandatory. From a project perspective, it is critical to have a system integrator (SI) involved who has "earned their stripes" with this specific implementation. Additionally, the leading SI/project manager should have the correct industry expertise, too.The Big Quote: "I think with these three softwares, the nature of them is that they offer a broad set of solutions. So we're not just looking at, you know, a single, you know, stream of implementation. Typically, these implementations are global rollouts with multiple different, you know, product functions, whether it's HCM, financials, supply chain, and things like that. So these are complex implementations that we're evaluating. They're not the, you know, 30 days up and running sort of rapid implementations that smaller software packages have. So I think there's a lot of lessons learned that we can glean from these."

Kaveh Khorram,  CEO of Usage.ai, joins the show to talk about:Eliminating "cloud waste", creating a new category in the midst of the cloud wars, and the importance of timing when creating Usage.ai.Kaveh's experience taking Usage from 0 to 1 and learnings from the scale and growth phase of his companyDiversifying and de-risking partner and platform risk, and predictions on where the future of the cloud is headed.

Episode 45 | Infrastructure, Software, ApplicationsThe Big Themes:CIO "Lego blocks": CIOs in tech are looking for vendors to provide the "building blocks" that are necessary to develop applications. When CIOs approach the board, they are not looking to describe servers and storage, but rather, systems, or applications.Vendors compete on the strength of their products: Wayne praises Oracle for competing with the strength of its product(s). The company is not looking to lock customers in. He says that, as a customer, it makes him feel like [Oracle] has less to hide.Choices are evolving for customers: Customers are now faced with selecting a cloud provider whose cloud philosophy resonates with the type of work they are trying to do. Wayne and Bob explore various cloud vendors and their differentiated offerings. The Big Quote: "We're willing to pay for differentiated vertical software that solves our problem quicker. Companies don't mind making an investment in a quality product. What we've had to do up to now, as I say, "buy the Lego blocks and assemble our own solution." There are people who think that's great. I don't think manufacturing companies, supply chain companies, retail companies, hospitals should be in the software business. I think they should be in the business that's on the nameplate on the door. And so as a CIO, I'm encouraging vendors to give me more solutions that I can configure rather than customize, and that either fit together with other products in their app store or their infrastructure space, their partner space, or they just work out of the box from the vendor. Because then I do less integration and more solution. And that's what I think I want to do as a 21st-century CIO."

Episode 14 | Lost Your Job? Here's What to DoThe Big Themes:Company names and personal networks: Pat suggests that new hires create two lists: one to list companies, and one to list personal networks. This is a simple and effective way to "do your research" and will help guide your job search. "The reality is your network is going to be your biggest avenue" for finding a new job, explains Pat.The importance of emotional EQ: Job candidates must demonstrate their emotional intelligence, personality, and value to a potential employer to differentiate themselves. Mark explains that when new hires possess the correct EQ, hiring managers will look to place the candidate in the company. Emotional EQ has become a bigger focus than what it used to be.Do your homework: Do proper research on the company, come prepared to ask the right questions, and connect with a hiring manager on facts, data, and information that relates to a company. Hiring managers will respond to what you know, and how much effort you put into your application and interview. The Big Quote: "Those of you like me that are introverts, know your facts, connect with the people on data on information on facts. Be knowledgeable about what their company is doing and what their role is, about what they personally have done. You don't have to be an extrovert, you can be an introvert, but people will resonate, will really respond to you, by you having the right knowledge, you know, to be able to ask those questions in the interview, that, to me, it doesn't matter what kind of personality you have. You've got to differentiate yourself... But people will respond to you by what you know, and frankly, how much effort you put into, before you go into the interview cycle or even before you even present your job, your resume, to the offering."

The Big Themes:Creating room for innovation: Financial services companies spend 60-70% of their IT budgets on compliance, leaving little room for innovation. This is a critical area that the IBM Cloud for Financial Services, a solution that is co-created and co-built with the industry, addresses.Real-time compliance monitoring: IBM offers real-time, constant compliance monitoring to banks and financial institutions, reducing their time to implement a solution to 6-12 weeks, which is significantly faster than what they are used to.Bringing a unified approach forward: IBM supports its Financial Cloud customers with control frameworks and framework mapping, creating a faster deployment and implementation approach.The Big Quote: "I think, with our [IBM's] understanding, and what we now have built with the hybrid cloud approach and the underlying technologies, we really open up that you get the best of all worlds. 100% sure a lot of the banking workload will remain on the mainframe. But you need to have, let's say, part of the workloads most likely in platforms like IBM Cloud for Financial Services, but you still need to manage different providers. So you will always have multi-clouds in your IT shop. With what we are now building, and we've built over the last few years, we basically build a coherent strategy and platform to get the best of, let's say, the traditional mainframe workload and the future."

The Big Themes:Purpose-built solutions centered on people: Managing resources to deliver for customers can be a challenge for companies with large services organizations. Certinia's solutions are purpose-built, focusing on the people and the service economy business, rather than product ID, which was formerly considered to be the "center of the universe."Synchronous process flows: When looking at process flows, most companies find that they have silos of automation, and the "as quoted" verse "as delivered" aspects generally are not in alignment. "By having a system that runs all the way from opportunity to renewal, we [Certinia] bring those things into alignment with each other and have the "as quoted" and "as delivered" very much in sync with each other," notes Brown.Automation to enhance opportunity: When speaking with service economy workers, it is clear that "low-value work makes them crazy." Automating this work enables service economy workers to do more of what they love, like being in front of customers and providing "intellectual horsepower." Certinia applies automation as a means of optimizing the employee experience, too, and having a "great, enriched career journey." The Big Quote: "We are, kind of, starting a new chapter in our company's history with the rebranding to Certinia... and everything that we've developed up to now is widely increased the aperture of who we are. If you look at it across the spectrum of all those different products, we now are a full end-to-end provider. And hence, Certinia, as our new name. And we think it probably reflects not only the company we are today, it's the company we aspire to be. And so working with the large customers and the mid-tier customers that we have, we listen very carefully to what they need to get certainty in their environment, how to manage the very large and complex services organizations, and ultimately to have success. So we think the rebranding is the next chapter of our history, we think it's a really important thing to do, because it reflects the nature of who we are. But more importantly, we see big things in our future."

The Big Themes:Be intentional about the use of generative AI: Christian advises that when bringing generative AI into the workforce — or any technology, for that matter — that humans must ensure they remain the "master" and the technology remains the "servant."Consider trust: Christian encourages everyone to "get smarter on these things" but within the context of their companies. Business employees must trust that the leaders of their organizations won't use generative AI technologies to get rid of their jobs.Creative destruction: Christian proposes that there is a whole lot of "creative destruction" that will take place as a result of generative AI getting smarter. "That's the trajectory we are on...we have to be conscious of it," he notes. The Big Quote: " I think there are great challenges ahead. And I think they're fascinating challenges. And I think they're important challenges. And some are going to do well. And a lot are going to do very, very poorly. Let's hope though that for the sake of, you know, the company's colleagues, you know, all over the world, that we start looking at how we run our businesses and employ these really potent technologies in a way that actually gives our employees a fighting chance. Yes, to sort of climb the capability ladder and find their next place in this changing world."

How Workday Adaptive Helps ENMAX with Forecasting CapabilitiesThe Big Themes:Workday Adaptive Planning helps ENMAX discover a single version of the truth: With this software, everyone in the company is working off the same data set and can be used for whatever purpose is necessary.A single view across three applications: ENMAX utilizes Workday Adaptive Planning, Workday HCM, and Workday Financials in congruence, which has removed constraints associated with effective planning.Flexible solutions that empower users: Workday Adaptive Planning can be easily edited or updated and provides users with the information they need, when they need it, to do their jobs effectively.The Big Quote: "Adaptive, that was a real game changer for us, because nobody really questioned the data anymore. There was one source of truth, it didn't matter if you wanted to know what was going to happen next month, or in 2024. You went to the same place, the same version, and everyone edited a single version. So that was really key to us, because now we're able to take all that information disseminated out to the different business areas, and they can use it for whatever purpose they need. The second change was, we have the same characteristics on the data for both our actuals and our plan. And that's one of the benefits of being on Workday for both planning and financials. So the data that's actually reflective of historicals plus board looking looks and feels the same. And so it's a little bit easier to interpret. And so that's been very helpful for us as well."

Episode 28 | Supply Chains: The "Orchestrator" of Today's BusinessThe Big Themes:Why AWS entered the supply chain space: The company has the knowledge and expertise to solve critical issues for businesses today. AWS is "putting its competency to work for its customers."Customers want to create their own roadmap: AWS Supply Chain is not a "rip and replace solution." The product leverages the already-existing solutions customers are using to further inform decision-making.A supply chain is the "orchestrator" of today's business: AWS Supply Chain is industry-agnostic and is a "backbone" to the various solutions already being utilized by customers.The Big Quote: "Everybody needs to have a good orchestrator, a good supply chain, that can really help this business to be successful. So we're not building this application focused in any specific industry, but we're making the solution, the backbone of the solution, very strong to serve all these different industries. So customers can leverage our investments and in our cloud-native architecture, so they can leverage this technology in different industries like I mentioned before. So, the exciting thing is that since our preview launch, we've been able to have those discussions across multiple industries."

The Big Themes:Fixing human error: The biggest cybersecurity vulnerability companies have is their people, and there's no software tool or system that is more powerful than cultivating an awareness of secure practices among employees.Setting the right example: Business leaders must practice what they preach. No more leaving laptops open to email inboxes on our desks. Demonstrate the company's mindset by taking data security seriously and preach it to the whole team.How to lead externally: Christian talks about the dangers of "convergence for the sake of convergence," where manufacturers are creating digital products without being thoughtful about the cybersecurity implications of, for example, a poorly designed app for an oven.The Big Quote: "Unless you start building a culture around the proper treatment of information—who can access it under what circumstances, etc.—and then put real consequences associated with violating the proper handling and use of it, you're never going to really address the weakest link in security." Want more leadership inspiration from Christian? Connect with him on LinkedIn.

The Big Themes:The automation of knowledge work: This has been happening for a while now—just think of the hours of labor eliminated by search engines—but generative AI takes this automation to a different, higher level.ChatGPT is overhyped: The panic over AI tools replacing journalists, teachers, and all human workers is overblown, Tony says. Businesses should be focused on augmenting the work done by people with new technologies.ChatGPT is underhyped: "Technological change always precedes cultural change," Tony says, and there are likely to be massive cultural shifts following widespread access to and use of generative AI tools.The Big Quote: "Oftentimes, we look at these emerging technologies, and we see dollar signs. We think, Oh, my gosh, we're gonna automate this over here, which means we don't have to do that over there... And then we learn over time that these are augmented technologies that are actually accelerating what human beings can do. I would say to senior level executives: train and prepare a workforce to uplevel problem solving and creativity and innovation." Looking for more insights to transform your business? Connect with Tony on LinkedIn or through his AE Analyst page.

Episode 26 | AI and the Rise of the Intellectual CapitalistNote: this episode contains explicit language.The Big Themes:Knowledge workers are no longer at the top of the pyramid: Careers like lawyer, doctor, and engineer have long been highly valuable and widely esteemed, but by making tons of knowledge readily accessible and mostly free, tools like ChatGPT are going to push knowledge workers down in the career pyramid.The rise of the intellectual capitalist: The creation of "net-new knowledge" (intellectual capital, or IC) is going to define the highly valuable and esteemed careers of tomorrow.ChatGPT and other AI tools should be embraced: Yes, there will be jobs lost and people who use these tools for nefarious reasons, but as a society we must embrace the possibilities and opportunities they present. For example, these tools should not be banned in schools, but instead used to spark conversation and creativity.The Big Quote: "If you've ever created anything new of value for yourself and or your company, in your work, whether you realize it or not, you're an intellectual capitalist... And the big aha now is to take that from the back of your mind to the front of your mind. Ask yourself, what IC have I created already? How am I being super thoughtful about leveraging my IC to make a difference, to create value for others, and for myself?" Want more from Christopher Lochhead? Connect with him on LinkedIn and explore his podcasts, blog, and books.

The Big Themes:Apex's culture of curiosity: While the CFO's domain is traditionally finance, JJ explains that at Apex, he is focused on business forecasting, not just financial. Workday Adaptive Planning was the perfect tool for the inclusive and cooperative culture at Apex.Effective planning keeps Apex ahead of disruption: The ability to create scenarios that incorporate many shareholders' voices has kept Apex strong and solvent during major challenges like the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.Investing in high-growth tech attracts talent: JJ contrasts the boring "plug and chug" culture he has seen in other finance departments with the dynamic environment at Apex, noting that investments in tech like Workday Adaptive is a draw for talent.The Big Quote: "We're proud of that. When we go to the market, recruiting people, we're talking about, number-one best place to work in Fort Worth, number-six in Texas... And part of that is, we've invested in the tech, right? We've invested in Workday." Want to learn more about Workday Adaptive Planning? Watch a demo and explore use cases here.This episode is sponsored by Workday.

The Big Themes:Don't ignore the threat of ChatGPT: Even as a company with incredibly advanced AI capabilities, Google is doing the right thing by treating this kind of new interactive AI chatbot as a challenger to its massive search business.Be open to the possibilities of ChatGPT: On the other hand, Microsoft is very wisely looking to bring ChatGPT into the fold and enhance its existing products and services using artificial intelligence.The importance of transparency and trust: Christian brings up the potentially sinister side of interactive AI, specifically deep-fake videos that could be used to spread disinformation and sow discord. Business leaders must focus on building trust into the application of technologies like ChatGPT.The Big Quote: "Gotta free the mind, if you will.... If you had an organization that had free thinkers, you could find very, very easily what ChatGPT or a similar capability could mean to financial services. The implications are significant." Want more leadership inspiration from Christian? Connect with him on LinkedIn.

The Big Themes:The WFH challenge for young talent: creating a personal network and building personal credibility are incredibly important early in a career, and Pat worries that young people are not getting the networking and mentorship opportunities that working shoulder-to-shoulder offers.Work ethic in today's world: Pat defines work ethic not as being the first-in, last-out team member, but rather the cultivation of a reputation among bosses and peers as someone who always gets the job done and gets it done right.Responsibility and accountability: the only person who is responsible for the success of your career is you. Some companies and bosses are terrible, but there are still lessons to be learned and experience to be had. Make the most of every job.The Big Quote: "It takes a full time job to find a good job. It takes a full career to manage and navigate the right career. You're gonna make mistakes... Learn how to actually build a career, a work ethic, and be able then to navigate how you want to manage your career."--Want additional insights to help you win the war for talent? Connect with Pat on LinkedIn.

The Big Themes:Similarities between Madoff and SBF: Both men "wrapped themselves" in celebrity, fancy parties, and politics. They were able to pull off the deception they created by being good "talkers" and schmoozers.Differences between Madoff and SBF: Where Madoff admitted his wrongdoing virtually immediately, SBF has been spinning a story of incompetence rather than crime. Christopher makes connections between this behavior to SBF's identity as a Native Digital.Is the end of FTX also the end of crypto? Christopher says no way. This type of scandal will probably help to move regulation of crypto in the right direction, and the market will calm down eventually. Native Digitals don't believe in "analog money," and the promise of crypto remains.The Big Quote: "What we have here is a classic situation where when something's new, when something is generally not well understood, and when something's generally not regulated, you're going to end up here. So I think at the end of the day, the crypto world will be stronger for this because we'll get some of the regulation that we have that makes some of these things hard, although Madoff proved you can get away with bad shit in the legacy world very easily... But I think it's a mistake to say this is the end of crypto." Want more from Christopher Lochhead? Connect with him on LinkedIn and explore his podcasts, blog, and books.

It's happening. AWS is no longer the only cloud heavyweight doing business with the US Government. Azure has recently signed a $10 Billion deal with the DoD.Gartner reports that AWS is still a better product than most competitors, in terms of what they offer and the quality! But some ask if it's fair that the DoD is only doing business with Amazon, a representation of perpetuating the monopoly Amazon is clinging onto. Amazon and Oracle both raised questions about “political interference”.Microsoft's resurgence has been nothing short of extraordinary! With almost a year and a half of revenues more than 30% of AWS', has Microsoft officially trumped Amazon in Cloud? And don't forget Google, the small fish in this race aggressively ramping up in high growth markets like India & South East Asia.If you're curious about how the Cloud Wars are pitting the biggest tech companies against each other, tune in!Some helpful links:Monopoly to DuopolyAmazon LawsuitMicrosoft Come-Back with AzureBig Tech BattleGroundGovernments Erecting Borders for DataBattle for Cloud DominanceCloud MarketshareSupport the show

In this episode from October 2021, Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies and one of the longest serving founder-CEOs in the technology industry, joins a16z general partner Martin Casado, a16z co-founder Marc Andreessen, and host Sonal Choksi on the occasion of Michael's book, Play Nice to Win: A CEO's Journey from Founder to Leader. There are lots of challenges in being public while trying to innovate, and limits to being a private company as well; but it's rare to see a company go public then private then back to public again. As is the case with Dell Technologies, one of the largest tech companies -- which went private 2012-2013 and then also pulled off one of the most epic mergers of all time with Dell + EMC + VMWare 2015-2016 (and which we wrote about here at the time).Is there a method to the madness? How does one not just start, but keep, and transform, their company and business? Michael, Marc, Martin and Sonal debate these questions, as well as the impact of the cloud wars, how innovation happens when a company is private and when its public (something Michael knows well, having taken Dell public to private to back to public again), whether you can actually play nice to win as a leader, and more.