Next in Tech

The next in our series of discussions with CEO's of companies that are putting AI to work has Fransico Martin-Rayo of Helios discussing the agricultural supply chain with host Eric Hanselman. Helios is leveraging AI to generate insights in the complex dynamics of food production and sourcing at a dramatically finer level of granularity. AI not only enables more complex analysis but also allows customized delivery of the results. Shifting interfaces from legacy dashboards and static reports to queryable constructs lets users explore the analyses in ways that better fit their needs. AI can deliver custom insights at scale in ways that weren't possible with traditional application interfaces.
One of the principal shifts accelerating AI, is the availability of better data. Helios integrates massive weather data sets with market history and global events to generate forecasts. While the volumes of data are growing it's seen significant reductions in the cost per token in their infrastructure. Improving efficiency can expand the depth of analysis, as well as the frequency of forecast updates.
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Credits:
Host/Author: Eric Hanselman
Guest: Francisco Martin-Rayo, CEO and Co-Founder of Helios
Producer/Editor: Feranmi Adeoshun
Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Kyra Smith

We're kicking off a new series of discussions with CEO's of companies that are putting AI to work to tackle complex problems. Sean Kelly of Amperon joins host Eric Hanselman to dig into how they're using AI for energy grid forecasting. The combination of weather, changes in generation capacity with renewables, and now increased data center demand is making forecasting a critical requirement for grid stability, as well as energy trading. While this might have been a problem that could be tackled with spreadsheets back in the day, scope and scale of the problem has grown to a size that is outstripping traditional methods. AI-based approaches can scale, but there are challenges with managing the size of the datasets being used and the computational costs that some models demand.
Effective integration of AI into complex problem solving demands not only a deep understanding of the problem space, but also innovation in sourcing data and scaling its applications. The payoff can be much faster results with greater perspective depth. But that requires investment in automation and careful engineering to get there. 
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Credits:
Host/Author: Eric Hanselman
Guest: Sean Kelly, CEO, Amperon
Producer/Editor: Feranmi Adeoshun
Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Kyra Smith

There are such significant changes going on in how data is managed and in how AI manages data, that it's not always clear which requirements are driving which trends. Jim Curtis returns to look data highlights from AWS re:Invent and to identify important changes that are taking place. FinOps and broader cloud cost management efforts are leading providers to offer tools and programs to corral spending. AWS has introduced database savings plans to provide discounts in much the same way they've done with other services as they look to foster platform commitment. AWS is also expanding its platform capabilities for AI development, with AWS SageMaker integrating additional tools to simplify the creation and deployment of AI solutions.
The intersection of databases, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence is creating more focus on vectorization. It's fueled the evolution of search capabilities, which offers a more semantically rich and efficient way to organize and retrieve data compared to traditional methods. AWS S3 now has vector support, taking the venerable object store into AI-capable territory. AI is revitalizing established technologies and compelling cloud providers to deliver more integrated and tailored services.
 
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Credits:
Host/Author: Eric Hanselman 
Guest: James Curtis
Producer/Editor: Feranmi Adeoshun
Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Kyra Smith

The National Retail Federation's annual NRF conference has become a showplace for the latest technology, as well its core retail foundations. Sheryl Kingstone returns to discuss what was on display and how it will impact retail and the larger tech landscape with host Eric Hanselman. While we may be a ways off from having robot dogs retrieving shoes at your local mall store, automation and agentic applications are delivering significant value in customer interactions - $22 billion in the recent 451 Research study. The days of clunky chatbot interfaces seem to be well and truly behind us.
One the greater challenges in scaling agentic applications is maintaining consumer trust as applications and use cases grow. Part of that trust will depend on effectively managing fleets of agents. In order to scale, organizations have to develop an AI agent control plane that can manage memory, maintain context and guide agent actions. Regulatory requirements are in their early stages, but enterprises have to focus on controls that will ensure they can maintain customer trust as matter of basic business operations.
 
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Guest: Sheryl Kingstone
Producer/Editor: Feranmi Adeoshun
Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Kyra Smith

The choice of use cases in AI has a significant impact on achieving on project outcomes. The latest results of the 451 Research Voice of the Enterprise AI use cases study are out and Alex Johnston joins host Eric Hanselman to explore the data and its implications. The study highlights a widespread, yet often unstructured and fragmented, adoption of AI within organizations, indicating a stall in overall maturity despite significant growth in usage. Key challenges include a clogged project pipeline, where many initiatives remain in limited deployment, and difficulties in consistently measuring return on investment (ROI), although most projects are seen as delivering value.
Organizations achieving better outcomes prioritize strong governance, consistent measurement, and "human-in-the-loop" applications, rather than attempting immediate full autonomy. There are major concerns around data quality, rising costs, and a lack of centralized control stemming from the diverse sourcing of AI capabilities and varied user proficiency. Cost concerns are driving organizations towards
 
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Credits:
Host/Author: Eric Hanselman 
Guest: Alex Johnston
Producer/Editor: Feranmi Adeoshun
Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Kyra Smith