While it isn’t Friday, it is the end of the week, so I’m rounding out the week with Big Ideas.
New Stack with “Five Ways to Build a Robust AI and Automation Strategy.” Enterprises increasingly turn to AI and automation to make sense of the overwhelming amount of data they face. However, there are barriers to overcome, including data quality, technical challenges, cultural change, and security concerns. To build a better AI strategy, organizations should set expectations, offer educational opportunities, focus on data management and governance, tackle infrastructure challenges, and define real-world use cases. It’s important to stay flexible, evaluate impact, and understand the risks and benefits before embarking on AI or automation initiatives.
I was fascinated by “Is Your MSP Vendor Neutral? How to Find Out.” From Becker Hospital Review, This article discusses the concept of vendor neutrality in the context of Managed Service Providers (MSPs) in healthcare staffing. It highlights the financial risks and losses associated with outsourcing staffing processes to MSPs and suggests that hospitals can save costs by managing their contingent workforce in-house. The article also provides a 3-part test to determine whether an MSP is vendor-neutral.
With the hack of auto dealership software, I wanted to highlight this deep dive in the BIG newsletter, walking through how an antitrust ruling by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia allowed CDK Global to maintain its dominant position in the dealer management software industry, leading to high prices and poor quality software for auto dealers. The ruling prevented firms like Authenticom from accessing dealer data, causing dissatisfaction among dealers. The document highlights the connection between monopolization and vulnerabilities to hacking and suggests that the FTC could relaunch its investigation into CDK Global and Reynolds.
I found Blood in the Machine a great dive into the growing skepticism and backlash against generative AI. Experts and workers from various fields are raising concerns about the technology’s impact on industries, job security, creativity, and the quality of content. The article highlights several critiques and protests from artists, educators, scientists, and writers, emphasizing the need to understand the real-world implications of generative AI.
Finally, as it’s a long weekend, one more. “What’s the best interface for gen AI? It all depends on the use case” in VentureBeat. The article discusses the various user interfaces for generative AI applications. It highlights different interfaces for chatbots, search engines, content creation, and other AI services. The key takeaway is that the choice of interface depends on the specific use case and desired output, emphasizing the importance of considering user needs and intended functionality when designing gen AI applications.
Why do we care?
I like knowing why things happen, so I included the BIG newsletter here. Why is a lot of software terrible? Lack of competition.
I also wanted to highlight that article questioning the value of outsourcing to MSPs because it’s an industry publication questioning MSPs’ value to their audience. Prepare for the questions you may be asked.
Broadly, I hope I’ve given you some alternative perspectives to consider over the long weekend.