The AI Challenge, accept it or be left behind

Fear not my colleagues, the end of the world is not nigh yet!

It still is very early days in terms of where AI will impact us. There is lots of hype and lots of misdirection but AI is very real and we do need to get ready for it.

With over 2,000 companies making substantial investments to date, some consolidation has already started. There will be limited opportunities for pure play AI companies so you need to consider where you may want to target your efforts. The broad areas are infrastructure, equivalent to the suppliers of picks and shovels during the gold rush era e.g. Nvidia and Crusoe, the data processing components e.g. ChatGPT and Claude, or the applications that utilise the AI capabilities e.g. Microsoft Copilot or the other 2,000+ applications.

Some of the organisations currently in this space are looking at strategic opportunities either as a long term play or in the hope of a buyout as their exit strategy. For the vast majority it is providing an opportunity to dip their toes in the water before making any significant commitment to the technology.

There are dangers that we need to be aware of, some very real e.g. accidently exposing your company or personal data to public scrutiny and some that are more ephemeral e.g. the end of the human race.

The greatest danger for most companies is the opportunity cost incurred if they ignore AI totally and the opportunities that it offers for productivity improvement. If you do not start to play with it, your competitors may not be so tardy and could gain significant competitive advantage.

In conclusion, lots of hype but there is some substance there as well. It is time to take some steps, even if they are baby steps so that we are not left behind.