Next in Tech

Just in time for Halloween, we're diving into headless AI. It's not a phantom agent roaming an old data center, but rather the next stage of application structures that research director Sheryl Kingstone discusses with host Eric Hanselman. A certain CEO predicted in 2024 that agentic AI would be the death of SaaS applications. The expectation was driven by the thought that agents would gather all of the needed information to run businesses and take the needed actions. It's an idea that missed the importance of not only the volumes of data that are housed in SaaS, but, more importantly, the context, in the form of business logic, controls and linkages, that is also embedded in these systems. Headless application architectures look to enable the promise of agentic AI.

Headless is not a new concept. We've been trying to link applications together for at least a decade, but there have been limitations to the various approaches, SOAP, XML data exchange, to name but a few. One of the major constraints has been the ability to translate context between systems. Moving data was reasonably simple. Expressing the context that surrounds that data is much more complex. With the Model Context Protocol (MCP), we've got an option to address that gap. It requires that IT teams step up a level of abstraction to manage data, becoming the custodians of this critical raw material. More S&P Global Content:

• Next in Tech | Ep. 280: Claw and Agentic Optimization
• Next in Tech | Ep. 273: FinOps and AI
• Next in Tech | Ep. 260: Putting Agents To Work
• Next in Tech | Ep. 252: Agentic AI Use Cases

For S&P Global subscribers:

• Applied AI and enterprise systems: Resiliency for the future
• The CX AI Agent Index 2025
• Consumers show growing interest in agentic AI but are not ready to hand over full control – Highlights from VoCUL: Connected Customer
• The gap between AI optimism and return on investment in the customer experience space

Host/Author: Eric Hanselman

Guest: Sheryl Kingstone

Producer/Editor: Dylan Scheible

An enterprise's storage environments hold much more than the raw data placed in them. An understanding of the nature of the data, how it's accessed and where it's accessed from is valuable context that can be put to work to improve security and resilience. A growing number of storage infrastructure vendors are taking advantage of this potential and pivoting to a greater security focus in the way they deliver their products. Analysts Henry Baltazar and Justin Lam join host Eric Hanselman to dig into what is driving this shift and sort out the benefits and pitfalls of this change. It doesn't hurt that valuations for security companies is much greater than that of other infrastructure players, but there is a lot more at work here.

One of the biggest challenges of this pivot, is that storage and security teams, as well as their budgets, are almost always well separated. That can make realizing the benefits of enhanced security functionality complicated. As enterprises expand their operational focus into a resilience posture, there are stronger motivations to reach across these historical silos. It's a shift that can help to build more resilient digital infrastructure. More S&P Global Content:

• Next in Tech | Ep. 236: Data Migration
• Compute sovereignty: The strategic importance of digital infrastructure
• Next in Tech | Ep. 285: Resilient Digital Infrastructure
• The sustainability risks threatening AI's resilience narrative

For S&P Global subscribers:

• Security-related outages drive resiliency evolution
• Security threats persist, recovery remains a burden – Highlights from VotE: Storage
• Data Security Market Monitor & Forecast
• Resiliency underpins energy transition, grid modernization and AI-driven data centers

Host/Author: Eric Hanselman

Guests: Henry Baltazar and Justin Lam

Producer/Editor: Dylan Scheible

There are a complex set of dynamics at work around data centers and the power needed to drive them. The 451 Research team has been at a pair of events, the AWS Energy Symposium and the Linux Foundation's LF Energy Summit and Jean Atelsek, Rich Karpinski, Brian Partridge and Melanie Posey join host Eric Hanselman to talk about their thoughts on the events and the state of the industry. The Symposium looked at the landscape of options for meeting power demands for the rapidly expanding data center footprint. Hyperscalers like AWS have been on the forefront of using Power Purchase Agreements (PPA's) to invest in green energy, but grid connection queues have meant that delivering that power can take considerable time.

The LF Energy Summit came at the power question as something that improved operational efficiency could address, at least in part. There are a series of projects that are looking at the first stage of putting AI to work to optimize generation and grid operation. Agentic approaches can gather operating and demand data and improve the way in which the grid responds. We're still some ways from letting agents perform any operational control, but building a foundation of greater visibility and data access could build the trust needed for next steps. More S&P Global Content:

• AI won't solve its own energy problem – and that might be fine
• Compute sovereignty: The strategic importance of digital infrastructure
• New data center legislation roundup, April 2026
• The sustainability risks threatening AI's resilience narrative

For S&P Global subscribers:

• AWS Energy Symposium: AI strains the grid it also seeks to fix
• Linux Foundation unveils OpenGrid to accelerate power grid modernization
• US data center growth: Impact on communities 101
• An evolving data center industry calls for creative modifications to early-stage negotiations

Host/Author: Eric Hanselman

Guests: Jean Atelsek, Rich Karpinski, Brian Partridge, and Melanie Posey

Producer/Editor: Dylan Scheible

Data center builds are facing challenges, not only from energy supply and supply chains, but also from increasing community pushback. Analysts Tony Lenoir and Matthew Richesin join host Eric Hanselman to preview a webinar that they'll be presenting that explores wide ranging actions that being raised against data center construction and the concerns that are driving them. The traditional industry practice of "Design, announce, defend", where the build is presumed onto the community, is being reworked to include community engagement at the initial stages of a project. There are a number of regulatory strictures that are in place and more pending as a political dynamic around data centers grows in a fractious campaign season.

All of these aspects are intertwined with societal concerns about technology and AI's impacts. As has happened with earlier technology innovations, where the ramifications of new developments aren't fully understood, there will be many who are concerned about the implications of rapid, unchecked adoption. Data centers have become emblematic of this change and a lightning rod for discussion. Join the webinar to get the full story!

More S&P Global Content:

• Join the webinar: AI Infrastructure webinar
• 2026 Trends in Data Center Services & Infrastructure
• New data center legislation roundup, April 2026
• The sustainability risks threatening AI's resilience narrative

For S&P Global subscribers:

• US data center growth: Impact on communities 101
• An evolving data center industry calls for creative modifications to early-stage negotiations
• Balancing data center growth and regulation: Florida's legislative conundrum

Host/Author: Eric Hanselman

Guests: Tony Lenoir and Matthew Richesin

Producer/Editor: Dylan Scheible

The data center business has undergone rapid transformation in technology and financing. The demands for capacity are generating huge capital spending and research director Kelly Morgan returns to the podcast to highlight the topics that will be on the agenda at this year's Data Center and Energy Conference with host Eric Hanselman. This year, the conference is held in Houston on October 1st and explores how the nature of the data center business has changed and how energy demands are shaping progress. Power availability has become a critical issue, with grid connection delays pushing many to on-site generation.

What's inside a data center is changing at the same time that build-out forces are at work. New GPU clusters require higher floor loading capacity. Water cooling brings greater efficiency, but requires lots of plumbing to get right and sensing and controls to manage it when it goes wrong. It's an ever-changing world with a lot of upheaval and the conference will be digging into it all. Come join us!

More S&P Global Content

• Join the conference: Data Center and Energy Conference
• 2026 Trends in Data Center Services & Infrastructure
• Compute sovereignty: The strategic importance of digital infrastructure
• AI in action: unleashing agentic potential
• Hyperscaler earnings quarterly: What price inference?

For S&P Global Subscribers:

• Balancing data center growth and regulation: Florida's legislative conundrum
• 800-V DC open standard makes AI factory power infrastructure a commodity market
• Service providers race to meet surging enterprise demand for AI infrastructure

Host/Author: Eric Hanselman

Guest: Kelly Morgan

Producer: Dylan Scheible

We should have always been building resilient infrastructure, but we often haven't been. Now that we're ever more dependent on our digital foundations, new focus is being given to ensuring that they're robust enough to ensure that they can truly keep our enterprises humming. Analysts Jean Atelsek, Melanie Posey and host Eric Hanselman have all been at infrastructure conferences and dig into how expectations and options are changing. There are now regulatory requirements for resilience and the increasing complexity of modern infrastructure can make achieving it more challenging. Enterprises have become more hybrid, linking together cloud and on-premises capabilities. The mad dash to AI has pushed the interconnection of multiple providers to gain access to the latest models. Is what we're building now "really darn intractable"?

Software vendors like Broadcom are shifting to integrated platforms to better achieve automated operations and colocation providers like Equinix are increasing the ease with which they build interconnection. Enterprises are racing to raise their operational sophistication as they increasingly face existential consequences from infrastructure failures. More S&P Global Content:

• Compute sovereignty: The strategic importance of digital infrastructure
• Next in Tech | Ep. 222: FinOps – Managing Cloud and AI Costs
• AI in action: unleashing agentic potential
• Hyperscaler earnings quarterly: What price inference?

For S&P Global subscribers:

• An agentic architectural approach to enterprise energy resiliency
• FinOps in the age of agentic AI
• Security-related outages drive resiliency evolution
• Service providers race to meet surging enterprise demand for AI infrastructure

Host/Author: Eric Hanselman

Guests: Jean Atelsek and Melanie Posey

Producer/Editor: Dylan Scheible

The headlines around the levels of capital spending on AI have talked about financial market reactions and the impacts on balance sheets, but there are other effects this spending is having. Research director Brenon Daly returns to the podcast to talk about how reduced cash flow and dwindling reserves are hitting the M&A markets with host Eric Hanselman. Hyperscalers had been steady acquirers as they look to grow organically. They've gone from an active footing to taking a big step back from acquisitions. With so much capital being directed at AI infrastructure, there's very little left for acquisitions.

With the leaders in strategic acquisition pulling back, the range of exit options for early stage companies has narrowed. Hyperscalers have not only been acquirers, but they also set the tone for acquisition trends. SaaS deals have picked up some of the slack, but this is a market that has been significantly curtailed and it will take some time to come back. More S&P Global Content:

• Next in Tech | Ep. 259: The RSAC Conference – Agents on The Loose

For S&P Global subscribers:

• Building AI doesn't leave much money for buying
• Hyperscaler earnings quarterly: Cash flows running low as AI portfolios evolve
• Going the wrong way on the 'K'
• Bruises and bargains in the tech M&A market

Host/Author: Eric Hanselman

Guest: Brenon Daly

Producer/Editor: Dylan Scheible

We've talked extensively about the demand side of data centers and AI and it's important to consider what's taking place in sustainably addressing it. Analyst Tony Lenior returns to the podcast to discuss his recent research with host Eric Hanselman. Booming demand has raised concerns that hyperscalers and data center operators would abandon sustainability goals, but, while some timelines have been pushed back, they continue to be some of the largest buyers of renewable Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) and are driving carbon-free energy pursuits. That's despite three major energy shocks in the last six years. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are seeing wider deployment and rapid technology advances and are a means to addressing wind and solar's intermittency.

Water is another key resource associated with the data center operation and an area where progress is being made. It's part of a more complex set of interconnections, though as direct water consumption is typically what's measured, but secondary water consumption can be just as significant. Nuclear power is carbon-free, but consumes large quantities of water for cooling. Hydropower has even more complicated impacts on water use, despite its fundamentally sustainable nature. Sustainability concerns are critical to understand and very challenging to fully resolve. More S&P Global Content:

• Renewable energy curtailment offers a surplus opportunity for Texas data centers
• Next in Tech | Ep. 266: Managing data center risk
• Nearly two-thirds of planned US BESS projects eligible for 40% tax credits

For S&P Global Subscribers:

• Microsoft opens new windows into renewable investment, doubling down on decarbonization
• Amazon delivers on green commitments, but emissions rise amid the AI boom
• Google's search for power sustainability is yielding results, but AI slows progress
• Powering data centers: Leveraging energy community incentives in a changing regulatory landscape

Host/Author: Eric Hanselman

Guest: Tony Lenoir

Producer/Editor: Dylan Scheible

Labeled Security Summer Camp by some, the Black Hat and DEF CON security conferences have been the premier events for security researchers and practitioners. Analysts Dan Kennedy and Justin Lam returned from the heat of Las Vegas to discuss their take on what went down in the desert with host Eric Hanselman. More than 23,000 attendees were reported to be part of the sprawling Black Hat start to the week and DEF CON has grown to be its equal in size. There was more discussion about the realities of what AI can do for and against security operations. The implications around Mythos have raised fears of a cascade of vulnerability disclosures that will overwhelm our ability to remediate them, but a growing risk comes from AI tooling being able to create more complex environments and processes to make complex vulnerabilities more easily exploitable.

On the security defense side, AI's ability to interpret complex interactions and relationships is showing potential to reduce the risk of rolling out new controls by understanding what policies could break. It's an area where there have historically been delays in improving protections where concerns that new controls might break existing applications or access held security teams back. One of the greatest benefits of the conferences, though, may be the ability of security professionals to gather together and have the informal interactions that are needed to support each other in the complex world that information security has become. More S&P Global Content:

• Next in Tech | Ep. 267: Mythos and Security
• Generative AI Digest: OpenClaw and Moltbook make a splash
• Generative AI funding: A sober retrospective and the trends shaping 2026
• RSAC Conference 2026: Confronting both the promise and threat of agentic AI

For S&P Global subscribers:

• Information security budgets rise, but must address cloud security, AI governance – Highlights from VotE: Information Security
• AI's impact in security and its application are not always aligned – Highlights from VotE: Information Security
• Fulcrum accountability, aligning personas and progress in data security

Host/Author: Eric Hanselman

Guests: Dan Kennedy and Justin Lam

Producer/Editor: Dylan Scheible

Quantum computing might be seen by some as a distant future, but quantum computers are doing useful work today and having impacts on a range of areas in technology. Analyst Ellie Brown and host Eric Hanselman were at IBM's Quantum Day and explore not only what they saw there, but also the broader implications that advances in quantum technology are having. Behind all of the shiny stainless steel cabinets are the exotic superconducting "chandeliers" that have become the face of quantum computing and also racks of classical computing systems that are translating computational results and managing operations and interconnection. While the quantum systems are advancing rapidly, the pipeline of skilled talent that can put it to work is still under development. The ecosystem of coding tools, simulators and algorithms is moving forward, but it has to be able to scale.

Quantum impacts on information security and trust are just beginning to be understood in the wider technology community. With the risk of quantum computing breaking some types of encryption looming around the end of the decade, organizations of all sizes should be scrambling to assess their risks and starting to implement quantum safe protections. 451 Research data shows that enterprises are starting on the journey, but they need to be much further ahead to meet timelines that keep getting closer with each new quantum advancement. More S&P Global Content:

• Quantum Quarterly — Q2 2026: Momentum meets innovation
• Disrupting the future: Quantum in data centers?
• Next in Tech | Ep. 276: Quantum CEO Series: Andy Ory
• Next in Tech | Ep. 248:SC25 Supercomputing conference

For S&P Global subscribers:

• Quantum Computing Market Monitor & Forecast
• Quantum road maps signal steady gains and a shift from promise to performance
• Quantum's advances come with major cybersecurity implications

Host/Author: Eric Hanselman

Guest: Ellie Brown

Producer/Editor: Dylan Scheible