Next in Tech

There is a dramatic push of technology into space. Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites are changing the broadband communications market and there's speculation about putting data centers in orbit. Analysts Ellie Brown and Johan Vermij join host Eric Hanselman to look at the practical aspects of this push into a new frontier as a preview to their upcoming webinar. The cost of access to space has been dropping significantly, but there are many considerations that impact the viability of some of these plans. LEO satellite lifetimes are shorter than geosynchronous ones and the sustainability impacts of the launch volumes necessary to maintain multiple, massive constellations are daunting. Space is an attractive vantage point for observation with imaging to support geopolitical needs and ecological ends, like methane emissions tracking. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is piercing cloud and vegetation layers to reveal landscape details.

Space-based data centers are seeing a lot of interest, but popular misconceptions about cooling capabilities may be adding more encouragement than is warranted. While space is "cold", radiating heat is more complicated in its vacuum. The International Space Station, with a massive radiation system, rejects only 70 KW of heat, less than a few racks of equipment and much less than a typical GPU cluster. And the need to service equipment on orbit hasn't been meaningfully addressed. Smaller satellites with distributed processing could pre-process data before it's sent to earth, but that will require greater levels of coordination to manage the massive scale on which this would have to operate.

More S&P Global Content:

• Join the webinar: Orbit as the Next Data Frontier: Capital Flows, Risk, and Realities

For S&P Global Subscribers:

• NVIDIA gives 'space cred' to orbital data center race with Vera Rubin Space module announcement
• STMicroelectronics eyes $3 billion in annual space revenue as demand for LEO satellites surges
• As the space sector enters the infrastructure era, M&A could become a force to be reckoned with

Host/Author: Eric Hanselman

Guests: Ellie Brown and Johan Vermij

Producer/Editor: Dylan Scheible

Published With Assistance From: Feranmi Adeoshun and Sophie Carr

The popular image of quantum computers is the sparkling "chandelier" of the superconducting approach, but this next episode in our Quantum CEO series looks neutral atom quantum computers. Quantum analyst Ellie Brown returns to the podcast to join Andy Ory, the CEO of QuEra, to discuss their approach, the benefits of practical fault tolerant qubits and the advantages of quantum hubs that may have a dearth of beer with host Eric Hanselman. Neutral atom systems don't require the ultra-low operating temperatures used for superconduction. They stabilize the atoms they're using with lasers that still their motion. That free space setting allows simpler interaction between larger numbers of qubits that improves scaling of quantum computations. Stability reduces error rates and can improve the effectiveness of quantum error correction.

Quantum computing has become a very buzzy topic, with IPO's and major funding announcements. There is growth of the supporting ecosystems around quantum application development, with software tools and cloud-based services offerings that are expanding access. The greatest challenge is the supply of a quantum workforce that can put quantum capabilities to work. Systems doing optimization approaches, like quantum annealing, are here today. The date for the availability of general purpose, practical quantum computers keeps getting closer. Some have said 2030 might be a target date and QuEra is talking about delivering their next-generation system in 2028. It's time to be getting quantum-literate today!

More S&P Global Content:

• Long-term advantage is triggering a quantum wave, but cost and immaturity remain barriers
• Cybersecurity, talent needs and ongoing adoption were key themes at Quantum.Tech USA 2025
• Access to quantum hardware remains cloudy, but more options are starting to appear

For S&P Global subscribers:

• Quantum road maps signal steady gains and a shift from promise to performance
• Long-term advantage is triggering a quantum wave, but cost and immaturity remain barriers – Highlights from VotE: Digital Pulse
• Quantum Computing Market Monitor & Forecast
• AI, quantum and high-performance computing join forces at SC25

Host/Author: Eric Hanselman

Guests: Andy Ory and Ellie Brown

Producer/Editor: Dylan Scheible

Published With Assistance From: Feranmi Adeoshun and Sophie Carr

This episode of our AI CEO series looks at the potential for AI capabilities to address one of AI's largest challenges – energy availability. Dr. Varun Sivaram, founder and CEO of Emerald AI, joins host Eric Hanselman to explore how greater flexibility is AI workloads can unlock unused capacity. Traditionally, data center construction has focused on delivering peak capacity, even at those times when it may not be needed. That doesn't mesh well with a power grid that is already under stress. AI intelligence can shift workloads dynamically to reduce data center demands when the power grid needs it and to leverage excess grid capacity when it's available.

Flexing AI workloads to respond to grid conditions isn't simple, but it can be more attractive than alternatives. Adding generation capacity is a long-term and expensive process and community concerns about rate increases are creating headwinds for new data center builds. Adding Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are costly and have their own capacity and durability limitations. Flexing workload demand could address grid integration problems on a much shorter timeline.

More S&P Gobal content:

• 2026 Trends in Data Center Services & Infrastructure
• Geopolitics of data centers: An AI showdown that will reshape the world
• AI's global resource race: Challenges and opportunities
• Hyperscaler earnings quarterly: What price inference?

For S&P Global subscribers:

• Data Center Services & Infrastructure Market Monitor & Forecast: US ISO Region
• BYOP emerges as a strategic decision for data center operators in response to grid challenges
• US Independent System Operators 101
• Service providers race to meet surging enterprise demand for AI infrastructure
• Survey Data Hub – VoCUL: Connected Customer, AI & Data Centers 2026

Host/Author: Eric Hanselman

Guest: Varun Sivaram

Producer/Editor: Dylan Scheible

Published With Assistance From: Feranmi Adeoshun and Sophie Carr

Market dynamics in data center buildouts and dealmaking are complex, but there are some common threads that are spanning the globe. Analysts Soon Chen Kang and Stefanie Williams join host Eric Hanselman to explore their research in the Asia Pacific market. AI demand is a driving force and concerns about power availability can be a headwind, but there are regional nuances that make the markets that comprise the APAC region unique. One treats the market as a cohesive whole at one's peril! Geopolitical concerns have a significant impact on both demand forces and capacity uptake. Access to GPU's to feed AI applications takes on new dimensions in a market where technology embargoes are moving workloads. Neoclouds are a new market provider and driving new builds, as well.

The boom days of speculative building have tapered off, in many cases, due to the availability of power, but that doesn't mean activity is slowing. Activity is shifting to find available capacity, but a common challenge in some of these early markets is the lack of transparency on both power deals and the build and financing processes. Check out the research to get more details.

More S&P Global Content:

Compute sovereignty: The strategic importance of digital infrastructure AI in action: unleashing agentic potential Hyperscaler earnings quarterly: What price inference? Will datacenter growth in India propel it to global hub status?

For S&P Global subscribers:

Beyond disaster recovery: Greater Osaka's rise as a stand-alone data center hub APAC data center growth on course in 2026, driven by hyperscaler, regional neocloud demand Rising community opposition impacts site selection, cancellations and delays increase Singapore kicks off tender process, promising at least 200 MW for data centers 2026 Trends in Data Center Services & Infrastructure

Host/Author: Eric Hanselman Guests: Soon Chen Kang, Stefanie Williams

Producer/Editor: Dylan Scheible

Published With Assistance From: Feranmi Adeoshun, Sophie Carr, Kyra Smith,

We're in the early days of cost impacts for AI applications. While there are some cautionary tales, current spending seems to be a small fraction what's to come. Analysts Jean Atelsek and Melanie Posey return to the podcast to talk about what they heard at the FinOps X conference with host Eric Hanselman. The need for cost management in AI is seen as so great that the FinOps Foundation, a project of the Linux Foundation, is talking about morphing its conference into Tokenomicon and pivot into token economics. The portmanteau of tokenomics is sweeping across cloud and AI services providers, as well as IT vendors, as enterprises wrestle with dueling forces of AI acceleration and management constraints for access and cost.

Unlike FinOps for cloud operations, the costs and metrics for AI are fairly opaque. Some enterprises are trying to manage costs by limiting access, but that risks stifling the innovation and democratization that is supposed to come with AI transformation. Request routing is promising, but it requires understanding the nature of the request and the suitability of available infrastructure to fulfill it, something that is not well understood by many. Most are just getting comfortable with managing model lifecycles and the step up to cost management can be a large one.

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:

• FinOps in the age of agentic AI
• FinOps Foundation expands FinOps discipline beyond cloud to technology value management
• Service providers race to meet surging enterprise demand for AI infrastructure
• FinOps Market Monitor & Forecast

Host/Author: Eric Hanselman

Guests: Jean Atelsek, Melanie Posey

Producer/Editor: Dylan Scheible

Published With Assistance From: Feranmi Adeoshun, Sophie Carr, Kyra Smith,

There's great momentum in moving to greater levels of agentic automation, but there are critical areas where deeper consideration is required in how it's applied. In capital markets, trust is a foundational element on which transactions are built and Krisha Vinjamuri, Head of Technology, Enterprise Solutions at S&P Global Market Intelligence, joins host Eric Hanselman to talk about how this can be achieved and the important aspects of successful implementations.

One of the useful things in capital markets, is that there are open standards on which to base data ontologies. It's not exciting, but it's the basis of a semantic foundation that can not only ensure that there is depth in data definitions, but can also reduce errors generated by agents. The larger question that looms beyond the construction of foundational architecture, is how the operational envelope that bounds agentic action will be established. This has to be built from policy definitions that take those actions into account. There is great promise and much work that needs to be done.

More S&P Global Content:

• AI-enable Corporate Actions
• AI-driven Portfolio Monitoring with iLEVEL
• AI-automated SSI
• Equity Bookbuilding AI Assist
• Market Intelligence AI Hub

For S&P Global subscribers:

• FinOps in the age of agentic AI
• AI Infrastructure Market Monitor & Forecast
• Service providers race to meet surging enterprise demand for AI infrastructure
• In 2026, the telecom network becomes code

Credits:

• Host/Author: Eric Hanselman
• Guest: Krishna Vinjamuri
• Producer/Editor: Feranmi Adeoshun
• Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Kyra Smith, Dylan Scheible

Networking can be an invisible part of IT infrastructure, but AI is creating demands that make it a critical part of keeping AI application fed with data. Mike Fratto returns to the podcast to discuss both the long haul and local requirements for AI networking with host Eric Hanselman. It's always been important to link chunks of infrastructure efficiently, but AI's voracious need for data has dramatically increased the scope and scale of the need. The risk that any gap in performance or capacity presents is that precious GPU resources will be idled, an increasingly expensive proposition.

The realities of AI application architectures is that infrastructure is ever more hybrid, requiring access to repositories of data both on-premises and in various clouds and models scattered across various providers. The need for dynamic connectivity is driven by the rapid evolution of preferences for new models and the diversifying needs of agents to reach new data sources. It's not only forcing network expansion, but it's also driving M&A activity as network providers look to enhance automation in response to customer demands.

More S&P Global Content:

• Compute sovereignty: The strategic importance of digital infrastructure
• AI won't solve its own energy problem – and that might be fine
• AI in action: unleashing agentic potential
• AI infrastructure results in 2025 top expectations, forecast upgraded

For S&P Global subscribers:

• MWC 2026: Agentic AI as the next operating model for networks and network operations
• AI Infrastructure Market Monitor & Forecast
• Service providers race to meet surging enterprise demand for AI infrastructure
• In 2026, the telecom network becomes code

Credits:

• Host/Author: Eric Hanselman
• Guest: Mike Fratto
• Producer/Editor: Feranmi Adeoshun
• Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Kyra Smith, Dylan Scheible

The shifts that the agentic revolution is driving are felt in many areas of technology and Dell Technologies spans some of those that are seeing the greatest upheaval. The 451 Research team was in attendance at the annual Dell Technologies World conference and Brian Partridge, William Fellows, Henry Baltazar and Greg Macatee joined host Eric Hanselman to talk about their perspectives on the conference, agentic advancement and the technology market. Dell has positioned itself as a purveyor of not only the compute infrastructure needed to build the foundation for AI, but also as the custodian of AI's most critical raw material – data.

The rapid evolution of agentic applications has created a need for new capabilities that is being complicated by both technology infrastructure demands and geopolitical events. Supply chains are being challenged by increasing demand for storage at a time when silicon pipelines were already under tremendous pressure. All of this is happening as the costs of AI are starting to have a material impact on businesses. Tokenomics, the impact of the cost of producing AI tokens, has taken center stage.

More S&P Global Content:

• Compute sovereignty: The strategic importance of digital infrastructure
• AI won't solve its own energy problem – and that might be fine
• AI in action: unleashing agentic potential
• AI infrastructure results in 2025 top expectations, forecast upgraded

For S&P Global subscribers:

• Dell Technologies' unified private cloud strategy: IT environments reimagined
• AI Infrastructure Market Monitor & Forecast
• Quantum Computing Market Monitor & Forecast
• Service providers race to meet surging enterprise demand for AI infrastructure

Credits:

• Host/Author: Eric Hanselman
• Guest: Brian Partridge, William Fellows, Henry Baltazar, Gregg Macatee
• Producer/Editor: Feranmi Adeoshun
• Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Kyra Smith, Dylan Scheible

One of the more interesting areas where AI is having an impact is in building operations. While building automation technology has made significant advances, AI is bridging gaps in building system controls. Analyst Zöe Roth has been researching the approaches and achievements from various smart building automation technologies and joins host Eric Hanselman to discuss what she's seen and what opportunities lie ahead. Some of the advances from data center information management (DCIM) systems are being applied to smart buildings. A typical building has multiple control capabilities for HVAC, lighting, and mechanical that often aren't interconnected and smart building systems can unify visibility and operations.

The integration of AI in smart buildings has to balance a number of different aspects of both the human in the loop for control and the scale that the introduction of cloud-based management offers. Fully autonomous operations may be some time off, but vendors are working to build trust and capability. Cloud-based systems can provide a consolidated view of a portfolio of buildings and improve maintenance operations, but face reluctance in some sectors where on-premises preferences prevail. AI is advancing rapidly and will accelerate further as it matures.

More S&P Global Content:

• 451 Digital Industries Insider
• Next in Tech | Ep. 208: Smart Spaces

For S&P Global subscribers:

• 2026 Trends in IoT, Edge & Digital Industries
• Smart buildings 2025: Market trends, vertical strategies and vendor positioning
• Redefining OT security and ensuring operational continuity in the age of hybrid, AI-driven OT

Credits:

• Host/Author: Eric Hanselman
• Guest: Zöe Roth
• Producer/Editor: Feranmi Adeoshun with Barb Dalumpines
• Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Kyra Smith, Dylan Scheible

The rush to capitalize on agentic capabilities is in full swing in enterprise, but there is caution in operational settings, like industrial control systems. Getting to autonomy in these environments requires a greater consideration in design and implementation and Cody Falcon of ABB joins host Eric Hanselman to continue a conversation that started at CERAWeek to explore the many aspects that should be in consideration. Risk is, of course, much greater in physical systems and AI requires more complex guardrails to manage it. But the greater challenge is in building trust.

AI's ability to handle scope and scale can be tremendously valuable in control systems and the ready availability of telemetry and operational data give implementations a solid base to work from. The journey to autonomy is one that has to be built on proven successes. As with any new employee, agents will need to build trust.

More S&P Global Content:

• The CERAWeek conference
• Next in Tech | Ep. 259: The RSAC Conference – Agents on The Loose
• AI in action: unleashing agentic potential
• 2026 Trends in Information Security

For S&P Global subscribers:

• Redefining OT security and ensuring operational continuity in the age of hybrid, AI-driven OT
• Tech Trend in Focus: Digital twins in the oil and gas industry
• 2026 Trends in IoT, Edge & Digital Industries
• Key learnings from the CERAWeek Chief AI Officer Leadership Circle

Credits:

• Host/Author: Eric Hanselman
• Guest: Cody Falcon, Global Digital Portfolio & Technology Leader, Energy Industries, ABB
• Producer/Editor: Feranmi Adeoshun
• Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Kyra Smith, Dylan Scheible