Next in Tech

There’s renewed focus on the sustainability of datatcenters. Dan Thompson returns to explore what’s driving recent regulatory activity, concerns about efficiency measurement and what application architectures could do for sustainability with host Eric Hanselman. PUE and the more recent WUE are useful metrics, but they need to viewed in an operating context to understand tradeoffs. Report here: https://pages.marketintelligence.spglobal.com/Datacenter-Sustainability-Report-Demo-Request.html

Too often, the language in technology is taken for granted and yet it is the fundamental means through which we communicate ideas. Director of company information services, Emily Jasper, and copy editor, Patrice Calise, join host Eric Hanselman to look at ways we can be more intentional in language use and more mindful of the communities that consume it. Organizations need to take a wider view and check the lens through which they’re viewing their audience. Clarity and understanding can follow!

Macroeconomic concerns are weighing on technology markets, but there are conflicting signals in the data from the latest outlook study. Research analyst Malav Parekh returns to pick through the complexities in inflation concerns and interest rates with host Eric Hanselman. Respondents say that they can’t hire fast enough, but are also concerned about inflation trends. They’re worrying about borrowing and repayment, too. Will dreary impressions turn into self-fulfilling prophecies?

With the upheaval taking place in the cryptocurrency markets, there’s a lot of confusion about the realities of DeFi. Charles Jansen, head of DeFi transformation for S&P Global Ratings, joins host Eric Hanselman to focus on the distance between the two and look at innovations aiming to manage risk as the industry matures. DeFi capabilities can speed transactions while reducing cost and are already finding their way into payments channels. Useful abstractions are powering innovation.

Data-driven decision-making is accelerating, and organizations need to ensure that they’ve got the data and infrastructure to fuel this imperative. Senior analyst James Curtis joins host Eric Hanselman to look at data about expectations for addressing hybrid computing environments, data movement and advanced database technologies and why they’re critical for digitization. The data we discussed and more on AI and ML uses is available here: https://www.spglobal.com/setthepace

AI and ML can help insurers, but the InsurTech world has a lot more going on. Automation is delivering faster quotes and improving customer experience. Senior analyst Thomas Mason joins host Eric Hanselman to look at the impacts of market opinion and interest rate increases. Market worries about tech are hitting stock prices, but investment portfolios could be helped by higher rates. There’s promise integrating insurance into consumer purchasing, similar to what’s happening with financing.

The year has been full of contradictory signals in technology markets, with some areas accelerating and others pulling back. Simon Robinson, head of TMT research returns to identify, if not make sense, of the forces at play with host Eric Hanselman. The winds of inflation, M&A and maturing expectations for ESG are beating across tech companies as they look to navigate a path through these choppy waters. Fintech advances in spite of the crypto winter and blockchain might actually get real.

Innovations in the payments world continue with the advances in Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL). It’s beloved by a new generation of online shoppers and big step from the layaway plans of old. Associate analyst McKayla Wooldridge joins host Eric Hanselman to delve into its appeal and look at recent study results that show both positive and negative angles for consumers and merchants. The latter want increased purchasing volumes, but the former are concerned about refund complexities and hidden costs.

While we’ve come a ways from Robby the Robot being society’s image of robots, there’s more useful nuance. Senior research analyst Ian Hughes returns to discuss a model of nine levels of autonomy with host Eric Hanselman and effects on applications of robotic technology. Self-driving vehicles are just a start and many of the enabling technologies are in early stages, but digital twins play a key role in training the models that are driving robots and link them to digital realms and metaverses.

The shift to subscription sales models is sweeping across many industries, but it’s a change that requires more than just a new way to buy. Senior research analyst Bruce Daly joins host Eric Hanselman to explore the shift in mindset it requires and the organizational challenges that many have faced. While customer success approaches can be supported by software systems, there’s an underlying organizational and operational change that’s required. More digitization complexity!