Technology Trends Archives - Making Every Word Count

The Edge Awakens: Why the Future of AI Won’t Live in the Cloud

For years, enterprises treated the cloud as the ultimate destination for computing. Centralized infrastructure promised scale, accessibility, and predictable cost. Data lakes grew endlessly, and AI models flourished in vast clusters of remote compute power. The future of AI may now bring the end of the cloud’s golden era.

The push to put everything on the cloud worked – until the laws of physics and economics caught up. Latency, bandwidth, privacy, and energy are now real constraints. Every byte that crosses a network consumes time, power, and money. As AI models grow larger and more complex, the cost of moving data often outweighs the value of processing it.

This is where the next chapter in the Future of AI begins. Intelligence is migrating from distant data centers to the physical world, bringing data closer to its source. The cloud was the foundation, but the Edge is becoming the next frontier.

Will AI Shatter the Old Walls Between Software and Hardware?

I’ve spent many years in high-tech leadership, having worked in several product marketing and analyst relations roles. I’ve overseen rebranding campaigns, new product launches, and messaging strategies, working with many teams focused on delivering products that bridge multiple architectures and deployment strategies. My experience has been primarily from a perspective of enterprise software. This includes understanding buyer personas, value propositions, and how to achieve the lowest total cost of ownership. More recently, I’ve begun working in the hardware and chip development industry, in the area of AI semiconductor design. Interestingly, I see more parallels today between the software and hardware industries – a convergence I attribute to the increasing influence of AI.

Now the direction is to orchestrate AI capabilities across hardware and software platforms. This shift is an “agentic” transformation. This wasn’t always the case. In September 2024, Salesforce was an early pioneer in taking a software approach to building agents. One of their Dreamforce 2024 tracks, Build Innovative ISV Apps with Agentforce, discussed how “ISV partners can build Agents and actions for Agentforce using Apex, flows, and prompt templates.”

I don’t recall any conversations about taking an agentic strategy to hardware back in 2024, but I might have missed it! My focus at that time was on closely monitoring the field service management vertical of the enterprise software stack.

Marketing With Agentic AI—What You Need To Know

The pace of AI development is astonishing—especially in marketing—where Agentic AI is taking root faster than almost anywhere else. These observations became crystal clear after I attended last week’s HSE Agentic AI Summit, hosted by Julia Nimchinski (shout out for a great conference!). Tech companies are already replacing entire functions with AI agents. These aren’t just tools. They’re early signs of a shift toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

Why Marketers Need to Now Embrace a VUCA Mindset to Stay Effective

Marketing today is harder than ever. Customer behavior changes overnight. One viral moment can shift entire brand perceptions. Algorithms update constantly, upending months of planning. Budgets tighten while expectations grow. Channels evolve so fast that yesterday’s best practices quickly feel outdated.

In this chaos, the bar for being a strong marketer keeps rising. It’s no longer enough to be creative. You need data skills, agility, and sharp instincts. And, you must make quick decisions with limited clarity. You need to thrive in uncertainty.

Will AI Replace the Future Need For Enterprise Software Applications?

Artificial Intelligence is changing the way the world works. Many industries are already seeing major disruption from AI technologies. This shift is not small or temporary. The pace of change is fast, and the impact is deep. The world will never be the same again. Will the demise of enterprise software applications be next?