Datacenters and AI

Fresh from the 12th annual Money 20/20 US conference, Jordan McKee and McKayla Wooldridge return to the podcast to discuss all things FinTech with host Eric Hanselman. While the theme of the conference, “human in the machine”, focused on AI, there was less drama, as exhibitors and attendees grappled with a changing investment landscape and regulatory pressures. The CFPB’s release of the open banking rule is generating significant activity as both banks and FinTech companies implement open banking capabilities. There was added regulatory scrutiny to contend with after a notable failure in the banking as a service market. Ecosystems are expanding in payment orchestration, as more providers open their environments to support multiple payment processors, driven by merchant demands. While there has been a significant pullback in investments compared to previous years, funding is happening and deals are getting done. There were some long-standing trends that came back this year. Jordan is branding the renewed focus on cloud wallets as Wallet War II, as vendors vie to win guest checkout placements. Cryptocurrency in the form of stable coins, was back as means for cross border transactions. It’s an area where there is significant tech being applied. As McKayla discussed in episode 186, B2B payments are seeing ongoing digitization. The conference was rife with activity and there is much more that we discussed. More S&P Global Content: - A primer on payments orchestration - Key takeaways from 2024's Money20/20 US - Virtual cards offer a boost to security, could help streamline B2B payables - Payments, fraud prevention enhance strategic value for merchants – Highlights from VotE: Customer Experience & Commerce - Emerging fraud typologies primer, Part 1: Fighting 'friendly fraud' in e-commerce Credits: - Host/Author: Eric Hanselman - Guests: Jordan McKee, McKayla Wooldridge - Producer/Editor: Donovan Menard and Odesha Chan - Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Feranmi Adeoshun, Kyra Smith

There is continuing positive sentiment among technology buyers, a trend that’s continued for a fourth quarter. Sheryl Kingstone and Liam Eagle return to discuss the latest Tech Demand Indicator (TDI) study results with host Eric Hanselman. The numbers have shown strong correlation with aggregate revenue changes for companies in the S&P 500 Information Technology Index. There are a number of interesting trends within the data. Previously eager spending intent for AI technology has cooled slightly, but remains positive. It has slipped to third place behind information technology and cloud infrastructure. Influence on sentiment shifted in some areas, but external economic conditions continued to lead. When contrasting technology intent versus lines of business intent, selling and customer experience focus predominates.                            The TDI serves as a signal that guides other parts of research and can help provide insights into market trends. When integrated with other data products, it can provide correlation with more specific markers to create forward-looking indications. When it comes to making the most of the TDI data, it’s all interconnected! More S&P Global Content: Technology Demand Webinar The 451 Alliance Economic pressures may delay anticipated sustainability-driven IT spending Tech spending intent extends consistent period of positive demand – Tech Demand Indicator highlights from Q3’24 Credits: Host/Author: Eric Hanselman Guests: Sheryl Kingstone, Liam Eagle Producer/Editor: Donovan Menard and Odesha Chan Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Feranmi Adeoshun, Kyra Smith

As the seasons shift gears, there’s activity happening off the playing fields with sports media deals that are getting teams on their feet. Analysts Scott Robson and Michael Johnson join host Eric Hanselman to look at deals in women’s and men’s sports in the NFL, NBA, WNBA, NWSL and NHL. Streaming media companies are pushing into an area where linear media has dominated and they’re competing aggressively to secure events. At the same time, leagues are expanding both their calendars and playing fields. International games have become common as they look to build fan bases in new geographies. College teams are dealing both with player compensation demands and are stepping beyond the traditional conference boundaries to create matchups that will draw larger viewership.   Regional sports networks have struggled, with a notable bankruptcy disrupting the market. That continues a shift that was forced during the pandemic and continues today. Cord cutting by consumers has only accelerated this trend. Many teams are developing direct-to-consumer streaming services as a result. It’s still a question as to whether these efforts will be viable, given the constraints they face. At the same time streaming services are expanding into a broader range of sports. Pickleball, anyone?   More S&P Global Content: MediaTalk | Season 2 | Ep. 29 - Streaming Services, Linear Networks Kick Off Sports rights in the US approach $30 billion in 2024   Credits: Host/Author: Eric Hanselman Guests: Scott Robson, Michael Johnson Producer/Editor: Donovan Menard and Odesha Chan Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Feranmi Adeoshun, Kyra Smith    

As the payment industry works to address security and fraud, they’re moving beyond being consumers of security technology and becoming acquirers. Mastercard’s recent acquisition of Recorded Future is the latest example of this trend. Jordan McKee and Scott Crawford return to discuss the dynamics on both sides of this equation with host Eric Hanselman. This is only the latest of nine transactions for Mastercard and it indicates the need for greater payment security in a number of ways. As transaction security is ratcheted up, attackers are shifting tactics. Identity fraud has become the stage on which this struggle is playing out. Fraud liability can fall to merchants and fraud prevention can build value for issuing banks. At the same time, banks want to minimize false declines to encourage use of their cards. Mastercard isn’t the only payment company making acquisitions and it raises the question of this becoming a more viable exit path for security companies. The $2.65 billion deal is the thirteenth largest by a strategic acquirer in the 451 Research M&A Knowledgebase. American Express, Discover and Visa have been active in dealmaking, as well, but not yet at this scale. More S&P Global Content: A primer on payments orchestration Security Summer Camp 2024 and the elephant in the room For Mastercard, the future will be recorded MAKB Deal Analysis Payments, fraud prevention enhance strategic value for merchants – Highlights from VotE: Customer Experience & Commerce Emerging fraud typologies primer, Part 1: Fighting 'friendly fraud' in e-commerce Credits: Host/Author: Eric Hanselman   Guests: Scott Crawford, Jordan McKee Producer/Editor: Donovan Menard Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Feranmi Adeoshun, Kyra Smith

If your view of the technology that drives the human resources end of business is mostly hiring, firing and time off management, your head would have been spinning at the HR Tech conference that just wrapped up. Analyst Conner Forrest was there and joined host Eric Hanselman to look at not only the highlights of the conference, but also his recent research and market explorations. It’s an area that has seen dramatic transformation, as organizations work to manage their internal capabilities with one of their most valuable assets, their employees. Analytics now play a much greater role in many aspects of management. People analytics can address performance management to gauge and guide team effectiveness. It’s grown into employee experience analysis, as organizations look to manage and retain key talents and skills. Using intelligent skills gap analysis can strengthen training programs, particularly when it becomes part of employee growth planning.  When it’s done right, investing in employee experience can also improve customer experience. HR tech is another market where there is a tension between integrated analytical functionality and standalone products. The recent HR tech Market Monitor looks at shifts in growth, startup opportunities and market dynamics. Larger players want to maintain a platform advantage and newcomers are trying to carve out their own niche. There are a host of possibilities to improve performance, culture and employee focus. More S&P Global Content: How legacy tech can kill recruiting efforts, increase attrition and ruin the employee experience Top 5 AI use cases for HR set stage for its evolution to data-driven partner Data Insight: HR technology market to surpass $85B in 2028 HR Technology Market Monitor & Forecast Credits: Host/Author: Eric Hanselman Guests: Conner Forrest Producer/Editor: Donovan Menard Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Feranmi Adeoshun, Kyra Smith

As cloud-based infrastructure becomes a larger part of enterprise portfolios, there’s greater focus on securing it effectively. Analyst Mark Ehr joins host Eric Hanselman to wade into the acronym-rich world of cloud native application security. Like other aspects of cloud and cloud native, security is a matter of dealing with speed and scale. There’s more telemetry that’s available, but workloads are more ephemeral and extending the same methods used in on-premises security risks overwhelming security teams and ballooning costs. Decomposing CNAPP into infrastructure and application development patterns creates an explosion of subsegments – Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM), Cloud Workload Protection (CWP), Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) and many more.  Security vendors are bundling the various pieces together into platforms, but buyers aren’t fully buying in. Efforts to move security earlier into the application development process, the “shift left” movement, has added the need to secure the infrastructure provisioning process that’s taking place in cloudy environments.   Cloud security has become the leading pain point for security teams, according to 451 Research’s Voice of the Enterprise study data, and cloud native skills are one of their leading skills gaps. At the same time, most organizations use multiple cloud providers, increasing complexity. Operational scale is necessitating a move beyond the siloed approaches that have been the norm for security. To provide effective security, data has to be shared across infrastructure. It also happens to be an area where cloud-based security tooling is taking a greater role. More S&P Global Content: The Open Cybersecurity Schema Framework Security for cloud-native applications SentinelOne continues its aggressive growth strategy with new CNAPP offering Orca Security continues its CNAPP momentum Credits: Host/Author: Eric Hanselman Guests: Mark Ehr Producer/Editor: Donovan Menard Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Feranmi Adeoshun, Kyra Smith

The energy impacts of technology have been a concern for some time, but the rapid growth of AI has added additional pressure and speculation about the short and long term needs of the datacenter industry. The Datacenter and Energy Innovation Summit will be tackling a host of these topics, from energy to investments on October 30th, in Washington, D.C.. Analysts Kelly Morgan, Steve Piper and Dan Thompson join host Eric Hanselman to explore the topics that are at the heart of the event, as well as the challenges faced by energy providers, datacenter operators and the technology sector. Technology-driven increases in energy demands have upset the long-term balance of energy grid operators. Short-term increases in a business that plans over decades has datacenter builders and investors going to new lengths to secure the power they require. Nuclear power is back in favor, but the plans for Small Modular Reactors (SMR) from a year ago have been usurped by moves to repurpose existing facilities, with Apple and Microsoft both inking recent deals. At the same time, the large investments required to secure AI infrastructure are leading to some creative financing. Listen to get the details and attend the Summit for even more. More S&P Global Content: Datacenter and Energy Innovation Summit 2024 Next in Tech | Ep. 177: Datacenters and AI Next in Tech | Episode 169: AI’s Impact on Datacenter Power Datacenters and energy 101 — Powering through renewable intermittency Powering the AI revolution — opportunities and tensions in datacenter and energy markets 2024 US Datacenters and Energy Report Credits: Host/Author: Eric Hanselman Guests: Kelly Morgan, Steve Piper, Dan Thompson Producer/Editor: Donovan Menard Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Feranmi Adeoshun, Kyra Smith

We’re all familiar with consumer payments technology in its various forms, but business transactions have a different set of requirements and a very different set of technologies and market participants. McKayla Wooldridge joins host Eric Hanselman to look at the results of a recent study and explore the dynamics of this complex market. The core accounting operations of any business are their lifeblood and change can be challenging, but the pressure to digitize to streamline operations, reduce errors and fraud and better manage cash flow are fueling interest in B2B payments. Much like transitions in other areas, like logistics or healthcare, going digital has to include a bridge from existing methods to electronic payments. In a world where 16% are transacting in cash, that’s no small task. There are many players in this market, including software vendors looking to centralize on platforms for both payables and receivables, as well as banks with business-focused payment technologies. Moving from paper checks to credit card backed transactions might be a good first step, but businesses need to leverage the data that their payment activities generate to realize the full set of benefits. There’s a lot of ground to cover, but significant benefits for those that can do it well. More S&P Global Content: Virtual cards offer a boost to security, could help streamline B2B payables Payments, fraud prevention enhance strategic value for merchants – Highlights from VotE: Customer Experience & Commerce Credits: Host/Author: Eric Hanselman  Guests: McKayla Wooldridge Producer/Editor: Donovan Menard Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Feranmi Adeoshun, Kyra Smith

The primary exposure to advances in technology for most is in the consumer world. Phones, video and gaming are driven by the latest innovations, but have been experiencing a softening of the markets. Analyst Neil Barbour returns with host Eric Hanselman to look at recent research in consumer technology and explore some global market shifts. Phone replacement cycles have lengthened and North American and European markets are softer. How saturated they are remains a question for discussion. The new iPhone announcement has raised interest, but the unknown impact of the need for AI-capable end user devices is still hovering in the future. There have to be compelling applications to complete the picture and they’re not yet fully defined. The markets will need more than early adopters to thrive. Asia Pacific consumer technology markets are transforming and may offer interesting opportunities. Console gaming in China is seeing a focus that could drive an industry that is in the doldrums in other parts of the globe. Home broadband connections are projected to grow and could drive technology purchases. It’s still early days, though. More S&P Global Content: Evolving Technology Webinar Metaverse Digest: The latest global, enterprise and industrial developments Metaverse Digest: Augmented World Expo; Infinite Reality buys Landvault AI & the Laptop/Smartphone Replacement Cycle For S&P subscribers: Survey: Half of adults are in the metaverse; why is the other half holding out? Credits: Host/Author: Eric Hanselman Guests: Neil Barbour Producer/Editor: Donovan Menard Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Feranmi Adeoshun, Kyra Smith  

The flagship event for Salesforce, its Dreamforce conference, returns to San Francisco and some of the 451 Research analyst team who will be there join host Eric Hanselman to talk about what they expect and the key issues that will be in play. Sheryl Kingstone is looking at practical technology implementations as enterprises try to make sense of the real delivered value that’s beyond the hype. Paige Bartley is exploring the challenges in balancing data quality and controls while supporting privacy and regulatory mandates. James Curtis is digging into the infrastructure technologies that are needed to support the innovation needed. Generative AI will be front and center in much what’s going on at Dreamforce. It’s already seeing significant application in customer service. But organizations are wrestling with managing data to feed their AI engines. There’s a growing question as to the role of platforms like Salesforce in becoming the overarching manager of all data resources, certainly one that will generate a lot of discussion at Dreamforce. The annual 451 Research breakfast will be taking place at Dreamforce and listeners should contact the analyst or account team to register to attend. More S&P Global Content: Salesforce goes deep with an integrated generative AI strategy built on trust Sleep tight: Salesforce looks to advance vision of AI 'trust' Credits: Host/Author: Eric Hanselman Guests: Paige Bartley, James Curtis, Sheryl Kingstone Producer/Editor: Donovan Menard Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Feranmi Adeoshun, Kyra Smith