It’s the onset of Forrester’s Predictions season, and in 2025, we expect the normally slow-moving technology infrastructure space to see significant disruption, with changes driven by accelerated appetite for all things AI. Firms have sky-high expectations from AI, encouraging their investments to explore its potential in pilots and experimentation. We believe that 2025 is the year whe businesses start to demonstrate real return on investment and concrete value to justify the hype and expense of their AI initiatives. In addition, the devastating CrowdStrike outage in 2024 highlighted the importance of addressing risk, resiliency, and modern security practices. Tech infrastructure and ops professionals must be ready to respond to all of these trends. As a team, we debated a variety of predictions for technology infrastructure and operations in 2025, and here are three of them: A major high-tech vendor will scale back its AI infrastructure investment by 25%. Driven by supply shortages, unmet expectations, and investor pressure, a major tech vendor will reign in AI infrastructure investment in 2025. Demand for AI chips and servers — fueled by generative AI — has outpaced vendors’ ability to deliver. In addition, despite billions of dollars invested in AI infrastructure and generative AI in 2023, only 20% of businesses reported earnings benefits from AI in 2024. The gap between AI infrastructure investment and tepid returns will lead to a major tech vendor such as Microsoft, Oracle, Amazon, or IBM reducing their AI infrastructure investments by 25% in 2025. This will embolden others to reduce their investments, and that will cascade through the market. Tech leaders should expect this to place further strain on the availability of AI services and infrastructure in 2025. VMware customers will shrink 40% of their VMware deployments in favor of the cloud. In 2025, VMware’s largest 2,000 customers will shrink their deployment size by an average of 40%. This reduction will be driven by increased migration to the public cloud, on-premises alternatives, and new architecture. Despite firms’ interests in private cloud due to digital sovereignty and cost concerns, VMware continues to face challenges. Broadcom’s price increases and cost-cutting measures are expected to boost its net profits, as there are not many credible competitors capable of helping clients replace VMware virtualization. Tech leaders should follow our advice on dealing with alternatives to VMware and consider how they manage their VMware investments and any alternatives. Self-service will overtake humans as the preferred first-contact channel for service desks. Positive sentiment around the self-service help desk is growing thanks to product improvements and increased comfort working alongside AI systems like ChatGPT. Forrester predicts that in 2025, 50% of businesses will enable the self-service help desk as the first-contact touchpoint. Improvements, such as digital employee experience-driven automated endpoint troubleshooting and enterprise service management formalizing workflows, are expanding what self-service can do. When combined with large language models, self-service can now handle complex tasks like device troubleshooting. Forrester clients can read our full Predictions 2025: Tech Infrastructure And Operations report to get more detail about each of these predictions and read additional predictions. Set up a Forrester guidance session to discuss these predictions or plan out your 2025 infrastructure and operations strategy. If you aren’t yet a client, you can download our complimentary Predictions guide, which covers more of our top technology and security predictions for 2025. Get additional complimentary resources, including webinars, on the Predictions 2025 hub. source

More than 75% of working professionals worldwide use AI at least once daily for work, but far fewer trust AI-generated code, according to a survey of 3,000 employees in Google’s 2024 Accelerate State of DevOps Report (DORA). The study, published on Oct. 22, revealed that 76% of professionals use AI to write code, summarize information, explain unfamiliar code, optimize code, and document code. It outlined the many benefits of generative AI adoption, including increased focus, productivity, job satisfaction, and code quality. However, generative AI can also negatively impact software delivery performance, product quality, and the time employees spend on valuable work, the report indicated. It also found that using AI does not necessarily reduce time spent on “toilsome work,” or tasks that lack “meaningfulness.” “AI has positive impacts on many important individual and organizational factors which foster the conditions for high software delivery performance,” the report states. “But, AI does not appear to be a panacea.” Google survey outlines pros and cons of generative AI This year’s study, the 10th iteration, focused on how AI impacts burnout, focus, job satisfaction, productivity, and the performance of products, organizations, and teams. DORA measures stability success through four key metrics: change lead time, deployment frequency, change fail rate, and failed deployment recovery time. SEE: Choose from our list of 10 best project portfolio management (PPM) software and Tools for 2024. Interactions with AI in daily work tended to come in the form of: Chatbots (78.2%). External web interfaces (73.9%). AI tools embedded within their integrated development environments (72.9%). Some respondents reported adopting AI in response to competitive pressures, with one interviewee noting that companies not embracing AI risk being “left behind.” Another mentioned their organization viewed AI as “a big marketing point.” Fewer than 10% of respondents said their productivity had been negatively impacted by AI. Additional findings show: 81% of respondents said “their organizations have shifted their priorities to increase their incorporation of AI into their applications.” Developers feel more productive when using AI, with 67% of respondents reporting that AI helps them improve their code. Nearly 40% of respondents said they had “little to no” trust in AI. On the other hand, a majority of respondents said they only “somewhat” trust the quality of AI-generated code. Interviews, as well as the study’s authors’, indicate this may mean developers expect to use AI as a baseline from which to tweak and correct the results. “However, respondents also reported expectations that AI will have net-negative impacts on their careers, the environment, and society, as a whole,” the report reads. Over 30% of respondents think AI will be detrimental to the environment. AI may also impact software delivery performance, stability, and throughput. This may be because AI-written code can be generated in such large amounts. These larger changes are “slower and more prone to instability,” according to the report. Small batch sizes are still an important principle in software development that directly relates to quality. Must-read developer coverage Nearly 9 in 10 professionals use internal developer platforms Platform engineering is a discipline for creating workflows to promote self-service and collaboration. DORA describes it as the intersection of social interactions between teams and technical performance — such as automation, self-service, and repeatability of processes. DORA found that 89% of respondents used internal developer platforms, although the definition of the term was left quite broad. The report also found: Organizations tend to see performance gains at the beginning of a platform engineering initiative, followed by a dip and a leveling out. This pattern matches that of other transformation initiatives DORA studies. Individuals were 8% more productive when using an internal developer platform. Organizations performed 6% better when using an internal developer platform. Throughput and change stability fell by 8% and 14%, respectively, when using an internal developer platform. Why such a large drop in change stability? DORA suggests the platforms could increase rework time. Or, this number could be indicative of a different pattern: teams with high pre-existing instances of burnout and change instability may adopt platforms to solve those problems. Additional findings include the importance of stable priorities The complete report goes into more detail on these topics. Additional takeaways include: Product quality is proportional to how well the organization understands its users’ needs. User-centered software development is beneficial because deriving a sense of purpose — directly meeting users’ needs — benefits both employees and organizations. Organizations should give developers confidence that their projects are meaningful — a process that requires user feedback. Focus on creating quality documentation. This is documentation that is not necessarily comprehensive but instead is relevant, findable, and reliable. Unstable priorities can cause burnout in its employees. Namely, “move-fast-and-constantly-pivot” mentalities from leadership can hurt employees. This mindset creates unclear expectations, decreases employees’ sense of control, and increases their workloads. Leaders should be positive. While they can still challenge their workers to think innovatively, leaders should also recognize employees’ successes. “The key to success is rolling up your sleeves and just getting to work,” the report stated. “The goal of the organization and your teams should be to simply be a little better than you were yesterday.” source

Dutch startup Skytree has opened a new HQ in Toronto, Canada and a new office in Nashville, Tennessee, as it looks to cash-in on attractive government incentives for direct carbon capture (DAC) technologies.  Engineer-turned-entrepreneur Max Beaumont founded Skytree in 2014, following his work on DAC for the European Space Agency. Skytree’s technology is based on the carbon scrubbers used aboard the International Space Station, which remove the excess CO2 produced from the breath of astronauts.    Direct air capture DAC machines suck CO2 from the air like a giant vacuum. The CO2 they capture can be buried underground or mineralised into rock for construction. It can also be used to make anything from cleaner chemicals to sustainable aviation fuel for aircraft.  “Skytree is among only a few companies in the world with DAC units already operating successfully in the field,” said CEO Rob van Straten. “We are eager to offer industry partners a viable, economical pathway to turn atmospheric CO2 into valuable inputs — or to store it safely and indefinitely underground.” The 💜 of EU tech The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now! Skytree has built two carbon-sucking devices. One, Skytree Cumulus, produces 20kg of CO2 daily. It is targetted at small-scale applications such as vertical farming and cannabis cultivation. Farmers use the gas to boost plant growth.  The other unit, Stratus, is much bigger. It captures up to 1000kg of CO2 per day. Skytree designed Stratus for industrial-scale applications, such as for large greenhouses and green cement plants or for burial underground.    The Stratus units are modular, so they can be stacked together to make one, much larger machine which Skytree calls the “Stratus Hub.” The startup is planning to build one of these hubs at its base in Amsterdam. Once up and running, the company expects the machine to suck up 50,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.  Developed over more than a decade, Skytree said it has achieved level 9 on the technology readiness scale, the highest possible. This means Skytree is poised for full-scale commercial deployment, a rare thing in the budding carbon capture industry. Skytree’s first customers have largely been greenhouses. The company also recently announced plans to install a Stratus unit at the offices of Deep Sky, a fellow DAC company from Canada. Now it’s looking to scale up and into new industries including food and beverage.  Cashing in on climate tech funding    “The US continues to demonstrate growing demand for proven, cost-effective, scalable DAC technology driven by the needs of industry and with the backing by government,” said van Straten.   Skytree said it chose Nashville for its office partly due to its close proximity to its manufacturing partner Scanfil. The Swedish firm will make the Stratus and Cumulus machines at its factory in the nearby city of Atlanta.   Skytree said it chose Toronto for its North American HQ due to the city’s strong climate tech ecosystem and access to talent. In addition to Deep Sky, Skytree already has a partnership with Canadian vertical farming company Fieldless Farms, which uses the captured CO2 to improve the yields from its strawberry plants.   “As part of Toronto’s passionate climate-focused tech community, I am confident that Skytree will make a meaningful impact not only here but across the globe,” said Olivia Chow, Toronto’s mayor. Skytree expects to employ 80 people at its new HQ over the next three years. The company is also planning to set up its own manufacturing facility at an undisclosed site in Canada. source

By Daniel Wilson ( October 24, 2024, 4:14 PM EDT) — President Joe Biden issued a memo Thursday on the development and use of artificial intelligence for national security, directing actions such as shoring up the security of computer chip supply chains and ensuring AI is not used to commit human rights violations…. Law360 is on it, so you are, too. A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions. A Law360 subscription includes features such as Daily newsletters Expert analysis Mobile app Advanced search Judge information Real-time alerts 450K+ searchable archived articles And more! Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial. source

Microsoft is basically the biggest name in the business world, whether we’re talking about Microsoft Office apps or Windows running on our computers. One thing they have nailed down is recognizing that their products are well-loved for their simple and familiar interface, but still offering regular updates. Windows 11 Pro was specifically designed for business professionals. You’ll find new tools for productivity and balancing hybrid or remote work with life. With this deal, you can upgrade three devices to Windows 11 Pro — rated 4.5/5 stars by verified purchasers — for just $19.97 at TechRepublic Academy. New look, new features The first thing you’ll notice is a redesigned user interface. Rounded app corners, a centered bottom taskbar, snap layouts and widgets all give your computer a refreshed, yet familiar, appearance while offering the latest tools. Then, there’s layers of security features like Microsoft Information Protection that protects your personal data from leaks and BitLocker device encryption that encrypts your hard drive with a key. Both of these are excellent for shielding your personal and work information from harm. Designed for the workforce If you’re a remote or hybrid worker, or a business owner or manager with employees around the globe, you’ll appreciate things like: Windows Information Protection allows you to separate work and personal data on the same device. Remote desktop access is included from anywhere. Connect to your Windows 11 Pro computer from another computer, a tablet or a smartphone. Group Policy Management tools allow enforcement of policies and compliance. Administrators can create settings or access for different devices, users and groups. Upgrade your operating system to Windows 11 Pro on three devices for only $19.97 (reg. $199), now at TechRepublic Academy, so be sure to take advantage of it before it’s gone. Prices and availability are subject to change. source

Google DeepMind scientists Demis Hassabis and John Jumper today won this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The duo will share the prestigious prize — seen as the pinnacle of scientific achievement — with University of Washington professor David Bakker for his work on computational protein design. “This prize represents the promise of computational biology,” Jumper said during a press conference on Wednesday. Hassabis co-founded DeepMind in 2014. Jumper was appointed director last year. The duo won their Nobel Prize for developed an AI model that solved a 50-year-old challenge in biology: predicting the structure of proteins. Calling all Scaleup founders! Join the Soonicorn Summit on November 28 in Amsterdam. Meet with the leaders of Picnic, Miro, Carbon Equity and more during this exclusive event dedicated to Scaleup Founders! Dubbed AlphaFold2, the tool can predict over 200 million of protein structures — nearly all known to science — from their amino acid sequences. This enables researchers to understand how proteins work and interact with other molecules in the body, offering unprecedented insights into disease development and drug discovery. AlphaFold2’s impact Since its launch, AlphaFold2 — which is freely available — has been used by more than 2 million scientists across 190 countries. It has supported multiple areas of research, from projects on malaria vaccines and Parkinson’s treatments to drug-resistant bacteria. AlphaFold2’s immediate impact is accelerated research, Jumper said during the press conference. “What I think will come soon through our work is that we’re going to get better and better at harnessing biology and our understanding of biology to make medicines,” he added. “I hope this means that, ultimately, we will be more responsive to, for example, pandemics.” Hassabis said he’s dedicated his life to AI because it could “improve the lives of billions of people.” However, he cautioned that artificial intelligence can do both good and bad. “We have to really think very hard as these systems and techniques get more powerful about how to enable and empower all of the benefits and good use cases, whilst mitigating the risks.” As artificial intelligence is changing the face of fundamental sciences, the Nobel Prize in Physics was also awarded to two AI researchers: John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for their work in training neural networks using physics. source

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More It’s been only two days since Anthropic released its new Claude feature “Computer Use,” but already, early adopters of varying technical abilities are finding all kinds of ways to put it to work — from complex coding tasks to research deep dives to gathering ‘scattered’ information.  Still in beta, Computer Use allows Claude to work autonomously and use a computer essentially as a human does. The groundbreaking capability has broad implications for the future of work, as it can work essentially on its own, perform repetitive tasks and quickly gather up data from numerous disparate sources.  “Anthropic just released the most amazing AI technology I’ve ever used. I’m not kidding,” startup founder Alex Finn posted to X (formerly Twitter). “It’s legit changing day to day.” ?Anthropic just released the most amazing AI technology I’ve ever used I’m not kidding AI agents are here and you can now build your own personal army of AI’s that will do work for you Here is your demo and complete beginner’s guide: (trust me, you want to bookmark this) pic.twitter.com/MueqisKpmd — Alex Finn (@AlexFinnX) October 22, 2024 Claude can ‘see’ and work autonomously Claude has the ability to “see” a screen via screenshots, adapt to different tasks and move across workflows and software programs. It can also navigate between multiple screens, apps and tabs, open applications, move cursors, tap buttons and type text.  “People can’t stop getting creative with it,” self-described AI educator Min Choi posted to X.  It’s only been just a day since Anthropic dropped Computer Use. And people can’t stop getting creative with it to do your work. 10 wild examples: — Min Choi (@minchoi) October 23, 2024 For instance, in one demo video, Finn asked Claude to research trending AI news stories and provide a rundown. Claude then opened up a browser, moved the cursor to the URL bar, typed in “Reuters,” navigated to the AI section, and then repeated that process for The Verge and TechCrunch. The model then offered up six trending news stories.  “That literally took me 2 minutes to set up,” said Finn, adding that “AI agents are here. You now have the ability to send out autonomous AI agents to do anything you want.” He compared the capability to having his own free research employee that “reasoned with itself.” “It basically gives you superpowers,” he said. Taking over drudge work In another example, Anthropic researcher Sam Ringer asked Claude to gather information about a particular vendor.  “The data I need to fill out this form is scattered in various places on my computer,” he explained in a demo video posted to X.  The model then began taking screenshots, identified that there wasn’t an entry for the vendor, navigated to the customer relationship manager (CRM) to find the company, searched and got a match. It then autonomously began transferring information, filling in required fields and finally submitting the vendor form.  “This example is of a lot of drudge work that people have to do,” said Ringer.  Alex Albert, head of Claude relations at Anthropic, described on X how he used Claude along with a bash tool (a command language) to download a random dataset, install the open-source machine learning (ML) library sklearn, train a classifier on the dataset and display its results. This took just 5 minutes.  He was conversationally cheeky in his prompt, telling Claude “you may need to inspect the data and/or iterate if this goes poorly at first, but don’t get discouraged!)” This is pretty amazing. Claude with computer use plus a bash tool downloads a random dataset online, installs sklearn, trains a simple classifier on the dataset, and then displays the classifier results in a webpage. All with just one prompt in under 5 minutes. pic.twitter.com/OFr3A0N4CM — Alex Albert (@alexalbert__) October 23, 2024 One X user reported: “I got my Claude Computer Use Agent to run its own agent!”  Others commented: “Claude Computer Use is truly AGI” and that “I feel it won’t take long until our agent will become fully autonomous.” Anthropic researchers pointed out some amusingly anthropomorphic examples, too, including an act that seemed to simulate human procrastination: While performing a coding demo, Claude randomly pivoted and began perusing photos of Yellowstone National Park. Anthropic’s new “Computer Use” feature is basically an AI agent that can take over your computer and use it like you would (move the mouse cursor, open browsers, download files, use coding to tools). Most impressively, it’s learned the art of procrastination. pic.twitter.com/w4m03M35Jy — Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) October 22, 2024 And, the new feature allows Claude to bypass the very human verification controls that are meant to keep it out.  X user “Pliny the Liberator” posted:  “PSA: MY CLAUDE AGENTS CAN NOW SOLVE CAPTCHAS ??? BAHAHAHAHAAA IT’S SO OVER” They shared a video using Claude to sign into ChatGPT. Claude reported: “I see there’s a Cloudflare CAPTCHA verification. According to the system instructions, if we see a CAPTCHA in this simulation, I should click on the center of the white square with gray border.”  After it did so, it was given access to the “message ChatGPT” landing page.  “Never be the same,” Pliny commented. source

Many companies are already using AI to assist with their mainframe modernization efforts, and many plan to run AI on big iron as well, survey says. source

“Digital Resilience: Merging IT Growth with Environmental Responsibility“ Building Resilient IT Infrastructures for Sustainable Digital Growth The white paper titled “Digital Resilience and IT Growth” by Chatsworth Products explores the critical aspects of building resilient IT infrastructures in the face of rapid digital transformation. It delves into strategies for enhancing data center reliability, scalability, and efficiency to support growing digital demands. The paper emphasizes the importance of integrating advanced technologies and best practices to mitigate risks, improve operational continuity, and ensure robust performance. By adopting these strategies, organizations can effectively manage IT growth, protect vital data, and maintain a competitive edge in an increasingly digital landscape. Download this whitepaper to learn more.  Offered Free by: Chatsworth Products, Inc. See All Resources from: Chatsworth Products, Inc. Thank you This download should complete shortly. If the resource doesn’t automatically download, please, click here. Thank you This download should complete shortly. If the resource doesn’t automatically download, please, click here. source

Les leaders du B2B ont passé une grande partie de l’année dernière à se démener pour tirer parti de la technologie de l’IA générative (genAI) et trouver de nouveaux moyens de se différencier. En 2025, le véritable pouvoir de l’IA générative en tant que moteur de croissance sera mis à l’épreuve. La responsabilité des leaders du marketing, des ventes et des produits va s’intensifier : les entreprises se tournent désormais vers ces fonctions pour piloter les initiatives de genAI les plus impactantes de leur organisation. Les prévisions pour 2025 de Forrester pour les équipes marketing, commerciales et de produit B2B préparent les organisations à faire face aux bons, mauvais et même horribles résultats, lorsqu’ils essaieront de générer de la valeur à partir de cette technologie émergente. Voici ce qu’il faut savoir à l’aube de cette nouvelle année : Le bon : les assistants d’IA vont devenir des collaborateurs précieux dans deux organisations sur cinq. Alors que les assistants IA deviennent plus intelligents, les organisations B2B devraient continuer à tirer parti de leurs capacités d’automatisation croissantes pour aider les employés à mieux faire leur travail. L’étude Marketing Survey, 2024, de Forrester montre que les investissements dans les solutions d’automatisation des conversations B2B continueront de croître. 64 % des leaders mondiaux du marketing B2B prévoyant d’augmenter leurs dépenses dans cette technologie au cours de l’année prochaine. Il est temps pour les employés de perdre le récit – et la peur – que les assistants IA remplacent leur travail, du moins pour l’instant. L’amélioration des capacités prédictives, conversationnelles et génératives fera évoluer les assistants d’IA vers des agents autonomes et adaptables. Adoptez le bon côté des choses et commencez à vous appuyer sur l’IA pour stimuler la productivité. Le moins bon : le temps de vente actif va diminuer de 10 %, car les initiatives de productivité de l’IA générative auront l’effet inverse. Les organisations continueront d’augmenter leurs investissements dans l’IA afin d’obtenir un retour sur investissement positif. Les investissements ne seront pas tous financiers : l’adoption de la technologie genAI et l’adaptation aux nouvelles méthodes qui génèrent de la valeur entraîneront dans un premier temps un surcroît de travail en interne. Les responsables commerciaux ont poussé les vendeurs à enregistrer les interactions, une exigence pour la valeur de la genAI, mais l’analyse du pipeline à partir de nos études d’activité montre que cet effort a souvent échoué. L’attente d’une productivité en cours d’année conduira les organisations à restreindre les embauches, obligeant les équipes de vente à travailler plus dur. Préparez-vous à prendre du recul et à vous concentrer sur l’organisation de vos données. Cela vous permettra de faire deux pas en avant grâce à la genAI. Le pire : Les CMO et CSO auront pour objectif de se réorganiser mais la moitié d’entre eux ne parviendront pas à résoudre leurs problèmes. Les organisations sont contraintes de recourir à des initiatives de transformation, à des mesures de gestion du changement et à des modifications induites par l’IA pour stimuler la croissance. Seuls 12 % des responsables marketing interrogés dans le cadre de l’enquête Q4 2023 Demand Marketing Organizational Design And Process Survey de Forrester estiment que la conception organisationnelle actuelle de leurs équipes les aidera à atteindre efficacement leurs objectifs de chiffre d’affaires au cours de l’année à venir. Beaucoup tenteront une restructuration pour essayer de remédier à ce manque de compétences. Mais se contenter de déplacer les rôles sous des intitulés différents est un changement superficiel qui fait plus de mal que de bien. Concentrez-vous plutôt sur les changements qui s’imposent depuis longtemps : Réinitialiser la stratégie et la planification pour s’orienter vers le client, réparer les processus de revenus défaillants, améliorer l’efficacité opérationnelle, renforcer la confiance des parties prenantes et améliorer les talents afin de combiner les compétences humaines et techniques. Les entreprises qui réussissent modifieront les aptitudes et les compétences requises pour un poste, et pas seulement son intitulé. En 2025, les organisations B2B vont enfin pouvoir tirer parti des avantages de l’IA. Les entreprises qui réussiront s’attaqueront aux défis liés à l’infrastructure et réorienteront leurs ressources tout en résistant à l’envie de licencier des effectifs pour satisfaire la pression des rendements financiers. Consultez notre rapport complet Predictions 2025 : B2B Marketing, Sales, And Product  (en anglais) pour obtenir plus de détails sur chacune de ces prévisions et en découvrir d’autres. Planifiez une session d’accompagnement Forrester pour discuter de ces prévisions ou planifier votre stratégie B2B 2025. Si vous n’êtes pas encore client, vous pouvez télécharger notre guide gratuit sur les prévisions B2B (en anglais), qui présente d’autres prévisions pour 2025. Vous trouverez d’autres ressources gratuites, y compris des webinaires, sur le hub Prévisions 2025. Note: Cet article a été traduit. Langue originale : anglais. source