Cost is certainly a concern when CIOs think about deploying gen AI, says Yuval Perlov, CTO at K2view, a data management vendor. In its own recent survey of senior AI deployment professionals, K2view found that cost was the top concern, followed by data security and privacy, as well as reliability of gen AI responses. The problem, however, is as much a scale problem as it is a cost problem, Perlov says. In many cases, organizations launch ambitious AI projects that may be expensive to scale up when small and strategic initiatives may lead to quicker returns, he says. “Some [CIOs] are playing around with technology, and they’re seeing cool things, and it’s not part of a strategy, and then they want to scale it up,” he says. “And often, it doesn’t scale up, either because they didn’t calculate it upfront, or they used an extremely expensive method to do it, like there are easier ways to achieve this, or cheaper ways.” source

By Emily Schifter ( November 21, 2024, 2:47 PM EST) — This article provides guidance and best practices for counseling employers on key employment discrimination and diversity, equity and inclusion-related legal issues associated with using artificial intelligence tools…. 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

Zero Trust has become the standard information security model to adopt globally. It’s no longer a question of should; it’s a question of how and where to begin. For some time, the topic of Zero Trust was met with disparaging and opposing views proclaiming it to be another buzzword for vendors to market products. Well, it’s not, although, sadly, there was nothing to stop that from happening. Now that we’re past the point of security vendors attempting to market Zero Trust as a product, we recognize that it’s now the de facto security approach, and its benefits are hard to ignore. Sure, we still see some of the same old issues plague it, such as: “Is Zero Trust a technology?” “Zero Trust is really just an identity conversation.” “Zero Trust only focuses on cloud and remote access.” “Zero Trust is an oxymoron that distracts the workforce.” When you push past all that distracting noise, you’ll come to realize that the US federal government and other organizations are mandating Zero Trust implementation and publishing Zero Trust guidance to enable secure digital transformation and infrastructure modernization efforts. Avoiding A Punch-Line Rim Shot Now that organizations are warming up to Zero Trust, they must begin assessing their enterprise to find out just how much or how little they really know about it. From there, it’s about developing your implementation strategy. Organizations, however, remain stuck when developing implementation plans with clear objectives and a well-defined roadmap. Having a strategy in place that has Zero Trust baked into it is great, but you must figure out what the next steps are, then execute. This is because one of the common mistakes made is that some organizations think that “I need to implement Zero Trust” is a clear enough objective. That’s not tangible enough. What is needed are clear, outcome-based use cases that capture the action needed, the rationale behind it, and a method for achieving that action. Otherwise, your teams will view your strategy as a joke (cue rim shot). Finding Rhythm In Your Half-Time Shuffle The song “Rosanna” is known for its timeless half-time shuffle beat. To play this song correctly requires practice and an understanding of what the elements are to strike the right rhythm. The same way you break down the song, you must break down your use cases to balance the methods with the rationale. In the report, The Secrets Of Successful Zero Trust Deployments, we highlight the importance of creating use cases that balance these core areas: Employee experience. Start with use cases that are user-facing. Demonstrate value that is visible to the workforce, such as consolidated identity management, reduced authentication overhead, the enablement of remote work, and adoption of bring-your-own-device policies. Technology architecture and delivery. This team is core to aligning business priorities to technology strategy. Focus on securing and simplifying applications, devices, identities, and infrastructure delivery with auditable accounts, third-party access management, and data protection. Analyst experience. Develop use cases that improve security analysts’ ability to detect and respond to threats. Take actions to increase visibility and gain better insight into what the attack surface is for your organization. Develop use cases that emphasize who benefits from Zero Trust, that allow security and risk professionals to break free from a tech-centric mindset, and that provide a clearer understanding of knowing where to start, identifying areas for collaboration and improving processes along the way. Looking For An Encore? There is so much more to it than just what I have highlighted here. Fortunately, there are plenty of resources available to you, including best practices, templates, and strategic reports for advancing your Zero Trust journey. You can also join me at this year’s Security & Risk Summit, where I will be hosting two sessions on Zero Trust: Zero Trust workshop. This workshop will focus on helping attendees get their Zero Trust implementation to the next level. In this session, we’ll emphasize the importance of assessment but also help make sense of the results to define use cases, align them to objectives, and identify dependencies that can help prioritize activities in an iterative roadmap. Zero Trust panel. Special guests from the private and public sectors will join me for a conversation focused on what major challenges have been faced when adopting and implementing a Zero Trust architecture. They will share experiences and advice for overcoming those challenges to reduce the chances of delays or disruption throughout the journey. So join us! Forrester’s Security & Risk Summit will take place on December 9–11. You will have the option to join us virtually or attend in person in Baltimore, Maryland, by registering here. There will be many keynotes, breakout sessions, workshops, analyst one-on-ones, and more. If you’re unable to join, Forrester clients can also schedule an inquiry or guidance session with me for all things Zero Trust. source

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Genies, a culture-focused avatar technology company, has launched Parties after developing its foundational technology stack since the last fundraise. Genies equips intellectual property owners and creators with a suite of avatar technology and user-generated content (UGC) tools to co-create and launch their own Parties — gaming platforms driven by AI avatars, user-generated content, and personalized gameplay. Genies raised a whopping $150 million in 2022, and it has been busy ever since. “The ‘next internet’ is already upon us as the convergence of AI, gaming, and XR become more and more realized – mobile apps will soon start to look like ‘mini Robloxes’ powered by two key defining themes: smart avatars and UGC,” said Akash Nigam, CEO of Genies, in a statement. “Traditional usernames and profiles will transform into smart avatar identities and fans will become co-creators of a brand’s IP through UGC. Our Party tech stack, which enables dynamic identities, UGC, and interoperability, is at the core of the Genies’ mission to power the next layer of the internet.” Genies is touting smart avatars. Genies’ technology stack focuses on powering dynamic avatars, unlocking a variety of quality user-generated content, and enabling interoperability so that a user can seamlessly travel from one Party to the next. For IP partners, this technology transforms their online presence into their own Party, unlocking the ability for their audience to build relationships with their Smart Avatars and co-create an infinite supply of UGC games, avatars, fashion, and more, all of which is built around their IP.  “Disney’s $1.5 billion deal with Epic Games is a major indicator of how UGC-driven platforms are becoming a central pillar for brands to engage with their audiences,” said Nigam. “This partnership, along with the growing number of brands activating within platforms like Roblox and Fortnite, signals that more and more IP owners will look to launch their own UGC worlds. Our Party technology stack provides the opportunity to enable limitless creativity and customization for people to unlock this new era of UGC-driven platforms.”  Foundational components that make up a Party UGC creation with Genies. Bringing IP to Life Through Smart Avatars: Any IP can be transformed into interactive smart avatars powered by AI, giving each character a distinct personality and role as a foundational NPC (non-playable character) within a Party. These smart avatars foster deeper engagement by allowing users to build relationships with them and empowering developers to build personalized experiences with them. With AI capabilities driving their personalities, Genies’ avatars enhance gameplay and make Party apps a personalized, interactive experience. Fueled by UGC: User-generated content is at the core of each Party, delivering a continuous influx of new games, avatars, fashion, accessories, props, and more—all created by a community of technical and non-technical users around a brand’s IP. IP owners can let their communities shape the experience and their brand by contributing any content, while they maintain oversight to determine what ultimately gets released. This UGC foundation ensures a constantly evolving, engaging environment for users to contribute and let their imagination run wild.   Ecosystem-wide interoperability: User avatars are created as a single persistent identity that are not only compatible with all other assets across the ecosystem (fashion, props, etc.), but they also can be seamlessly transported across any game or Party app. Whether you’re in a Party that uses anime style or a Party that uses Pixar-level characters and games, a user’s avatar can be ported between either and will automatically ‘evolve’ to adapt and reflect to those environments. Ultimately, everything works with everything.  Distribution driven through Genies’ celebrity network To amplify reach and engagement, Genies offers access to its Celebrity Network, enabling IP partners to collaborate with the biggest icons across music, sports, entertainment, and more. By pairing a brand’s Smart Avatars with figures from Genies’ celebrity roster, brands can create opportunities for the community to build games and content around both IPs, bringing together diverse fan bases for an immersive, shared experience. The tech stack Parties are made possible by the following foundational technologies, all designed to enable interoperability, limitless customization, and personalized engagement. Genies’ Avatar Framework leverages machine learning and advanced computer graphics to support highly customizable and compatible avatars, fashion, and props. By utilizing proprietary AutoRigging technology, the framework enables effortless avatar integration across games and Parties, creating a seamless user experience and fueling a thriving UGC ecosystem. Genies’ avatars are powered by AI, enabling them to evolve as interactive personalities that can communicate and form relationships with users across apps as smart avatars. Through their “Traits Framework,” Genies avatars adapt to user interactions, driving unique and personalized engagement across gaming and social applications. Genies equips developers with a comprehensive toolkit, allowing them to build and publish unique smart games directly into Party apps. Each game is connected through the Genies Login, expanding the content library and increasing user engagement across Party apps. By fostering a collaborative environment, developers can create immersive, branded experiences that keep users coming back. For IP partners, these Parties serve as a scalable and customizable solution, enabling them to launch their own interactive ecosystems that seamlessly blend gaming, social interaction, and co-creation from their audience and fans. source

By Christopher Cole ( November 21, 2024, 4:10 PM EST) — The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules Thursday meant to make it easier for FM booster stations to broadcast brief segments of hyper-local content every hour…. 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

Launching a product doesn’t have to feel like blindly solving a Rubik’s cube — the right product launch template will help you map out your strategy, high-level goals, in-the-weeds details, and all the work it’ll take to get there. These are some of the best tools and templates to start with, whether you’re introducing your first digital course or your tenth physical product to the market monday.com: A product launch template for marketing teams monday.com is an all-in-one tool for launching products, managing marketing campaigns, and handling dozens (or hundreds) of projects. The free plan comes with two user seats, over 200+ templates, and three project boards. It’s fine if you’re just getting started or want to try monday.com, but teams will likely have to upgrade to a paid plan pretty quick. My favorite product launch template is specifically for marketers — it helps ensure brand messaging is consistent and that all of your promo materials align along the way. More on monday.com: monday.com Review | monday.com vs Wrike | monday.com vs Airtable. Align marketing and launch activities with monday.com. Image: monday.com monday.com makes it easy to switch between big picture planning and weekly tasks. This helps marketing teams stay focused on their priorities while never losing sight of the high level launch plan. It’s a fully customizable template with 30+ column types, giving you everything you need to make it work for your team. You can use it to create pre-launch campaigns and keep all of your assets organized for emails, social posts, blogs, PR campaigns, and more. With advanced features like real-time notifications for completed tasks, you can quickly start work on the perfect email or press release when the product images or live demo is ready to share. While monday.com is great for all types of teams, this one’s specifically focused on marketing teams. You can share it with other department heads and leaders or connect it to other team boards within the platform, but everything was designed around what marketers need. ClickUp: Comprehensive product launch checklist + template ClickUp is another option that works well for teams of all sizes. Whether you’re launching a physical product or new software, the platform works great for tracking tasks and keeping your entire company on the same page. The free forever plan is one of the best out there with unlimited users and tasks. You can use it for quite a while, even if you’re a small team. While it’s not as flexible as monday.com, it’s more affordable and gives you far more functionality at a lower price. More on ClickUp: ClickUp Review | ClickUp vs Asana | ClickUp vs Notion. ClickUp’s product launch template works equally well for new products, relaunches, small teams, departments, and entire businesses. Image: Clickup.com The best product launch template for ClickUp is an advanced solution for planning and executing detailed launch strategies. Out of the box, it works great for analyzing market trends, planning surveys focused on your target audience, and finalizing your pricing strategy prior to launch. You can also create a custom checklist that includes subcategories for each task, which is super helpful if ownership of different phases is assigned to different teams. From there, it’s easy to turn it into a timeline to ensure everything’s on schedule. You can even set milestones to signify major events along the way. With nearly a dozen built-in project views, ClickUp makes it easy to visualize work in different ways, depending on what you want to see. Kanban board is great for individual contributors while timelines and dashboards are game changing for managers. The biggest downside? This template is likely overkill if you’re a solo user as it has a ton of collaboration features you’ll never use. But its flexibility, feature-rich nature, and collaborative environment make it a no brainer for teams of all sizes. Wrike: A product launch template with sequential phases Wrike is a more rigid project management platform that’s excellent for mid-sized and large teams. Smaller teams can use it for free, but it’s pretty limited compared to other free plans we’ve looked at as it’s not really meant to be used long-term. Overall, it’s a great option for managing product launches because it has everything you need to execute your plan and continue supporting the product post-launch. The official product launch template is well done with pre built views, workflows, and instructions on how to make the most of it. More on Wrike: Wrike Review | Wrike vs Smartsheet | Wrike vs. Asana. Map out your entire launch plan then break it into sensible phases with Wrike. Image: Wrike.com By default, this Wrike template breaks down every product launch into three distinct phases — pre-launch, product launch, and post-launch. This can help make massive projects feel less overwhelming since you can focus on the phase you’re in while planning ahead so you’re always prepared for what’s next. The structure makes a lot of sense because most launches have tasks that should be done in a sequential order. With other tools, tracking these dependencies can get complicated. With this template, it’s easy to set them up and understand what should happen when. After all, you can’t really work on product messaging or creatives until you’ve chosen a target audience. Product managers can also use Wrike to identify potential roadblocks before they become a bigger problem and force you to push back your launch date. You’ll also be able to track the progress of the entire project, each phase, and tasks with subtasks using its built in timeline view. Once a task has a deadline, visualizing its status and understanding its impact on other parts of your launch is a breeze. The biggest downside of this template is how long it takes to set up. There’s a bit of configuring you’ll have to do before it’s ready for you to use. You’ll likely also have to continuously make tweaks until it works how you need it to. Teamwork: A collaborative launch

Better understanding our planet — its changes, patterns and activities on land, sea, forests, and cities — is the key to improving it. We’ve all experienced or heard about the tragedies resulting from extreme weather events, such as hurricanes Helene and Milton. While the consequences of these natural events have been dire, new Earth intelligence technologies and capabilities are enabling us to better predict them, learn from the ravages they leave behind, and find new ways to outsmart them. The use of artificial intelligence is one of those technologies that is revolutionizing how we not only see the Earth but also deliver actionable solutions to improve it.  Data sources, such as satellite imagery, sensors and climate data, are being used to train AI models to tell a story and predict future outcomes based on historical trends.  In fact, according to the World Economic Forum, by 2032 observation of Earth via satellites is expected to generate over 2 exabytes (2 billion gigabytes) of data cumulatively. The massive volume and complexity of this data has made it almost impossible to provide any actionable insights. Yet, through the use of AI, this data is able to be processed and analyzed to reveal key truths that can inform future direction and proactive planning. According to the same article, some machine learning models can generate climate estimates up to 1,000 times faster than traditional climate models. They accomplish this by analyzing historical weather data alongside real-time meteorological inputs. In this way, AI models can forecast hurricanes, floods, and droughts, providing communities with critical time to prepare and ultimately saving lives, homes, and critical infrastructure.  Related:IT Pros Love, Fear, and Revere AI: The 2024 State of AI Report Yet the role of AI-driven Earth intelligence is not just for monitoring and predicting; it is also a powerful tool for mitigating climate change. Innovations in energy management, such as the use of smart grids, use AI to optimize electricity distribution and reduce our use and reliance on fossil fuels.  In addition to climate action, Earth intelligence is harnessing the power of AI to process vast amounts of environmental data to enable actionable insights for sustainability and conservation of our Earth and its resources.   Consider some of the ways that AI is reshaping how we see the planet and address complex environmental challenges.  Tracking deforestation.  A recent report stated that in 2023, the world lost 6.37 million hectares of forest, which is equivalent to the size of about 9.1 million soccer fields. Researchers are using AI to analyze satellite images to monitor the effects of deforestation in real-time. By training machine learning models on historical data, these systems can detect changes in land use, providing timely information that is vital for conservation efforts. This data also can help industry groups and governments provide data-driven proof of impact so that appropriate investments and resources can be put into conservation activities.  Related:Inside The Duality of AI’s Superpowers Resource management. Another area where AI is making a significant impact is in managing vital resources, such as agriculture and water. In agriculture, precision farming techniques utilize AI to analyze soil health, crop conditions and weather patterns, so that farmers can make data-driven decisions about when to plant, irrigate and harvest, resulting in higher yields, reduced use of resources and less spread of infestations and disease.   Similarly, in water management, AI systems can analyze consumption patterns and predict shortages, enabling better allocation of water resources. For instance, cities can use AI to optimize their distribution of water, as well as track the quality and health of water resources.  Biodiversity and conservation. Biodiversity, or the variety of life in our natural world, is critical to maintaining the planet’s health and ensuring the protection of vital plant and animal species. Geospatial intelligence, enabled through satellite imagery and computer vision, can monitor and analyze wildlife populations, helping researchers track endangered species and their habitats. It also can help with habitat restoration efforts by predicting which plant species will thrive in specific conditions, allowing conservationists to make informed decisions about reforestation projects.  Related:Keynote Sneak Peek: Forrester Analyst Details Align by Design and AI Explainability Further, geospatial intelligence is being used to combat poaching activities by identifying and monitoring traps to protect vulnerable species, and alerting authorities so that appropriate actions can be taken.   The Future of AI-Driven Earth Intelligence: Multimodal AI  AI is helping us more closely monitor Earth so that we can better understand what is happening now and in the future. When it comes to addressing issues such as the effects of heat islands in urban areas, for example, AI is enabling a new level of geospatial intelligence. It is helping us count the number and types of roof tops in a particular neighborhood to see how many are repelling or attracting heat, and the proximity of each building to one another. It’s also counting the number of air-polluting vehicles in the street.   Yet, while this information is extremely valuable, the future of AI-driven geospatial intelligence will go one step further — not only identify things in data and images, but actually creating real-time reports that explain the ramifications of taking different types of actions and offering the best course of action. These insights also leverage historical data in addition to satellite imagery, so that trends begin to emerge.   In addition to computer vision, other types of AI, such as large language models for generative AI, will come into play to write the reports. Different forms of AI are coming together, such as computer vision, generative AI, natural language processing, and deep learning. Together they are forming the complete picture by connecting the dots, between massive and unrelated datapoints to create a cohesive whole and provide a blueprint for moving forward.  Challenges and Ethical Considerations  While the benefits of AI in enabling Earth intelligence are substantial, challenges remain. Data privacy must be addressed to ensure that the data used to train AI models is kept confidential when it belongs to specific people or organizations. There’s

With AI agents popping up in so many situations and platforms, organizations interested in the technology may find it difficult to know where to start. A handful of use cases have so far risen to the top, according to AI experts. Agentic AI will integrate smoothly with ERP, CRM, and business intelligence systems to automate workflows, manage data analysis, and generate valuable reports, says Rodrigo Madanes, global innovation AI officer at EY, a consulting and tax services provider. AI agents, unlike some past automation technologies, can make decisions in real-time, making process automation a primary use case. “AI agents can automate repetitive tasks that previously required human intervention, such as customer service, supply chain management, and IT operations,” Madanes says. “What sets the technology apart is its ability to adapt to changing conditions and handle unexpected inputs without manual oversight.” source

By Bryan Koenig ( November 21, 2024, 12:19 AM EST) — The U.S. Department of Justice late Wednesday formally asked a Washington, D.C., federal judge to order a range of steps to end Google’s monopolization of general search services and the text ads shown alongside search results, most notably by forcing the company to spin off the Chrome browser…. 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