|
Hello, and welcome to the HORIZON weekly newsletter. Particularly warm greetings to our many new subscribers - please do forward this on to colleagues and connections in your network who would also enjoy the insights.
Below you will find some hand-picked fresh thought-leadership content, giving you an overview of recent developments, topical innovations, and what we're seeing and hearing out there towards the digital frontier.
Thank you for reading and being a part of the HORIZON community.
If this Email has been forwarded to you, you can access previous editions and sign-up to receive future instances for free at: https://future-horizon.kit.com/posts
Recent articles
|
|
Results not matching rhetoric: money talks.
As budgets get tightened senior business leaders are now actively asking: if Artificial Intelligence (AI) can purportedly make organisations much more efficient...why are purveyors not cutting prices?
The CEO of tech titan Salesforce is touting that his company has automated a significant chunk of its activities with AI.
Marc Benioff recently said AI is doing 30% to 50% of the work at the software company, including tasks like software engineering and customer service.
He did not share what percentage of his own working responsibilities have been automated.
Salesforce, which the pioneered Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model by offering its wares directly over the Internet, has said that use of AI internally has allowed it to hire fewer people.
With impressive-sounding productivity gains seemingly able to be both attributed and actively monetised, Boards with a strategic outlook are asking why capital spending is not reducing to mitigate market uncertainties.
Fact: Salesforce is ploughing billions of dollars into capabilities that do not fully work, and are therefore not yet fit-for-purpose.
If this was merely R&D spend focused on innovation, that might be OK - but we're talking about clients paying for work-in-progress services today that may have a direct negative effect on their own customers.
Case in point: Benioff has said that they offer a customer service product to handle customer service without human supervision, used by the likes of Walt Disney, which has reached 93% accuracy.
Sounds impressive - but not if you are a customer within that 7%.
A minority of software, subscription, and service sellers are stating they are passing on their own AI savings to those paying the bills.
The Chief AI Officer at professional advisory stalwart PwC has said that they "...as appropriate, give our clients the pricing benefit of the efficiencies we’re achieving” from using AI to complete work quicker.
However, he also noted that price cuts associated with AI have “...plateaued”, with the justification that its use is also improving the quality of its services; they naturally seek to spin AI more towards value creation.
Broadly, experimental AI use cases are not translating into top-line growth nor bottom-line savings for businesses across verticals or geographies; despite the glitzy marketing, the gap is real.
If your suppliers confidently state that they are being demonstrably more efficient themselves via AI then we recommend entering into dialogue with them to realise some of the beneficial matured fruits.
If price cuts are unpalatable, perhaps suggest executing a gain-share model where both parties have combined measurements of AI progress, enjoying any future hard prosperous dividends.
Be prepared that it may be a short and awkward conversation...
Though the long-term future outlook for AI remains positive, ultimately money talks.
|
|
|
"OUT!"
For the first time in 147 years there will be no human line judges making calls at the Wimbledon Championship tennis which started on 30th June.
Wimbledon is a bastion of tradition, yet it will be very different this year with people being replaced with innovative technology.
Some may react to this news in a similar way to player John McEnroe on June 22nd 1981, whose famous phrase regarding a contentious line call during his match is quoted in the accompanying picture.
Live Electronic Line Calling (ELC) in uses cameras, sensors, and code to track the ball's trajectory in real-time and determine if it's in or out.
The very first successful public demonstration of computerised automated line calls at a professional tennis tournament was all the way back in 1974, but it was never commercialised due to insufficient reliability.
The Australian and US Open have been without carbon line judges since 2021 and 2022; Wimbledon announced it would replace its line officials with tech in October 2024 and this is the first year of the permanent switch.
Around 300 mammalian line judges were typically used at Wimbledon to make 'out' and 'fault' calls.
In 2025 a mere 80 line judges will operate as "match assistants" who will monitor that the technology is working as intended.
A range of electronic voices will be used across different courts to mitigate there being confusion about calls.
In theory such automated systems will improve both the accuracy and consistency of decisions.
It also saves the physical and mental hardship on warm fleshy bipeds who previously performed the role, as they leant forwards - back arched - focused intently on their particular line for elongated periods.
Never mind facing the wrath of being screamed at by incandescent competitors who disagreed with their call(s).
It will be interesting to see if there is any controversy...served up (pun very much intended).
"Game, Set, Match" to autonomous algorithms in future across the officiating of our sports? That's up to us.
|
|
|
Our future could be one that is far more stable.
Or precisely the opposite.
Shares of peer-to-peer payments technology company Circle have rocketed more than 600% since its NYSE Initial Public Offering on June 5th.
Circle primarily manages the stablecoin digital asset USDC, the value of which is pegged to the U.S. dollar.
In one sentence a stablecoin is a type of virtual currency that is backed by an asset and holds a stable price.
According to the latest company attestation, USDC is backed by more than $60 billion in reserves that consist of a mix of cash and short-dated US Treasuries.
The IPO raised USD$1.1 billion, valuing the company at $6.9 billion - and Circle has now applied for a US national trust bank charter.
This would allow the company to act as a custodian for its own reserves, as well as offer digital asset custody services to institutional customers.
Previous post on institutional custody: https://lnkd.in/g_JkyzT6
Investors are no doubt watching progress on the GENIUS (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins) Act, which seeks to establish a regulatory framework for the use of such cryptocurrencies.
USDC, currently the second largest stablecoin by market capitalisation, was launched in September 2018.
Like bees to honey, blue-chip traditional finance stalwarts are all active in the stablecoin space, including heavyweight names like JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Visa, and Blackrock.
It is rumoured even Amazon is looking at stablecoins for more efficient cross-border payment settlements.
Previously perceived as crypto speculation, stablecoins, CBDCs, decentralised finance, and smart contracts are now finding respectability - iteratively being adopted as foundational global payment infrastructure.
More strategically, digital-native sovereign currencies may in the future accelerate a more multi-polar international currency system as countries seek geopolitical options other than relying on the US dollar hegemony.
International trade tensions sparked by recent chaotic USA tariff policies have prompted governments and investors to seek independent alternatives to dominant dollar-based investments.
China aims to boost the global adoption of its e-CNY, recently announcing plans for the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) to establish an international operation center for the digital yuan in Shanghai.
In an increasingly volatile world, resiliency being provided by multiple independent (interchangeable) cross-border payment infrastructures can not only provide stability but mitigate the spread of fear, shock, and risk.
The central shared part of the Venn diagram between physical and digital clearly continues to grow, especially when it comes to finance and trade.
|
Thank-you for reading and being part of our community - we trust you find these original pieces on frontier technology and digital innovation useful, valuable, and thought-provoking as we bridge the gap between today and what future tech might bring tomorrow in Plain English.
When you're ready, contact us to discuss how we can deliver independent, objective, and unbiased strategic foresight around the implications of emerging technologies for your organisation -
https://www.futurehorizon.digital/
Think bold.
Think broad.
Think beyond.
If you would like to explore sponsoring an edition of HORIZON, please get in touch at horizon-sponsorship@futurehorizon.digital
If you are not currently a retained client but value the weekly insights in HORIZON and wish to support its ongoing work, you may kindly consider contributing using the Buy Me A Coffee page: https://buymeacoffee.com/futurehorizonco
As ever, we welcome all forms of feedback: compliments as well as constructive criticism! If there are particular topics you want to see more - or less - of, please let us know. You can reach us at horizon-weekly@futurehorizon.digital
|
|
