Investing in the AI Revolution with GigaOm CTO Howard Holton (Part 1)

The tech world moves fast, and no one wants to get left behind.

Emerging technologies like generative AI, large language models, and open-source platforms have the potential to completely transform individual businesses or even entire industries. Those who embrace them will profit, while those who don't will become irrelevant.

Yet a "Hype Cycle" also tends to accommodate new technologies. Several new movements in the tech world that were believed to be the Next Big Thing turned out not to be. 3D printing and NFTs are recent examples.

How should forward-thinking and growth-minded investors separate out the game-changers from the flashes-in-the-pan? What new technologies are actually gaining momentum, and which will never live up to their expectations?

To answer those questions, we've brought in an expert. 7investing CEO Simon Erickson recently spoke with Howard Holton, the Chief Technology Officer of GigaOm. GigaOm brings the decision-making executives of progressive companies up-to-speed about emerging technologies and then helping to implement them across their organizations. (You can also  see last year's conversation with GigaOm CEO Ben Book here.)

In Part 1 of their conversation, Simon and Howard first addressed the status quo of generative AI. AI is being used for 'fun' things today -- like creating lifelike images through MidJourney -- but even this requires significant computing power. Howard explains that innovative companies are already deploying AI at scale, but that they need appropriate data strategies and governance policies in order to maximize their success rate. This is similarly true for the flood of recent large language models; those that endure will require filters to curate the noisy flood of data from all across the internet is a way that is actually usable and trustable for businesses. One key advantage of AI over human beings is that it does not have the same biases as humans.

The two then turned their sights on hardware, specifically the custom silicon being designed by hyperscalers like Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. Chipmakers like AMD and NVIDIA will still have an endless runway of future demand, though niche applications will also continue to be served by customizable chips like FPGAs.

In Part 2 (which we will publish on Thursday, April 27th), the cloud's Infrastructure-as-a-Service providers like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure are finding that cloud computing is becoming more commoditized. Each of the Cloud Titans is looking to create a platform for developers, who are comfortable with their capabilities and eager to deploy what they're already familiar with at their organizations.

Howard then also spoke in detail about the Metaverse. While intriguing in theory, he also believes it will be very difficult to moderate or to control offensive content, and that monetizing the Metaverse for any corporations' profit interests could be counter-productive to furthering the interests of its users. He and Simon do agree that digital advertising is a likely income stream that will result from the Metaverse; a next-evolution of the personalized advertising we've gotten used to in display ads on websites or video platforms.

In the final segment, Howard discusses the importance of trust in the future of AI. While he believes several AI projects are likely overhyped and will eventually go bust, some that are well-designed and execute well could be incredibly valuable and profitable. Companies should hire a "Chief Trust Officer" who can verify the biases purposely imposed on AI models.