The big headlines that we’re seeing around the massive funding of large AI companies are a distraction from the reality that AI is being built and used in business applications. This episode of the Tech Field Day podcast features Frederic Van Haren, Chris Grundemann, Brian Martin, and Alastair Cooke reflecting after AI Infrastructure Field Day in Santa Clara. Popular news often covers the creation of large, general purpose AI models, yet the real-world application of AI through inference is where most companies see a return on their investment. Similarly, the common understanding of “AI” is as a single topic, without a more granular view that differentiates between rules-based systems, traditional machine learning, and emergent generative models like Large Language Models (LLMs). Specialized AI models will be vital for cost-effective applications with enhanced efficiency and the integration of diverse AI capabilities into agentic architectures. Advanced security protocols and regulatory frameworks are vital to mitigate novel vulnerabilities, organizations must adapt to an extraordinarily rapid pace of technological evolution. AI has already had a profound impact on software development, potentially enabling widespread custom application creation.
Panelists
Alastair is a Tech Field Day event lead at the Futurum group, specializing in Cloud, DevOps, and Edge.
Independent advisor, analyst, and consultant. Specializing in internet routing, network architecture, and automation.
Frederic is the CTO at HighFens Inc (active in the HPC & AI market). He spent more than a decade building large HPC & AI environments from the ground up and is frequently invited to speak at events to provide his vision on AI, Big Data and HPC.