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Integrating Generative AI

January 10, 2024/in ai, Backup, Cloud, connectivity, data, Education, General, IT Security, Latest Tech, Microsoft, microsoft 365, Security, Software, team, Technological Innovation Overview, Windows /by James Dell

In the dynamic landscape of technology, integrating Generative AI, Machine Learning (ML), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become imperative for businesses to stay competitive and innovative.

Not since the dot.com era have we seen such a dramatic shift in technology, which has become a part of our everyday lives.

Businesses must adapt and integrate AI, ML and GenAI into their short and long-term IT strategies. To enable employees to access AI tools from their workstations, mobiles and any web-enabled device.

More than ever, IT professionals ought to be committed to developing robust strategies that leverage these technologies to enhance operational efficiency, customer experiences and overall business outcomes. This article will explore key considerations and recommendations for incorporating Generative AI, Machine Learning, and AI into your IT strategies in 2024.

Understanding the Business Objectives:

As IT leaders, you must align the adoption of Generative AI, ML, and AI with the broader business objectives.

Due to a lack of consideration for your business’s strategic objectives, the improper use and implementation of these technologies may have little or no effect on achieving organisational objectives. In other words, these tools should be complementary and continuously aligned with the organisational strategy. For instance, some technologies may not necessarily support the direction of the business. The same principle applies to the implementation of strategic IT decisions.

Conversely, the judicious use of AI can elevate customer service satisfaction and increase operational efficiency, which can lead to gaining a competitive advantage in some shape or form.

Crafting an effective IT strategy based on individual business merits will help choose technologies tailored to individual needs that will support development and growth.

Talent Acquisition and Skill Development:

Investing in talent is crucial for successful implementation. IT leaders should assess the existing skill set within their teams and identify the gaps. This is crucially important as well as your current team’s skill including knowledge of working with IA set vs. AI delivery services.

Hiring or upskilling employees in areas like data science, machine learning, and deep learning ensures that the organisation has the expertise to drive AI initiatives. Not only focusing on the team who will support it, but your IT strategy must also focus on how you train end users to understand, leverage and validate where AI is used.

Establishing a Data-Driven Culture:

Generative AI and ML rely heavily on data. IT leaders must foster a data-driven culture within the organisation, emphasising the importance of high-quality, relevant data. It has always been a challenge for businesses to hold data regardless of its quality, relevance, or ability to be reused, ingested, or understood by a system. With AI, both structured and unstructured data can be used, but the data still needs to be relevant if you implement a system to reduce the amount of time your business spends on answering customer queries based on previous fixes but don’t check the previous fixes for validity you are likely to suggest non-solutions and harbour distrust in the system. This involves implementing data governance practices, ensuring data security, and promoting collaboration between IT and business units to derive meaningful insights. Tools like Microsoft Purview are a great place to start when looking into your data and its governance.

Creating a Robust Infrastructure:

IT leaders need to invest in a robust and scalable infrastructure to support the increased computational demands of AI applications. For most, this will mean looking at a transparent Cloud and edge computing strategy, moving away from private and co-located data centres on dedicated hardware to pooled and shared, scalable solutions like Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This becomes critical when you consider that for some AI workloads, you will need specialised hardware such as GPUs, which may be essential IT infrastructure components to ensure optimal performance or gain the results your business requires. For those who want to remain on-premises, then your strategy needs to directly reflect a hybrid cloud approach as you will not be able to run many of these tools in your environment and will instead need to run the toolset where it is best suited be that with the vendor or on a public cloud instance.

Implementing Explainable AI:

As your strategy reflects how your business increasingly relies on AI-driven decisions, you must ensure that your business, customers, and staff can maintain faith in the solution; therefore, transparency becomes critical. As IT leaders, you should prioritise adopting Explainable AI models that provide clear insights into how AI algorithms arrive at specific conclusions. This transparency builds trust both internally and externally. This is easier said than done with some of the current Generative AI toolings, and therefore, your IT Strategy should reflect how you will tackle this when selecting the tools you will work with.

Security and Compliance:

Ensuring the security of AI systems is paramount. As an IT leader, you must integrate AI technologies in compliance with industry regulations and standards. Now, most of these AI tools currently take little consideration for the regulations and standards your business might have to reach, be that HIPPA, PCI-DSS, or ISO. Therefore, it will fall to you and your strategic approach to ensure that safeguards are put in place and that you remain in control of your data, its sovereignty and how it is being used. Additionally, implementing robust cybersecurity measures is essential to protect sensitive data and maintain the integrity of AI applications; this does not stop with just placing anti-virus on a system; you will need to think beyond this and engage with the right security partners.

Continuous Monitoring and Improvement:

AI models require ongoing monitoring and refinement. IT leaders should establish mechanisms for continuous evaluation of AI systems, identifying areas for improvement and adapting strategies based on real-world performance. Regular updates and adjustments ensure that AI applications remain effective and aligned with evolving business goals. Remember that even though a model is good today, it will still be better in 6 months or a year. Also, the data set will age out on models, therefore, you need to ensure you understand how and when this will be updated to support your business.

Collaboration and Communication:

Successful AI implementation requires effective collaboration between IT and all business units. IT leaders should facilitate communication, break down silos, and encourage cross-functional collaboration to ensure that AI initiatives align with the overall business strategy. No man is an island, and if you make your safe in this landscape, you will quickly fall behind. While implementing your IT strategy, you engage a cross-business group and work with them to support you in understanding how to engage the wider business and provide training, support, and guidance to maximise uptake and effectively communicate the changes coming.

In 2024, the strategic integration of Generative AI, Machine Learning, and AI into IT strategies is critical to business success. IT leaders must align these technologies with business objectives, invest in talent and infrastructure, foster a data-driven culture, prioritise security and compliance, and ensure continuous monitoring and improvement. By adopting a holistic approach, you, as an IT professional, can position your organisations at the forefront of technological innovation, driving sustainable growth and competitive advantage in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

If you want to talk to one of our experts about how we can help you with your IT strategy or implementing AI into your business, then please call 01235 433900, or you can email [email protected], or if you would like to speak to me directly, you can reach out to me via DM or at [email protected].

Technology and Cybersecurity; The Trends and Predications for 2024

January 2, 2024/in ai, Cloud, connectivity, data, General, IT Security, Latest Tech, Microsoft, microsoft 365, Software, Technological Innovation Overview /by James Dell

Time waits for no man and the last 12 months have truly shown that neither can technology or cybersecurity. Tech will not be held back. Governments, companies and individuals cannot stop the march of technological progress. Therefore as I sat down to pen this article for the third year in a row it was very clear to me that the last 12 months have seen such a huge advancement in technology that my predictions might need to be a bit bigger for technology in 2024!

You can read the previous year’s articles HERE and HERE.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Cybersecurity

Artificial Intelligence is set to play a pivotal role in cybersecurity. In 2024, we can expect AI to be more sophisticated in identifying and mitigating cyber threats. Machine learning algorithms will continuously adapt to new attack vectors, providing a dynamic defence mechanism. The integration of AI in security operations will enhance threat detection, response times, and overall resilience against cyber attacks. Because of this as business we need to be aware of how the providers of your technology are using AI and how the bad actors will also be using this. It is also going to be critical in 2024 to review where and what data is being held and used to train these AI models inside of your cybersecurity products.

Zero Trust Architecture

The concept of Zero Trust Architecture is gaining momentum as organizations recognize the need to move beyond traditional perimeter-based security. In 2024, expect more widespread adoption of Zero Trust principles, where trust is never assumed, and every user, device, and network interaction is thoroughly authenticated and authorized. This approach ensures a more robust defence against insider threats and external attacks. What this will really mean in 2024 is that the traditional edge and VPN systems many businesses have come to rely on since the pandemic will start to be replaced with ZTNA solutions.

Quantum-Safe Cryptography

With the advent of quantum computing, the cryptographic landscape is under threat. To counter this, 2024 will witness a surge in the implementation of quantum-safe cryptographic algorithms. Organizations will prioritize updating their cryptographic protocols to ensure that sensitive data remains secure even in the face of quantum advancements. This is a space to watch and an area of huge growth for security.

5G Security Challenges

As 5G networks become more prevalent, so do the security challenges associated with this technology. In 2024, expect a heightened focus on addressing the unique cybersecurity risks posed by 5G, including increased attack surfaces, potential for IoT vulnerabilities, and the need for robust encryption to protect data transmitted over these high-speed networks. Businesses that rely heavily on remote working and mobile working will need to be very aware of this and keep a close key on the risks in the area.

Ransomware Resilience

Ransomware attacks have been on the rise, and 2024 will be no exception. Organisations will increasingly invest in developing and implementing robust ransomware resilience strategies. This includes regular data backups, employee training programs, and the use of advanced threat intelligence to proactively identify and neutralize ransomware threats. For me there is only one answer to this and that will be that every business will need a full MDR (Manage Detection and Response) product in place looked after by a dedicated security team.

Biometric Authentication Advances

Biometric authentication is evolving beyond fingerprint and facial recognition. In 2024, we can anticipate advancements in behavioural biometrics, voice recognition, and other innovative authentication methods. These technologies offer a more secure and user-friendly approach to identity verification, reducing reliance on traditional password-based systems. This wont change the world in 2024, but will start to see the shift away from the standard passwords systems we are use to.

Regulatory Compliance and Privacy

With the growing emphasis on data privacy and protection, regulatory frameworks are continually evolving. In 2024, organizations will prioritize compliance with stringent data protection regulations. The focus will be on ensuring transparent data practices, implementing robust security measures, and demonstrating accountability in handling sensitive information.

Generative AI fuelled Social Engineering Attacks

When looking at looking at the risk profile of 2024, it is clear that the trajectory started in 2023 will continue with generative AI being used by bad actors to generate more believable , more dynamic and ultimately harder to detect social engineering attacks. It has been well documented that in 2023 around 80% of all attacks started with compromised identities and as we all continue to invest in better MFA technologies and drive brute force attacks from success the more we will see a direct pivot to using social engineering attacks to compromise the security practices we have in place.

Businesses must strive to educate their employees about the common ways to recognise they are being deceived, this cannot just happen once a year as a tick box exercise you need to be driving change with-in your business and adopting a clear training plan into 2024. Because of this it makes identity protection the most critical protection that companies should look to strengthen or invest in for 2024. Otherwise, adversaries will continually target and successfully comprise this weak spot.

Cost of Living and Financial Impacts on IT and Security Budget

We have seen some unpredictable and unprecedented global impacts over the last 4 years, these have all taken an impact on the global finances which in turn are now starting to reflect in the budgets of businesses across the UK and EMEA. Because of this in 2024 a trend we are all going to need to be aware of is the tightening on IT and Security budgets as the ever tightening purse strings will mean that businesses need to make better choices about where and how they spend money. In these scenarios you need to focus on how to make the most of what you have but also there will be a need to be strong on conveying the value to the wider business on investing or maintaining your IT and Security products and services.

Conclusion

As we step into 2024, the intersection of technology and cybersecurity promises both challenges and opportunities. Embracing innovative solutions, staying informed about emerging threats, and fostering a cybersecurity-conscious culture will be essential for individuals and organizations alike. By proactively addressing these trends, we can collectively build a safer and more resilient digital future.

If you want to talk to one of our experts about how we can help you with your planning for 2024 then please call 01235 433900 or you can email [email protected] or if you would like to speak to me directly you can reach out to me via DM or at [email protected].

2023 – Technology Winners & Losers

December 22, 2023/in ai, Cloud, connectivity, data, General, IT Security, Latest Tech, Microsoft, microsoft 365, Software, Technological Innovation Overview /by Lewis Kitchen

Amid widespread technological innovation as well as failures

Lewis Kitchen

As usual for this time of year, we always think it’s a bit of fun to look back at the last 12 months and see how technology in 2023 has shaped up – who were the winners and who fell flat of expectations over the year.

Winners

AI

AI has made a huge impact in the year 2023. ChatGPT was released by OpenAI on the 30^th of November 2022 and quickly took over the internet, receiving the most user signups out of all applications.

ChatGPT is a predictive language model. Although these existed before, OpenAI was the first to make it commercially available. Unlike other chatbots that are designed to perform specific tasks, ChatGPT is a conversational model that can respond to any query from its large database.

This caused a chain reaction among the big companies to push out their AI and gain some of the market share. AI will change the way we work next year with Microsoft CoPilot coming out for enterprise companies.

Cloud Adoption

As always, Microsoft and Amazon have been pushing for more control over the Public Cloud space. As a result, more companies have migrated services to the cloud or running Hybrid setups with it. At Planet IT we have seen a huge increase in growth for customers wanting Microsoft Azure to run their infrastructure. This will continue into 2024 and from 2025 we will expect to see more than 90% of businesses being cloud only.

Losers

Microsoft Windows Operating Systems

2023 saw the end of life for Windows Server 2012, this forced a lot of companies to upgrade their server or utilise Microsoft’s offering for extended 2012 support in Microsoft Azure. This will become a common occurrence as Microsoft looks to end its support for its aging operating systems such as 2016 and 2019 in favour of moving you to the Azure Cloud.

Twitter / X

Twitter was brought out by Elon Musk on the 27^th of October. And depending on what side of the fence you sit on this, is either bad or good. The acquisition has been a topic of debate in the media. Some examples include Elon’s hostile takeover of Twitter; renaming Twitter to X; promising an open-sourced algorithm; banning bots and hypocrisy about free speech.

X has been under pressure from watchdogs and civic organisations. This is due to its inability to combat propaganda. For instance, spreading misleading information on the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas war, and the upcoming presidential election.