The other day, I listened to Bill Gates explain the Internet to David Letterman in a 1995 YouTube clip. Letterman asked him, “Are you familiar with this internet thing? What the hell is that exactly?” Gates explained that it has become a place where people publish information. You can even have your own homepage! The clip is hilarious but shows how far the world has come in 30 years. You can check out the clip here. So here we are today. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a hotter topic than the cloud was in the early 2000s. A stock skyrockets to oblivion if a company mentions “AI” on their conference call. Don’t believe me, check out the 2-year chart on Nivida.

This site is dedicated to licensing, strategy, and, of course, service providers. As a service provider, what do you think of AI? What are Microsoft’s plans around AI? What are some steps you can do now to prepare for whatever or wherever AI may lead us?

Microsoft announced earlier that they will spend approximately $80 BILLION on AI-enabled data centers. That pretty much sums up the question on what Microsoft plans to do around AI.

I came across several organizations that are now offering AI as a Service (AAS for short, close to ASS but…) It’s interesting how an organization can adapt, create a new service offering, and still continue to offer the same solution as they did prior. As a cloud partner or CSP Partner, you can join the AI Cloud Partner Program, allowing you to access enhanced skilling, specializations, co-sell marketing funds, and incentives. They defined this as your “foundation for success.” I get it, I sound like a Microsoft commercial, but It is available through the Microsoft partner center if you want to learn more. It’s also a way to connect with other providers in this area.

That’s all great, but AI is only as good as the data and information it collects. I would argue that the first step to your AI journey (or the foundation for success) is understanding how and where you collect your data? Azure solutions, such as Purview, can help identify and solve data sprawl if implemented correctly. AWS has a similar solution called Amazon Macie. Whichever partner you work with, make sure your data is collected, protected, and relevant.

If your strategy is status quo, good for you. I don’t blame you. I’m SPLA Man. But I wonder what role AI will play as we are literally in the infancy phases of this new technology. Will we sound as silly as David Letterman when he asked about the internet thirty years from now? I welcome your thoughts.

Thanks for reading,

SPLA Man

or is it SPLA Man? Maybe it’s an AI generated form of SPLA Man.