As 2024 comes to a close, here’s a look back at some of the tech stories that caught my eye in the past year. These articles deliver perspectives on enterprise AI adoption and implementation, the growing pains of digital infrastructure, new cybersecurity vulnerabilities, how overlooking past warnings about technological dependence can lead to devastating failures and how the new business and social dynamics in an increasingly AI-driven world.
AI and The Last Mile
By Hollis Robbins, Anecdotal, November 15
As AI becomes increasingly integrated into daily decision-making, Robbins introduces the concept of the “last mile,” the crucial 5% to 15% gap between algorithmic recommendations and human judgment. She argues that while AI promises to democratize services, it’s creating a new form of inequality where human insight becomes a luxury good, suggesting AI might inadvertently be creating a new kind of digital divide.
How Companies Can Use AI to Find and Close Skills Gaps
By Brian Eastwood, MIT Sloan Management Review, June 10
A study from MIT’s Center for Information Systems Research reveals how companies like Johnson & Johnson are using AI-powered “skills inference” to quantify skills proficiency, identify gaps, and transform workforce development. The research shows this approach has increased participation in professional development programs by 20% while providing executives with valuable heat-map data that assists in strategic workforce planning. It also introduces the concept of a “career lattice” rather than a traditional career ladder.
Enterprise Philosophy and The First Wave of AI
By Ben Thompson, Stratechery, September 24
Thompson draws a compelling parallel between AI’s enterprise adoption and the first wave of computing in the 1960s and 70s. While most AI discussions focus on consumer applications and employee productivity, he argues the real transformation will mirror how mainframe computers revolutionized back-office operations. The piece suggests that like early computing, AI’s most significant initial impact will come from top-down enterprise implementation rather than grassroots adoption.
Scaling: The State of Play in AI
By Ethan Mollick, One Useful Thing, September 16
Mollick breaks down AI development through the lens of “scaling laws,” the observation that larger AI models consistently outperform smaller ones. He introduces a novel generational framework for understanding AI models and reveals that beyond increasing model size, AI capabilities can be enhanced through increased “thinking” time during operation, suggesting two distinct paths for future AI advancement.
Boards Need a New Approach to Technology
By Tarun Khanna, Mary C. Beckerle, and Nabil Y. Sakkab, Harvard Business Review, September-October
Most corporate boards remain too focused on defense when it comes to technology, emphasizing security and digitization while missing broader opportunities in areas such as new materials, space science, and genomics. Drawing from experiences at companies like AES and Altria, the authors make the case for dedicated board technology committees to help identify and prioritize new opportunities, mitigate appropriate risks, and shepherd core technologies through development. As only 36% of Fortune 100 boards currently have such committees, the authors argue that more companies need to shift to a more offensive stance toward technology.
The Great Repatriation? IT Leaders Reset Cloud Strategies to Optimize Value
By Mary K. Pratt, CIO.com, July 22
As companies mature in their cloud journey, many IT leaders are strategically moving select workloads back from public cloud to on-premises environments. About 80% of organizations anticipate some level of “repatriation” in the next year, driven by concerns over costs, data privacy, and compliance. This represents a refinement of cloud strategies rather than a wholesale rejection, with companies adopting more nuanced hybrid approaches that place workloads where they make the most sense, whether in public cloud, private data centers, or edge computing environments.
Pagers Attack Brings to Life Long-Feared Supply Chain Threat
By Eva Dou and Gerrit De Vynck, The Washington Post, September 19
A devastating attack in Lebanon in which thousands of pagers were rigged to explode has exposed critical vulnerabilities in global electronics supply chains. The incident goes beyond previous supply chain infiltrations, like the NSA’s interception of Cisco devices or Israel’s past use of rigged cell phones for targeted assassinations. The event demonstrates the increasing difficulty and complexity of securing modern electronics against adversaries, challenges which could accelerate efforts by some organizations to relocate critical technology manufacturing domestically.
Y2K Sent A Warning. The CrowdStrike Outage Shows We Failed to Heed It
By Zachary Loeb, TIME, July 24
The CrowdStrike software update failure, which caused widespread Windows outages across various industries earlier this year, mirrors the disasters predicted during Y2K. While Y2K was averted through concentrated effort, its key warning about systemic vulnerability went unheeded. The article suggests that, like Y2K, the CrowdStrike incident offers another opportunity to address the “shortsighted thinking” in technology infrastructure and increasing dependence on interconnected systems that can allow for scenarios where a single point of failure can cascade into widespread disruption.
Bill Gates Never Left
By Ashley Stewart, Business Insider, April 30
A revealing investigation shows that despite his public departure following misconduct allegations in 2021, Gates remains deeply influential at Microsoft, particularly in shaping its AI strategy. Through internal memos and private meetings, he has been quietly orchestrating Microsoft’s AI transformation, including its crucial partnership with OpenAI, all while CEO Satya Nadella publicly distances the company from its founder. The article argues that this behind-the-scenes involvement has been crucial to Microsoft’s emergence as an AI leader.
Looking for AI Use-Cases
By Benedict Evans, ben-evans.com, April 17
Evans suggests that while chatbots show immense promise, widespread adoption still faces two key challenges: technical limitations and use-case discovery. Drawing parallels to VisiCalc’s success with accountants in 1982, he suggests that rather than becoming a universal tool, AI might follow SQL’s path, becoming a powerful underlying technology packaged into thousands of specific applications that solves distinct problems for particular users.
Peter High is President of Metis Strategy, a business and IT advisory firm. He has written three bestselling books, including his latest Getting to Nimble. He also moderates the Technovation podcast series and speaks at conferences around the world. Follow him on Twitter @PeterAHigh.
