Tech

  • Linked – AI data readiness: C-suite fantasy, big IT problem

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 1 minute

    This might seem like a new problem, but it’s an old problem that shows up when trying to do something new. 

    There is a lack of a strategy for data security and data rot. Too many organizations have punted when deciding what data to keep versus delete and haven’t made the hard decisions about implementing data security internally. Now, they want to use AI, but the AI is accessing all that outdated data and exposing the places where security wasn’t correctly implemented. So, it becomes an IT problem to fix. 

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    Linked – Are public speaking skills a cheat code for IT career success?

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 1 minute

    No matter how much technical skill you have, eventually, you will have to communicate your knowledge to someone who isn’t as skilled in the technology. If you can’t do that, your career will hit a ceiling. Even if you have no plans to get up in front of an audience, learning how to tell a story, influence others, educate others, etc., will serve you well when you have to explain a complex technical concept to someone. 

    You will have to explain what you know someday. Learn how to do it well. 

  • Linked – It’s Not Just in Your Head—Tech Companies Are Getting Desperate

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

    I’ve heard a few folks in the legal industry talking about how much more expensive renewals are becoming because every tech tool is adding AI, and as we know, AI isn’t cheap. Someone has to pay for it, and it looks like that’ll be all of us, in the form of higher prices for the tools we use to get our work done just fine the way they are now. 

    Not because we need it. They need it to show growth and satisfy investors. The fact they are likely creating a bubble that will burst and end dozens of perfectly profitable companies will be chalked up to bad luck. 

  • Linked – You Can’t Make Friends With The Rockstars

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 3 minutes

    That seems to be what happens in the tech journalism space. We have a list of people who’ve created successful companies and made a ton of money doing it, and everyone is supposed to assume that they are so bright they can do it over and over again. Then we are surprised when Elon buys Twitter and runs it into the ground or when Meta can’t find a market for the Metaverse. Microsoft spends billions upon billions of dollars on AI without any hope of making a profit for years while conducting rounds of layoffs to offset those costs. We assume they know what they’re doing because they’ve succeeded in other markets before, and the press doesn’t challenge them when they say provably false things. 

    It’s the Halo Effect. We assume that successful people are smart and kind and live healthy lives, especially if they are white men. When they contradict this picture we’ve painted, we loathe to admit it, let alone call it out in an interview. It’s more cognitively comfortable for us to continue believing they are competent and will figure it out.

  • My new browser of choice – ARC

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

    Simply put, I can’t log in and out of accounts all day, and I also don’t want to deal with my computer running out of memory. I spent many years walking that thin line. So, I was intrigued when I saw someone talking about a new browser they were using that was easy to use with multiple profiles and optimized for memory usage. I was skeptical but intrigued enough to give it a try. 

    That browser was Arc for Mac. 

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    Linked – AI Agents Come For White Collar Jobs

    ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

    How often have we watched a C-level person from Microsoft remind us that AI will not take our jobs but help us do our jobs better? It was there to assist us, not work for us.

    “It’s even in the name, Copilot.”

    When I heard them talk about agents being our team members and eventually managing other agents and their tasks, I immediately thought this was no longer a copilot. If it’s a team member, that means fewer human team members to do the work.