Why it’s the right time to explore AI.
Every day there are multiple news articles about how AI is changing the world. Some pundits caution that the latest wave of innovations will lead to doom and gloom. Others express a far more optimistic outlook. But nearly everyone is talking about it in some fashion.
Figure 1. Google search volume for “AI” since 2020.
When I speak with business leaders and executives, they express a mixture of interest, excitement, and fear. They are incredibly excited about the potential value that AI could create within their businesses. But they also express concern that their business may be left behind if they don’t adapt quickly enough and are afraid that they lack sufficient understanding of the technology. This makes sense. It’s a technical and complex area, and the raging hype around AI creates more noise than signal.
Fortune 500 executives can mitigate this with high priced consultants or in-house teams dedicated to innovation and emerging technologies. Amongst small and medium-sized business leaders however, these fears are particularly acute. They must deal with dozens of other pressing demands on their attention - rising cost of goods, contracting consumer spending, labor challenges, channel saturation and growing global competition to name a few. They realize AI has the potential to unlock incredible value for their customers and shareholders but lack the time and expertise to know where to begin.
Andrew Ng, arguably the godfather of AI, observed that the first wave of AI innovation required large data science and research teams. Therefore, only companies working on the most lucrative applications at scale could afford to build those capabilities. However, over the last few years a second wave of innovation around data science tools and open source models have made AI far more accessible to technology teams beyond the hallowed halls of Google DeepMind and Meta Research. As a result, it has only recently become financially feasible to apply AI to the long tail of use cases.
Figure 2. Slide from Andrew Ng’s 2022 Ted Talk
We’re excited to be founding Eskridge to serve this nascent market. AI is a fascinating technology, one that we believe will transform mid-market companies. We want to be a part of this revolution, shepherding clients into this incredible new era.
We plan to relentlessly focus on applied AI. Every technology service provider, system integrator and CX agency claims to offer some form of AI capabilities. These larger, more sprawling service providers tend to carry overhead costs that price them beyond the reach of small-to-medium business owners. They’ll only develop expertise but so quickly when AI is ancillary to their core business. This is a complex space that continues to evolve at a rapid pace, carries the potential to unlock unprecedented value and ultimately warrants full, undivided attention. At Eskridge, we’re looking forward to doing precisely that.
