Technologies That Cios Are Investing In

Remember the investment atmosphere of the late ‘90s? The dotcom boom? PCs flew off the shelves, online access got cheap, browsers became mainstream. But the clearest signal? 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻. What have we seen in the last week? Similar perfect storm trends are alive in the #AI world: #Cybersecurity #FinTech #HealthTech #SupplyChain #IndustrialAutomation #LegalTech #AgriTech #EdTech #RetailAndCPGTech #GovTech Here is a list of only some of the VC investments in AI in just the last week: • Meter, provides internet and AI networking infrastructure, raised $170M • Glean, an enterprise search startup, raised $150M • Laurel , an AI timekeeping startup, raised $100M • Horizon3.ai, uses AI to test companies’ cybersecurity, raised $100M • Wandercraft, develops AI-powered robotic exoskeletons, raised $75M • Aerones, uses robotics to inspect and maintain wind turbines, raised $62M • Abacum, a business financial planning startup, raised $60M • Pactum AI, which helps companies negotiate with suppliers, raised $54M • Beewise, which uses AI to monitor the health of beehives, raised $50M • Tastewise, helps food/beverage companies with marketing, raised $50M • Ellipsis Health, AI for phone calls with healthcare patients, raised $45M • Swimlane, an agentic security startup, raised $45M • Speedata.io, develops chips for analyzing large datasets, raised $44M • Voxel, which analyzes security footage to prevent accidents, raised $44M • Knowunity, which develops an AI tutor, raised $31M • Simetric, helps financial institutions reconcile transactions, raised $30M • Definely, an AI legal tech startup, raised $30M • Landbase, an AI sales startup, raised $30M • LawZero, how to develop AI systems that don’t deceive users, raised $30M • Treefera, provides companies with data about supply chains, raised $30M • Sema4.ai, software to help companies make AI agents, raised $25M • Obvio, uses AI cameras to automatically issue driving tickets, raised $22M • Ciroos, an AI-powered engineer investigate software bugs, raised $21M • Skyral, uses AI to simulate the outcomes of public policies, raised $20M • pWin.ai, supports government contractors bidding, raised $10M • Thunder Code, which uses AI to find software bugs, raised $9M • Automated Architecture (AUAR), uses robots to build houses, raised $7M • Deepdots, software for analyzing customer interactions, raised $6M • Literal Labs, builds explainable models for regulated industries, raised $6M • Lendurai, which develops AI-powered drones, raised $6M • Trustible, helps with legal compliance of adopting AI, raised $5M • Ryght AI, develops AI-powered clinical research software, raised $3M AI is on a roll indeed! #discoverthefuture

It’s officially Day 1 for #AI in the #enterprise - and the numbers speak for themselves. Morgan Stanley's equity research team just dropped its Q2 2025 #CIO survey (100 respondents, $500M-$20B+ revenue), and here are 5 highlights that stood out: 1) The time for AI adoption is now: 60% of CIOs expect GenAI-based workloads in production by end of 2025. 2) IT is eating its own dog food:  IT (including cyber) is the business unit that has most actively adopted GenAI tooling into its workflow over the past 12 months, followed by marketing and HR. 3) Microsoft GenAI is a juggernaut: An astounding 97% of CIOs surveyed plan to use Microsoft’s GenAI suite. Microsoft 365 Copilot led the way, followed by Azure OpenAI, GitHub Copilot, Security Copilot, and Dynamics Copilot. 4) Public cloud momentum continues to grow: CIOs now forecast 68% of application workloads in public cloud by 2027, up sharply from 44% today. On-prem will likely be focused on specialized instances going forward. 5) Azure’s dominance deepens: Over 50% of enterprise workloads now (and 3 years out) will run on Azure - far ahead of AWS (~30%) and GCP (~9%). Microsoft’s early AI bets are paying off, but Google is actively fighting back with rapid launches. This will be an exciting race to watch. Every CIO and CISO I speak with is actively experimenting with AI to automate workflows and replace legacy services. If you’re a founder working in this space, I'd love to connect - I’m on the hunt to back the next great startup.

As we step into 2024, the landscape of IT spending is evolving rapidly, influenced by a range of factors from global economic conditions and political instability to technological advancements. This article by Splunk consolidates insights from a wide range of sources, including Gartner, IDC and others, to provide a comprehensive overview of the IT spending trends expected in 2024 Gartner’s forecast for worldwide IT spending in 2024 projects a substantial growth of 8%, reaching a total of $5.1 trillion. This increase is driven by investments in #cloud, #cybersecurity, #AI and #automation, which are seen as critical for enhancing operational efficiency and bridging IT talent gaps. Although generative AI (GenAI) hasn't significantly impacted IT spending yet, it's expected to become a part of IT budgets starting from 2025 CIO Priorities Driving Spending Changes: 💲Increasing operational efficiency (45%) 💲Increasing cybersecurity protections (44%) 💲Transforming business processes (38%) 💲Improving customer experience (36%) 💲Improving profitability (27%) 💲Increasing employee productivity (25%) 💲New product development (22%) 💲Increasing topline revenue (20%) 💲Developing new digital revenue streams (19%) 💲Improving employee experience (19%) 💲Enhancing hybrid work technologies (18%) 💲Improving talent acquisition/retention (17%) 💲Meeting compliance requirements (16%) 💲Monetizing company data (14%) 💲Adhering to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards (11%) What other areas are you prioritizing? Any of this more relevant than others in your industry? We have plenty of challenges (including unexpected shakeups at the companies leading the next frontier of tech), but we are also seeing signs of resiliency, so I remain optimistic about the future, and believe Technology's role extends beyond innovation; it carries the responsibility to ensure inclusive representation from all to reduce inequalities and leverage diverse perspectives #2024outlook #techspend #CIOpriorities #latinosintech #responsibletech

Face-to-face conversations with customers are priceless. These interactions always offer deep insights into their challenges and aspirations, helping us to drive innovation effectively and tailor solutions to meet their needs. During my time here in Shanghai, I’ve been fortunate enough to do just that – meetings with customers and interactive workshops, the direct engagement has been invaluable. Alongside these interactions, I had the chance to present what’s top of mind for CIOs when it comes to AI, as backed by our recent Global Study of CIOs (I’ll link to this in the comments). Here’s a bit of what we covered: 🔹 CIOs are ramping up spending on AI infrastructure and services. It's crucial to educate the entire C-suite about the sustainable AI journey. 🔹 As we know, AI is changing/has changed the game for how businesses operate. Adopting an "AI for All" approach that aligns business AND technical goals is key. 🔹 Gen AI is a top priority, ranking #4 on CIOs' wish lists. It's all about working with business leaders to pinpoint the right models, use cases, and implementation methods. 🔹 69% of CIOs prefer AI workloads in a non-public cloud environment. Balancing security, maintaining performance, and meeting/anticipating regulatory requirements are crucial. 🔹 45% of CIOs are struggling to hire for AI-related roles. Building centers of excellence and fostering a data-driven culture can help attract, retain, and train the right talent. As we continue to explore these insights, it's clear that collaboration and continuous learning are the keys to navigating the evolving AI landscape. #WeAreLenovo #CustomerCentric #AI #Innovation #CIO

For my latest CIO Intelligence newsletter for Fortune, I asked #CIO and other C-suite technology leaders what they are prioritizing as they plan for their 2025 budgets. To no surprise, our conversations frequently centered on #genAI, #cybersecurity, and #cloud. The ROI on genAI continues to be a topic of conversation. There's concerns some vendors are "AI washing" — adding "AI" to places where it doesn't need to be and certainty not justifying the expense. $30 per-user costs for some genAI products is also causing a bit of consternation. As McKinsey & Company shared, "It’s safe to say the CIOs are very irritated by these enterprise vendors pricing strategies for generative AI." https://lnkd.in/eQ8Ci9bK

A new report by Lenovo reveals IT leaders are prioritizing AI like never before. Over half (51%) of CIOs say AI adoption is a top priority, tied with cybersecurity. This shift is driven by pressure to deliver business results, not just maintain IT systems. However, scaling up AI isn't easy. Speed of adoption and security concerns are the biggest roadblocks. There's also a worry about people. As companies invest more in AI, 89% of CIOs fear they'll need more skilled workers to manage it effectively. Budgeting is another hurdle. While most CIOs expect increased AI spending, only a fifth anticipate a big overall IT budget boost. This might mean less money for other important areas like cloud computing, sustainability, and employee pay. The bottom line? AI has huge potential, but CIOs need help overcoming challenges and ensuring balanced investment across all IT priorities. #AI #CIO #TechTrends