About this episode
A new year often means resolutions and plans for your business. And for 2025, one of those plans is likely focused on literally and figuratively getting your arms around your AI strategy. Making effective use of AI in 2025 means rewinding one whole hype cycle to the early 2020s to big data. That's the last big story we were all talking about. Organization, accuracy, availability, and, of course, security of your data are the essential building blocks for you to build a language model that is serviceable and accurate for your business. It's the core of your AI strategy. In this episode of The Bridge, Scott interviews Duane Barnes, president of RapidScale. RapidScale is owned by Cox (yes, that Cox), and we understand why Duane believes that nine out of every ten of you are not prepared for AI — but you can be! It won't take a massive budget, nor will it be a multi-year project, but it will take understanding where you are. During the conversation, they explore RapidScale’s mission to simplify IT for businesses, the current state of AI in the hype cycle, and the challenges companies face in leveraging AI effectively. Duane shares insights on customer engagement, real-world AI applications, and the importance of having a clear strategy when implementing AI tools like Co-Pilot. They also delve into the critical aspects of AI governance, the importance of data management and having quality data, strategic approaches to AI adoption, and with the risks associated with AI usage in businesses, emphasizing the need for proper governance policies and the potential consequences of data leaks.
