Remote Work Trends, AI Use Cases, Risk Management, Vertical Specialization, & Legal Practice Launch

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER_01]: It's Wednesday, July 31, 2024, and I'm Dave Solt, four things to note today.

[00:00:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Remote Work Popularity Surging full-time remote workers to rise from 12.7% to 22% next year,

[00:00:16] [SPEAKER_01]: from accessibility to companionship, some unique AI use cases in politics, weather, and social interaction.

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Comprehensive AI risk management, some insights from the commerce department and net scopes analysis, and vertical specialization.

[00:00:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Integrates launches a legal practice following their financial institution division.

[00:00:39] [SPEAKER_01]: This is the Business of Tech.

[00:00:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, three stories about Remote Work all it wants.

[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Cisos continue to face significant security challenges due to Remote Work, with 72% stating it complicates their organization's cyber resilience.

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Key issues include an increased attack surface, vulnerability in Remote Access Software, and arise in phishing attacks.

[00:01:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Many Cisos report insufficient budgets to address these threats, and the shift to hybrid work has led to a greater reliance on zero-trust security frameworks

[00:01:13] [SPEAKER_01]: to manage risks associated with remote devices and shadow IT.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_01]: And despite some big companies favoring in-person attendance, Remote Work is expected to continue growing in popularity.

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_01]: A survey by Bears Dev shows that 98% of employees desire Remote Work, and the number of full-time remote workers is expected to increase from 12.7% to 22% by next year.

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_01]: The IT sector has led the way in Remote Work with Tech Workers reporting increased productivity, satisfaction, and work life balance.

[00:01:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Companies with Retro-Office mandates are experiencing a loss of female talent.

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Flexible working arrangements have been a requirement now for many job seekers, especially caregivers, lower income workers, and women.

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Upworks research shows that return to office mandates have led to a disproportionate number of women quitting impacting company productivity.

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Why do we care?

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_01]: So a reminder, from service leadership's compensation report, Remote Work remains relatively low in the service provider industry.

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_01]: With only 8.7% of employees working 100% remotely while 42.8% work exclusively in the office.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Many TSP employees at 73% spend at least three days or more working in the office.

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_01]: So, why do Europeans as an employer?

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, listen to employees.

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Embraising flexibility and trust in the workplace is crucial for leaders for a team talent and improved productivity.

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_01]: The other reason the Remote Work discussion continues to be relevant is that first story.

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Most organizations are simply not ready for it.

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_01]: This should be quite relevant for service providers.

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Trinity Cyber is a revolutionary new capability that helps MSPs expand security services and grow your business while improving margins, automated threat mitigation, and full content inspection, inline and in real time.

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_01]: That's right. In real time, these guys seem to have finally invented the man in the middle we have been waiting for.

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Here's what Wayne Porter, owner of MSP Allegheny Computer Services, has to say.

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_00]: The thing that really makes Trinity Cyber different from a technical aspect is it's a new ability to neutralize any adversary and it does it automated, inline and real time.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Lesson your workload, reduce your expenses and increase your margins with Trinity Cyber.

[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Visit TrinitySiber.com slash MSP4 to learn about their discounted MSP pricing options.

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_01]: I love stories about use cases because finding examples of technology and use, spires customers and makes technology concrete.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I've got two good ones. We're working.

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_01]: The representative Jennifer Wexton, who lost her ability to speak due to progressive super-nuclear policy, used an AI generated clone of her voice to deliver a speech on the house floor, marking a significant moment in our advocacy for people with disabilities.

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_01]: The technology developed by 11 labs allowed her to reclaim her voice for public speaking, which she described as a powerful and emotional experience.

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Wexton emphasized the importance of responsible use of AI technology, expressing her desire to continue being a voice for those facing accessibility challenges.

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_01]: According to New York Times, AI is revolutionizing weather forecasting by predicting hurricanes and global weather patterns with unprecedented speed and accuracy.

[00:04:55] [SPEAKER_01]: The graph-cast model developed by DeepEye can produce forecasts in seconds that traditionally took hours outperforming established models.

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_01]: This technology which can run on standard computers allows for more accessible and timely weather predictions, potentially saving lives.

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_01]: While AI enhances forecasting capabilities, experts emphasize the continued importance of human oversight and traditional methods in achieving reliable results.

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_01]: And the weird one from the Verge.

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_01]: The first thing that is important is that the AI is not building meaningful relationships with AI, aiming for friend to evolve into a social network for real and digital friendships.

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Why do we care?

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_01]: If you wonder why voice cloning would be useful, well there's a relevant use case for you.

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_01]: But also highlights how difficult is for this to regulate, banning in personation is not as simple as one might hope.

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_01]: So AI companionship, there's history here, this isn't the first attempt, there's evidence that people bond with their technology and do former relationships with digital systems.

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not proposing there is a business use case here, yet I want to highlight the unique uses the technology is bringing out.

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_01]: And that one is certainly unique.

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_01]: The US Commerce Department released a report on Monday endorsing open-weight, generative AI models highlighting their potential to enhance accessibility for small businesses and researchers.

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_01]: It advises against restrictions on these models without thorough market impact investigations and emphasizes the need for government monitoring of associated risks.

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_01]: The report aligns with President Biden's executive order on AI, aiming to balance innovation with safety measures.

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_01]: And while I'm on AI and our price security teams are taking steps to mitigate risks associated with AI-enabled applications.

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_01]: And analysis by NetScope shows that more organizations are using blocking controls, data loss prevention tools, live coaching and other mechanisms to protect against users sending sensitive data to AI apps.

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_01]: However, there is less focus on addressing risks associated with the data received from generative AI services.

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Organizations can mitigate these risks through vendor contracts, enforcing the use of corporate approved generative AI apps and logging and auditing return data sets.

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Now why do we care?

[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_01]: When the report highlighted the value for small businesses, my ears perk up.

[00:07:55] [SPEAKER_01]: There's an obvious value broadly in managing data and risk for any size business.

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_01]: It hasn't seen research that indicated that the licensing model itself might have this competitive advantage.

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Integrous and national IT-managed services provider plans to establish a legal practice focused on servicing law firms across the country.

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_01]: This initiative reflects integracies commitment to the legal industries IT cybersecurity and compliance needs.

[00:08:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Greg Cook, who brings over 15 years experience has been appointed as VP of sales for the new practice.

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_01]: This marks it tegris' second specialized industry vertical following the launch of its financial institution division in 2023.

[00:08:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Why do we care?

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_01]: This isn't necessarily new.

[00:08:42] [SPEAKER_01]: I wanted to observe the brutal causation of some providers building specific practices to serve customers,

[00:08:50] [SPEAKER_01]: rather than be built around a technology the organizations are built around a vertical and have expertise in that vertical.

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_01]: This is similar to the way law or accounting practices would be built.

[00:09:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Integracies, private equity backed.

[00:09:03] [SPEAKER_01]: This is notable just because of their options for growth based on funding.

[00:09:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I'd expect to see more providers built in this map.

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for listening.

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[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Once again, thanks for listening to me.

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I'll talk to you again on our next episode of the Business of Tech.