Hot or Hype

Hot or Hype E5: AI Start Ups

• Sakura Sky • Season 1 • Episode 5

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AI is revolutionizing industries at breakneck speed, creating a gold rush of startup opportunities that technology experts are calling "hot" rather than mere hype. Our panel of tech veterans with over 45 years of combined experience cuts through the noise to reveal what's actually happening in the AI startup ecosystem as we approach 2025.

The discussion uncovers two critical trends reshaping the technology landscape: automation solutions and vertical AI applications. As our guest Andrew explains, successful startups aren't just implementing general AI capabilities—they're creating hybrid solutions that ground Large Language Models in industry-specific data to deliver tangible outcomes for specific vertical markets. This approach enables startups to disrupt enterprise workflows by addressing problems that larger tech companies might overlook.

Morgan, who has worked with several successful startups including a unicorn, offers invaluable perspective from her experience implementing AI in cloud monitoring. By combining AI with algorithmic trading methodologies for cloud spending optimization, her company demonstrates the practical impact of well-implemented artificial intelligence. The data center environment proves particularly conducive to AI applications due to its wealth of available data—comparable only to the financial sector in volume and detail.

For professionals contemplating the leap into AI startups, our experts provide guidance that goes beyond the technical. Finding companies that align with your personal values and ethics becomes crucial as AI integrates into everything from infrastructure to dating applications. The most important qualifications? Believing in the mission, focusing on customer needs, and ensuring proper foundations in infrastructure, security, and data.

Ready to navigate this new technological frontier? Listen now to discover why our experts unanimously agree: despite some inevitable hype, mission-driven AI startups delivering real results represent technology's most exciting opportunity since the cloud revolution.

Join Hosts Olivia Storelli and Andrew Stevens weekly reviewing trending technology.

www.sakurasky.com

Olivia Storelli:

Hi, I'm Olivia, co-founder of Sakura Sky. I've been working in cutting-edge tech for the past 20 years. The last 10, my focus has really been on cloud data and AI. We'll kick off with one of the biggest topics that's emerging for 2025, which is AI startups. Meet Morgan and Andrew, both experts in their field. Would you like to say a few words?

Andrew Stevens:

Yeah, look. Thanks, olivia, for the introduction. I'm a CTO and architect. I spend a lot of my time working with AI and deploying data solutions into vertical industries. Morgan, how are you?

Morgan Davies:

Yeah, olivia, thank you for inviting me to participate. I'm excited to see how this program evolves and, as everybody here, I've been in technology for the past 15 years and currently working at a cloud monitoring startup that's utilizing AI to help with our solutions and enhance our platform for our customers. So happy to be part of this conversation.

Olivia Storelli:

Thanks for joining us, both of you. I guess we can kick off with what's really happening in 2025 in the world of startups and why. I can see that there's a lot of things happening with AI startups that are doing all kinds of automation and creation out there. What would you say is happening in your specific fields?

Andrew Stevens:

Yes, all right. Look, I think, the two main areas. You're 100% correct. Automation is one of the big hot areas to consider. The other one is vertical AI. You'll hear people talking about Gen AI and LLMs, and they should be part of a multimodal or a hybrid solution that really delivers for your vertical direct point solution. So for me, it's about using an LLM to ground your data in your vertical market. Yes, and that's where I think it's at.

Olivia Storelli:

Super interesting Morgan.

Morgan Davies:

Yeah, I couldn't agree more with what Andrew just stated and for me again, at my current position, within this cloud monitoring cost optimization platform, we're using AI to help with data-driven decision-making processes for our customers, but also just providing algorithmic trading type solutions to help optimize their cloud spend, and also that goes in with predictive analytics. So combining all three of those solutions to the AI engine that we've created within our platform is just enhancing our product for our customers to enable them to make on-the-fly decisions that would have taken a lot longer without AI's assistance.

Andrew Stevens:

What I love about your industry is the data center is one of the most data-intensive or most recorded logged environments that humanity has. That and finance, I think you'll not and any more data than in your data center or in your bank account, and those two things really make AI easier to deliver on and gives a lot of data to apply. So where I think that is outstanding is in the data center. Your industry really makes it accessible and easily achievable.

Morgan Davies:

Oh, absolutely. I was going to completely agree with that. And what we've noticed a lot of times is customers will as we're all developers here will set up a project and then go away, and that idle cost starts adding up, and so we can have AI engines sit there and alert and send the team. Hey, these servers or these deployments, these nodes, these clusters could be better optimized by doing X, y and Z, so AI can come in and quickly provide massive cost savings. And again to these huge data centers every penny counts. So just let's save money where we can. That's how our company is utilizing AI.

Olivia Storelli:

So, talking about large data centers, what about all the big organizations out there, with all the investment happening? From an AI research point of view, there's a million startups doing the next big thing. Do you think that they're going to be replaced by some of the features that will be rolled out by the bigger companies with the bigger pockets? What do you think will make the cut for 2025? Andrew?

Andrew Stevens:

Look, I think AI, or what will make the cut, is really about evolution and disruption. These AI startups have an opportunity now to disrupt the enterprise workflow. They come into something new, something delivering tangible outcomes, and that's what won't make the cut. Is people reliant on outdated LLMs or tools that are over-promising or lacking real, tangible delivery for the people that pay the bills. Focus on gimmicks you're out.

Morgan Davies:

Yeah, a thousand percent, like a tangible, you know. Show us the results in real time, how we can optimize our solution. Those kind of companies, those startups that are tackling those problems, are going to be the winners of 2025.

Olivia Storelli:

So, morgan, you've worked for a number of different, very successful startups. You've been employee number one of the unicorn. You're working for a very successful startup that's been acquired. Now you seem to have the Midas touch. What's your secret to selecting the correct startup and how can you determine what's hot and what's hype in the AI startup space right now?

Morgan Davies:

Oh my gosh, that's the hardest question I've heard. I think you know right now you need to find a company that fits your cultural values, your ethics and what's important to you. Ai is going to be in everything we do, from data centers to dating websites. So A find a company that appeals to you, find one that's using AI the way you feel it should be used, and then go with your gut instinct. You feel it should be used, and then go with your gut instinct. There's going to be some fantastic companies coming out of this technology and utilizing AI. So it's just again, cultural fit. What's a good fit for you, what do you believe in? And take that gamble and go with it and just roll with it.

Olivia Storelli:

Great Thanks. Do you have any insights to add to that, Andrew, having been in many yourself?

Andrew Stevens:

Look, I think Morgan's right. Anything you want to focus on has got to have the right fit in terms of delivering for the customer and then have that focus on the customer. You know, the team obviously makes it very important, but having the solution that delivers what the customer needs and having the right infrastructure, security, data behind it, that's what will make the startup go.

Olivia Storelli:

Yeah, that's a good point. I mean, I think it's a new frontier. It's been a little while since we've had pioneering kind of tech to sit behind. Probably the last wave of that would have been cloud. You know, before that it was definitely mobile. So now, with AI being the next kind of frontier, there's a lot of buzz that's out there. You know it's probably the time, if you want to take the risk versus reward, to invest in something early on and you know back the right horse as far as startup land is concerned. So I guess that brings me to the conclusion of do we think that you know working for an AI startup and the AI startup scene right now? Is it hot or is it hype? Morgan and the AI startup scene right?

Morgan Davies:

now. Is it hot or is it hype Morgan? Oh, I'm definitely on the hot side. I think there's going to be a lot of crazy ideas utilizing AI, but I think there's going to be some true winners that are going to impact everybody's lives, and I think it's again going back finding a company that you believe in because it's going to it could really succeed. I think this technology is going to revolutionize the way that we look at the workforce and our roles within it as technologists. Where are we going to be in this AI world and landscape? And I think right now, you can't go wrong in 2025. There's going to be some fantastic AI startups in there.

Olivia Storelli:

Great. So we've got one hot from Morgan. What about you, Andrew?

Andrew Stevens:

It's a race. Right now it's a land grab and then it's going to be a consolidation of the market. Right now, it is absolutely hot to find the right startup. Hang on, hold tight, deliver good stuff and you'll be okay. It's hot, yep.

Olivia Storelli:

My vote is hot. There's a lot of hype out there, but I think what the startups are doing that are mission-driven definitely should be hot, so I think that's a wrap, guys. The upshot of this episode is working for an AI startup is definitely hot right now and not hype. See you for the next episode.