AAIA's AI Beat Newsletter: Upcoming Chapter events, this week’s handpicked stories/reports, Chapter President Spotlight: Sujin John (Virginia, USA)

AI in business and the enterprise news:

Recent AI news stories that caught our (and Perplexity AI’s!) eye over the last week:

• What to expect from AI in the enterprise in 2025 (CIO, December 9, 2024)

  • “This year saw the initial hype and excitement over AI settle down with more realistic expectations taking hold. This is particularly true with enterprise deployments as the capabilities of existing models, coupled with the complexities of many business workflows, led to slower progress than many expected.”

• New Google AI weather model beats most reliable forecast system (Axios, December 4, 2024)

  • “It finds the model has greater skill than the extremely reliable ensemble run by the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) on 97.2% of 1,320 forecast metrics they evaluated.”

• AI-enhanced tutoring: Bridging the achievement gap in American education (eSchool News, December 9, 2024)

  • “Recent research has shown that generative AI tools have the potential to help bridge these gaps. These tools can be used to support students in a variety of ways, from personalized learning to high-dose tutoring. While more research is needed to evaluate the scalability and efficacy of these tools, they offer a promising avenue for addressing the challenges faced by students in STEM education, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

• Amazon Shares Rise After AWS Announces AI Supercomputer Nvidia Rival—Here’s What To Know (Forbes, December 4, 2024)

  • “Amazon Web Services, Amazon’s cloud computing arm, announced it’s launching a new AI supercomputer built from its own machine learning chips that could be one of the largest used to train AI models—and tries to rival chipmaking giant Nvidia.”

• Microsoft e-books:

  • AI Use Cases for Business Leaders: Realize Value with AI

    • “Make AI real for your organization today. Read AI Use Cases for Business Leaders: Realize Value with AI to discover the common scenarios and processes where AI is already having the biggest impact—and see how to bring AI to your organization to boost productivity, optimize efficiency, and generate new business value.”

  • AI Strategy Roadmap: Navigating the Stages of AI Value Creation

    • “See how to develop an AI strategy and roadmap to help your organization achieve its goals.”

    • “Explore emerging AI best practices for organizations at every stage of AI readiness, based on a survey of over 1,300 business and technology leaders.”

    • “Learn how to navigate the five stages of AI value creation—exploring, planning, implementing, scaling, and realizing.”

• MIT Technology Review Insights paper, produced in partnership with Databricks, “Laying the foundation for data- and AI-led growth,” a global study of C-suite executives, chief architects, and data scientists. (Databricks)

  • “Ready to reinvent your data and AI strategy to capture exponential return in the new AI race? In this MIT Technology Review Insights report, you’ll gain an understanding from a global survey of 600 CIOs, CDOs, CTOs, chief architects and chief data scientists on the steps they are taking to be AI-ready. You’ll also hear best practices from C-level executives from the world’s best-known companies and organizations, including Starbucks, Condé Nast, Dell Technologies, GM, ADP, U.S. TSA, Regeneron and Razorpay.”

• Google's 5-Day Gen AI Intensive Course is now available as a free, self-paced learning program for anyone interested in learning all about the fundamental technologies and techniques behind AI (Neil Hoyne, Chief Strategist at Google)

Thought Leader’s Corner:

• AAIA’s own Global Executive Director, Omar Nawaz, has just posted an article, “Unlocking AI's True Potential: Agentic Workflows.”  Read it here.

  • “A new paradigm is emerging in the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI): Agentic AI workflows. This innovative approach empowers AI models to perform tasks iteratively, much like a human would, by breaking down complex problems into smaller, more manageable steps. This contrasts with traditional methods, where AI models often rely on single-shot prompts to generate outputs.”

AAIA Chapters updates:

We’ll be introducing a Chapter President to you each week.  This week, we feature Sujin John, AAIA Chapter President for Virginia, USA:

Company and position:  Senior Account Director - Interactive Business, LTIMindtree

Bio:

With a vast experience in human-centered design, digital transformation and human capability development, Sujin has been in the sunrise phases of several human-centered technological innovations over the past two decades, harnessing the value they bring to enterprises and communities with practical go-to-market solutions that drive real impact. With a global career spanning several IT and design service-led engagements for global hi-tech companies, international development organizations and the US federal government,  he has led several large scale transformations involving skills development, user research, enterprise performance support and product development.

Today, AI is transforming our work and lives by enhancing decision-making, productivity, and creativity, enabling individuals to focus on higher-level thinking and innovation. However, unlocking AI's full potential requires trust and collaboration—it truly takes a village. Diverse stakeholders, including technologists, businesses, educators, and policymakers, must unite to create a supportive ecosystem. The generous sharing of knowledge, valuable resources, and effective best practices ensures that AI is developed responsibly and inclusively, ultimately benefiting society as a whole in remarkable ways. This collective effort is absolutely essential for harnessing AI's capabilities to empower individuals and uplift communities.

As Chapter President at AAIA, Sujin is looking forward to drive key initiatives aimed at building this vibrant AI community in Virginia. He aims to provide an inclusive and welcoming platform for curious novices and experienced practitioners alike to engage in productive dialogue and collaboration, ensuring that AI's benefits are accessible to all and cultivating an environment where technology and human creativity can come together to drive meaningful change.

Email Sujin John at: [email protected]

Our list of AAIA Chapters continues to grow! If you live in a Chapter city/region and would like to get involved, email the Chapter President.