A very wise man once told me: “It is more often than not cheaper to pay for something than to receive it for free”. So yes, you read the headline correct.
What might be happening in the ICT arena with AI seems like a movie some of us has seen before. Remember that thing called the “Dot-Com Bubble”? I feel the need to explain, as in talking to some up and coming technical resources I got blank stares before I realized most of them were not born yet when it happened.
The Boom: From 1995 to the year 2000 investors went wild investing in any company ending in “.com” – simply because they were internet based. No thorough due diligence, most of these startups had little to no profitability, unrealistic business models and no proven revenue streams – it was all based on the “dream”. Trillions of dollars were invested, so much the Nasdaq rose 582% during this period.
Things were great in the industry back then, parties insane and money being spent on everything except common sense.
The Burst: Early 2000, the Federal Reserve, to combat inflation, raised interest rates and investors realized many Dot-Coms couldn’t generate earnings or deliver value. This sparked massive panic selling-off of those companies. The Nasdaq plummeted 77%, most cash strapped startups (more than 5 000 of them) became worthless overnight and $5 Trillion were wiped out, becoming the leading cause of the 2001 recession.
What have we seen in AI thus far? Here I must comment that even AI is hesitant to answer direct questions – giving answers like a well-trained politician:
Ø $1.6-trillion total investment expected to grow to $5 trillion by 2030
Ø Only 6% of companies are seeing a meaningful bottom-line impact
Ø AI’s contribution to 2025 GDP growth – “basically zero”
Ø I’m getting answers with words like “could add”, “potential” and something that really scares me: “AI investment is also supported by unprecedented government funding”
At the end of the day, it looks, like in 2000, it is you and me who is going to pay the bill, again. When last did you try buy affordable RAM or SSDs? Now they in short supply due to AI datacenters being built, back then our shortages were due to a thing called Y2K.
So, what does it have to do with “free”?
During the “Dot-Com Boom” we had the 1st “Browser war” – Netscape vs Microsoft. Then after the burst we had the 2nd “Browser War” – Microsoft; Firefox and Google. We know who won – yes of course: Google with 70% current market share.
How did they win – they could monetize the browser, by making it “free”, and in doing so making you the product. This has sparked a business model now being used by so many “free” tools/apps I can’t really think about one not using it. That is the free I am tired of.
Unthinkable a couple of years ago: I am paying to not be advertised to; I am paying to not be the product. Maybe better put in old man’s terms – I am prepared to pay for the product or service, been doing it for my music and entertainment, now doing it for my browser.
I think the 3rd “Browser war” might be on its way. I can only comment on Comet – and yes, I pay for it as I see the value. Built with agentic AI at its core, it makes “browsing” a breeze – not hundreds of pages to scroll through, no top searches being the landing site for companies who paid the most in advertising, no long searches for hidden truths – just answers and facts.
Which brings me to the current ICT climate I find myself in. After the burst of the Dot-Com bubble, the bubble still went on. There is no reputable company without an online presence, integrating websites with workflows/customer retention/expansion strategies and more. Companies who survived – and thrived – did it so by doing things right, from the start.
Eventually I get to something Veeam’ish!
I want to commend Veeam on the purchase of SecuritiAI and for starting to build Security/Governance/Compliance and Privacy into the resilience platform. This now allows us to not only start delivering safe scalable AI, which business has been pushing us to do, it now gives us the tools to do it the right way, from the start. More than that - to highlight the critical importance of DSPM across fragmented business silos, getting departments to actually talk to each other. It is the right thing to do – not only for AI – but for our business.
Enough said – grab the popcorn, there is a movie to watch!
