IT services firms embrace next-level growth strategies

Enterprises have experienced a slowdown due to inflation, economic uncertainty, and tighter IT budgets but the good news is that they may find renewed innovation and increased technology investment with the emergence of generative AI.

While it remains to be seen if AI spending will follow the patterns of previous internet, mobile, and cloud investment phases, the partner ecosystem is preparing for that possibility. Several companies have made developments in the generative AI market.

Rackspace Technology

Rackspace Technology, a multi-cloud technology solutions provider, has introduced a global generative AI practice that leverages the company's previous acquisitions and in-house use of the technology.

Rackspace's newly launched FAIR practice (Foundry for Generative AI by Rackspace) aims to guide customers through the technology adoption process. The company will utilize AI/ML and data services acquired from Just Analytics, as well as partnerships with hyperscalers and open-source AI companies such as Hugging Face and Stability AI.

Rackspace's adoption of generative AI aligns with its two-business-unit operating model. While much of the activity in generative AI focuses on hyperscalers like AWS, Google, and Microsoft Azure, Rackspace's Private Cloud business unit is also experiencing demand for generative AI capabilities, particularly from AI startups in need of robust compute and storage capabilities in a private cloud environment.

Insight Enterprises

Insight Enterprises, a solutions integrator based in Chandler, Ariz., has launched a generative AI service in collaboration with partners like Microsoft, Nvidia, and NetApp. Insight's service focuses on creating secure and scalable enterprise instances of generative AI within customers' environments. It also helps identify use cases, integrates data from multiple sources, and provides infrastructure support for generative AI platforms.

66degrees

66degrees, a Google Cloud Premier partner headquartered in Chicago, is building generative AI offerings in education, customer experience, and customer support using Google's foundation models and Vertex AI machine learning platform.

66degrees considers generative AI a major contributor to its AI/ML practice and collaborates with customers on digital transformation initiatives. For example, they worked with Designer Brands on a customer personalization and recommendation project, utilizing Google Cloud's analytics and AI/ML capabilities.

The introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022 has generated interest in generative AI among enterprises, leading service providers to develop their own offerings.

Accenture, a professional services firm, has established a generative AI and large language model center of excellence and plans to invest $3 billion in its data and AI practice, creating 40,000 AI roles.

PwC and KPMG have also announced their intentions to invest in and integrate generative AI solutions into their services.

These partner moves highlight the increasing importance of generative AI for solutions providers, consultancies, and integrators.

Generative AI has gained attention when many businesses have been focused on cost optimisation rather than future investments. However, the wide range of possibilities offered by generative AI has sparked a renewed interest in innovation among companies. This eagerness to gain a competitive advantage has driven businesses to invest in generative AI for both optimisation and innovation purposes.

Overall, the emergence of generative AI presents new opportunities for enterprises to drive innovation and make aggressive technology investments, with various companies and service providers offering tailored solutions and services in this rapidly evolving field.