Exploring AI in Business Intelligence: Vectorization, LLMs, and Service Providers with Avi Perez

In this episode of The Business of Tech, host Dave Sobel engages in a deep conversation with Avi Perez, co-founder and CTO of Pyramid Analytics, who brings over 16 years of experience in the field of artificial intelligence and business intelligence. The discussion begins with a historical perspective on the evolution of AI, particularly in the realm of business intelligence, highlighting how AI has been a central component of BI for many years, long before the recent surge in popularity due to tools like ChatGPT. Avi emphasizes that AI encompasses a broad range of functionalities designed to assist users in navigating complex software, and he distinguishes between AI, data science, and machine learning.As the conversation progresses, Avi addresses the current landscape of AI in business intelligence, particularly the integration of large language models (LLMs) and their transformative potential. He notes that while LLMs have significantly enhanced natural language querying capabilities, the real challenge lies in bridging the gap between these advanced technologies and their practical application in business contexts. Avi argues that the responsibility for this integration falls on software vendors and service providers, who must ensure that quality data is fed into these systems to avoid the pitfalls of "garbage in, garbage out."Avi further elaborates on the emerging role of service providers in the context of vectorization, a process that combines public and proprietary data to enhance the functionality of LLMs. He explains that vectorization allows organizations to query their unique datasets without compromising data security or performance. This process requires skilled professionals who can effectively manage and optimize the data, ensuring that it is structured and semantically rich enough to yield meaningful insights when queried through LLMs.The episode concludes with a discussion on the future of data governance and the critical role service providers will play in helping organizations navigate the complexities of data quality and management. Avi highlights the need for a thoughtful approach to data structuring and the importance of understanding business use cases to optimize the vectorization process. This evolving landscape presents a significant opportunity for service providers to deliver value by facilitating the integration of advanced AI technologies into business intelligence frameworks, ultimately enabling organizations to make more informed decisions.  All our Sponsors:   https://businessof.tech/sponsors/ Do you want the show on your podcast app or the written versions of the stories? Subscribe to the Business of Tech: https://www.businessof.tech/subscribe/Looking for a link from the stories? The entire script of the show, with links to articles, are posted in each story on https://www.businessof.tech/ Support the show on Patreon: https://patreon.com/mspradio/ Want to be a guest on Business of Tech: Daily 10-Minute IT Services Insights? Send Dave Sobel a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/businessoftech Want our stuff? Cool Merch? Wear “Why Do We Care?” - Visit https://mspradio.myspreadshop.com Follow us on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28908079/YouTube: https://youtube.com/mspradio/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mspradionews/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mspradio/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@businessoftechBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/businessoftech.bsky.social