Navigating SMB Trends: Security, AI, and Consulting in IT Operations with Anurag Agrawal

Dave Sobel welcomes Anurag Agarwal from TechIsle to discuss research data on customer expectations, cybersecurity, and AI trends. The conversation delves into the increasing budget allocations for IT security among SMBs, highlighting the importance of consulting services in guiding SMBs towards choosing the right security technologies and frameworks. Anurag emphasizes the shift towards cybersecurity as a business risk, prompting SMBs to focus on cyber resiliency rather than just cybersecurity. The discussion then transitions to the evolving landscape of AI adoption, with a focus on large language models (LLMs) and their impact on businesses. Anurag and Dave explore the significance of AI consulting in preparing organizations for AI implementation, emphasizing the need for expertise in selecting the right language models for specific business problems. The conversation underscores the importance of aligning with a single hyperscaler for AI solutions and the emerging trend towards small language models (SLMs) for accelerated AI adoption. Anurag highlights the growing trend of AI assessment as a key focus for both partners and end customers, surpassing cloud cost optimization and security assessments. Supported by: https://salesbuildr.com/    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