Secret CTO Newsletter | How CTOs Are Preparing for the AI Race

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EVENT ROUND-UP

Overheard at HumanX: AI Trends That Matter for Go-to-Market Leaders

Last week at HumanX 2025, our Secret CTO reporter sat down with some of the biggest names in AI and technology to uncover what’s next for enterprise AI and how businesses can navigate the rapidly evolving landscape.

🔎 AI’s Real ROI Lies in Use Cases
Kathleen Booth, SVP of Marketing & Growth at Pavilion, highlighted the disconnect between AI adoption and ROI in B2B. While many companies are experimenting with AI, few have translated it into concrete business value. Booth stressed that success will come from focusing on practical use cases to drive measurable outcomes.

💡 AI Agents Are Going to Work for You
Donnchadh Casey, CEO of CalypsoAI, noted that 2024 was the year of experimentation, but 2025 will be the year of action. AI agents are set to become key players in customer service, sales, and internal operations — with companies like CalypsoAI already launching red-teaming agents to test security vulnerabilities and improve reliability.

🚀 AI and Robotics Are Building a New Economy
Zach Rash, CEO of Coco Robotics, revealed how AI is reshaping the physical world. With over 1,000 autonomous delivery robots operating in major cities, Coco is using AI to optimize urban delivery, reduce costs, and improve efficiency. Rash believes AI-powered automation will create new economic opportunities by slashing the cost of logistics and improving customer experiences.

📈 Voice AI Is Changing Customer Experience
Deepgram’s Jeremy Maurer and Julia Kroll explained how voice AI is shifting from simple transcription to full-service customer interaction. Deepgram’s voice agent API allows businesses to automate customer service without sacrificing quality.

⚖️ AI Bias and Explainability Are Critical to Adoption
Ori Goshen, Co-CEO of AI21 Labs, emphasized that AI adoption in enterprises will only scale once issues of trust, accuracy, and explainability are resolved. AI21’s new Maestro product aims to solve this by orchestrating complex workflows while providing transparency and traceability — key factors for enterprise-wide trust in AI.

👉 As companies move from testing to execution, Hive Perform is well-positioned to help businesses unlock AI’s full potential — driving real outcomes, not just insights.

Reach the CTOs shaping the future of technology. Get your brand in front of the decision-makers who matter.

Influencer Corner 📣

The Big Picture 📸

AI COMPETITION IMPACT

Global AI race fuels innovation, raises quality and privacy concerns

The unrelenting AI arms race between global superpowers like the United States and China is sparking innovations that are reshaping technological landscapes at an unprecedented pace. However, this relentless pursuit of dominance is not without its pitfalls. As leaders in AI invest billions into research and development, they inadvertently set off a cycle of competition that echoes the tense technological standoffs of the past, risking a compromise on both quality and ethical standards. AI's potential for significant societal impact places a responsibility on companies and governments alike to balance innovation with ethical considerations such as data privacy and the safeguarding of jobs.

From a regulatory standpoint, the lag in government response to these rapid advancements is concerning. This gap in oversight leaves loopholes that can lead to the development of biased or inadequate AI systems, fuelling public scepticism. As CTOs devise strategic roadmaps, understanding these macro trends and cultivating cross-border collaborations could prove pivotal. While the potential of AI is tremendous, its integration into society must align with robust ethical guidelines to ensure sustainability and trust.

DIGITAL COMPLIANCE SHIFT

CTOs must adapt tech stacks for EU Digital Product Passport compliance

Digital Product Passports (DPPs) present a transformative shift for the European market, with upcoming regulations mandating their use by 2026. For CTOs, this is a clarion call to realign their strategic priorities. eCommerce businesses must swiftly adapt by embracing flexible, modular tech stacks that can seamlessly integrate DPPs. By leveraging comprehensive digital records, companies can enhance product lifecycle transparency, improve supply chain efficiency, and mitigate environmental impacts, reflecting a larger trend towards sustainability.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ADVANCES

Artificial general intelligence predicted to emerge within 5-10 years.

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), poised to rival human intelligence, is predicted by Google DeepMind's CEO Demis Hassabis to emerge within the next five to ten years. His cautious optimism underscores a broader macro trend in which AI technology is advancing at a rapid pace, yet still falls short of human-level intellect. The current systems, while impressive in specific tasks, lack the ability to generalise and understand context as humans do, signalling significant research and development still required. Meanwhile, industry perspectives vary, with figures like Ciscos Jeetu Patel and Tesla's Elon Musk projecting earlier advancements in AGI.

From a strategic standpoint, this development invites CTOs to prepare for the transformative potential of AGI on organisational processes and market dynamics. Regulatory frameworks would need to evolve to keep pace with these advancements, and a focus on ethics and safety in AI deployment becomes paramount. As multi-agent AI systems progress, they promise to revolutionise fields through enhanced collaboration and decision-making capabilities.

The CTO’s Agenda 🗓️

APRIL 3-4, LOS ANGELES, CA

Techspo

TECHSPO Los Angeles 2025 is set to take place April 3–4, 2025 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel. This two-day event brings together developers, brands, marketers, technology providers, designers, and innovators to explore the latest advancements in Internet, Mobile, AdTech, MarTech, and SaaS.

What to Expect:

• Explore Emerging Tech – See firsthand how new technologies are shaping business and industry.

• Gain Practical Insights – Learn how evolving tools and platforms could impact your business strategy.

• Connect with Industry Leaders – Meet developers, investors, and peers driving innovation.

Tech Pulse 📊

DATA PRESENTATION INNOVATION

Adobe's Project Slide Wow automates presentation creation from raw customer data

Adobe's unveiling of Project Slide Wow at the Summit 2024 offers a practical solution for tech leaders by streamlining PowerPoint presentations with live data visualisations using a proprietary algorithm. This tool enhances data integrity and teamwork efficiency, allowing businesses to act swiftly on current insights without manual slide preparation.

AI IN BUSINESS

Explore AI Copilot tools at Summit to enhance business operations

The AI Copilot Summit NA in San Diego, March 2025, focuses on integrating AI Copilots into Microsoft Biz Apps for improved business processes. It's key for IT leaders, executives, and product managers to understand AI's role in enhancing productivity and making data-driven decisions, directly impacting organisational operations and competitiveness.

AI DESIGN PATTERNS

RAG design pattern seamlessly enhances NLP with information retrieval and generation

The Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) design pattern integrates retrieval and generation to enhance NLP tasks, providing a structured methodology vital for technology leaders handling complex AI deployments. By offering context-rich, accurate outputs, RAG addresses AI challenges efficiently, proving indispensable for decision-makers seeking impactful, scalable solutions in AI development.

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A publication from Contentive’s Technology Media Division