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May 12, 2023 15 mins

Each week, TechTarget's news team and industry experts provide candid insight and analysis of the biggest IT news headlines of the week. On today's show, we look at the generative AI plans of IBM and Salesforce-owned Tableau and discuss how H-1B visa fraud is making it more difficult to hire foreign tech workers.

 

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Stories featured on Tech News this Week:

As H-1B visa registrations near 1M, odds of a visa decline

Tableau to add generative AI with Salesforce's Einstein GPT

IBM launches Watsonx, a new generative AI platform

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Patrick Thibodeau (00:00):
But some people thought that this would

(00:01):
make that system susceptible tofraud. And it has.

Antone Gonsalves (00:08):
Hi, welcome to Tech News this week. I'm your
host techtarget editorial newsdirector and Tonkin Sophos. On
today's show, we'll take a lookat why IBM and Salesforce own
Tableau are diving intogenerative AI. And we'll discuss
why US companies are finding itharder to get visas to fill

(00:30):
vacancies with foreign techworkers. This week, IBM launches
generative AI platform calledWatson X. The move places IBM in
the crosshairs of the cloudbehemoth is Amazon, Google and
Microsoft. Here to tell us whyIBM believes it can win

(00:52):
enterprise deals. Thistechtarget editorials AI
reporter esteros Zhao. So howdoes IBM's Watson X differ from
the generative AI systems?

Esther Ajao (01:04):
Yeah, yeah, from what, from what I've heard from
analysts, it's mainly thedifferentiating factor is a fact
that IBM is really focused onenterprises, right. And so what
some analysts have said, aswhile Google and Microsoft have
put out enterprise relatedproducts, when it comes to
generative AI, IBM hasdifferentiated in fact, there is

(01:28):
like this is your data that youcan use to create your own
models, right. So it's not justsome productivity app
applications. But it's mainlythis is the model that you can
use, in order to create, you cancreate your own AI models using
your data.

Antone Gonsalves (01:44):
Right now they have they have something called
an AI governance toolkit.Analysts say could make a
difference. What is what is thatdifference? What's the toolkit
and what's the difference it canmake?

Esther Ajao (01:57):
To me personally, a lot of vendors are looking at
how they can quote unquote, selfregulate this AI that we have
right now. I was asking thevendor analysts about that. And
he was like, Well, it's kind oflike we have no regulation in
the AI space from likegovernment, right? So it's
another way that the vendors aretrying to self regulate and make

(02:21):
themselves in compliance in theway that they can be with AI
rules and try not to get as muchbacklash. So I wouldn't say it's
necessarily differentiated fromeverybody else. I think it's
just a way for them to try toregulate and keep data and
governance and alliances, aswell as the way Google tries to
have some kind of regulation andMicrosoft,

Antone Gonsalves (02:43):
whether there is a lot of concern out there
about the use of about the datathat's being used in these these
systems. Right. So I was I wasunder the impression that IBM is
giving their customers morecontrol over the data that's
used. Yeah, there's this.

Esther Ajao (03:05):
Yeah. So it allows them to have more control, which
is like Alvis with those hypersensitive industries like
finances, and healthcaresystems, which can wish, you
know, they are less likely touse generative AI systems, or
they will, they're morehesitant, I will say, but
generally AI systems like chatTPT. So things that like what

(03:27):
IBM is offering can help with,like, if you have your own data,
you're not trying to have like,put, you're not, you're not
interested in whether data isnot open source, but rather, is
either in house or you're usingto create, you

Antone Gonsalves (03:40):
know, right now IBM has red hat and open
source software. That's a that'sbeen a differentiator for them
for a while. How will Red Hatwork with their Watson x? Is
there a link between the two?

Esther Ajao (03:55):
Yeah, so they announced at IBM think that
there is a collaboration effortfor what they call an IBM Watson
code generator, I believe. Soit's basically allows developers
to basically generate code, theysaid, using the English command
language, which means I think itmeans it's only just English for
now, but also would read at whatthe CEO was really emphasizing

(04:19):
was idea of like, a hybrid cloudinfrastructure. They haven't
really made known, like, whatit's going to what that really
means, but he's like, we arefocused more on hybrid cloud and
we're focused on AI. So thosewere his two messages at his
keynote.

Antone Gonsalves (04:36):
I mean, Red Hats. I believe Red Hat software
is important for connecting anon premises system with with the
cloud. So it's so it would seemthat IBM could offer some
interesting technology for forthat kind of connectivity. Okay,
there was more generative AInews this week. Salesforce is an

(05:00):
analytic subsidiary Tableau saidit was adding the technology to
its platform. Here to tell uswhat Tableau was up to is
techtarget. Editorial. Seniornews writer Eric Babb evident.
All right. So according toTableau, how will generative AI
improve its analytics platform,

Unknown (05:20):
it will simplify it, it'll make it easier to use. So
for years now, Tableau and manyother analytics vendors have
been incorporating naturallanguage processing into their
platforms to enable users to askquestions of their data interact
with their data using naturallanguage rather than code. But

(05:41):
the natural language models thatthe that the vendors themselves
developed are limited. Theystill require data literacy
training, they still requireusers to answer to ask their
queries in very specificbusiness language. And if they
stray from that, they won't getwhat they're looking for. So by
incorporating the large languagemodels, like chat GPT, they

(06:05):
expand their vocabulary vastly.And that really enables more
freeform natural language. Somany more users theoretically
will be able to interact withthe platform, they don't need
the training that was requiredbefore. So that's really the the
changed that the integration ofan existing platform like

(06:25):
Tableau with open AI chat GPT,or some other length, large
language model, that's reallywhat it enables.

Antone Gonsalves (06:32):
Yeah, and that training piece is often not
discussed with generative AI,right. I mean, if you have, if
you're going to introduce a newtechnology, you're going to tell
your employees how to use it,and to use it in a secure way,

Unknown (06:48):
get the integration. So it's like Esther was talking
about, Tableau isn't sending itsdata out into open AI, it's
bringing open at into Tableauand then walling it off. So that
you're only using generative AIat the large language model with
your organization's data. And soso there's governance measures

(07:10):
that are built in to the toolsthat the vendors themselves are
building, they're not returningdata to the large language
model.

Antone Gonsalves (07:19):
Now, this is actually what Tableau is using
is actually Salesforce isEinstein. GPT. Right? Tell me a
little bit about Einstein GPGPT. And if there's a how it,
how it's unique in the market,if it's unique.

Unknown (07:36):
Yeah, it's just basically Einstein is is
Salesforce is AI tool. And soit's just simply Einstein GPT is
simply the the fusing togetherof Einstein, with chat GPT GPT,
three GPT 3.5. And no, it's notparticularly differentiated from

(07:56):
those of other vendors that I'veseen. It's not like Google,
again, as Esther was talkingabout, it's much more like what
she was talking about with IBMamong analytics vendors.
Tableau, there's Tableau nowthat has done the integration by
taking sales forces Einstein GPTinto its platform. There's sai
census done at thoughtspot. hasdone it. Pyramid Analytics has

(08:19):
done it on data management side,Informatica. And it should be
noted that none of these toolsare out on the market yet all of
these GPT integrations arereally just in the very basic
development stage. And it'sreally vague about when they'll
actually be released in generalavailability Tableau says that

(08:40):
they'll soon be starting a pilotprogram. And just by the end of
the year, is what they said, asfar as potential availability.

Antone Gonsalves (08:51):
And this is this is the latest move by
Salesforce in terms of gettingAI to out its platform, right? I
mean, already has it in SlackEinsteins already in Slack, or
else flow. Yeah, so

Unknown (09:03):
Tableau held Tableau conference this week. Final day
of it. So it was just tableausturn, essentially, they
obviously timed the announcementfor the first day of the
conference is the headlineannouncement for Tableau on the
opening day of its conference onTuesday.

Antone Gonsalves (09:22):
All right. Finally, h1 B visas are critical
to US companies that can't findenough tech workers to fill
positions. In the past,companies had a three to 50%
chance of winning one of the85,000 visas issued annually.
This year, that percentagedropped to 15%. Here to tell us

(09:43):
why is Tektite editorial seniornews writer Patrick Thibodeau.
So what's happening here? Whyare companies finding it harder
to get visas for foreign techtalent?

Patrick Thibodeau (09:54):
Well, for the longest time, if a company
wanted to sponsor an h1 Bworker, they would have to file
Got a paper application with allthe checks and all the legal
fees in advance. And then if thegovernment got more than 100,000
or so hold the lottery and pickthe winners. But that was kind
of a burden, because companieswould sometimes have to fill up,

(10:17):
you know, they fill out thelegal fees, or they pay the
legal fees. And they spend allthis money without ever knowing
whether they get their employeea visa. So the government in
2021, install this system, a$10. Registration. So all a
company has to do is fill in aform electronically, and pay the
$10. And they have a shot, andthey are entered in the lottery

(10:40):
basically. And so if they, ifthey're selected for if their
candidate wins the lottery, thenthey have until June 30, to fill
out a completed application andpay all the fees. So that became
a lot cheaper. But some peoplethought that this would make
that system susceptible tofraud. And it has the UCS in the

(11:02):
United States citizens andImmigration Service recently
came out with a statement sayingthat we believe there's a lot of
fraud in the system. And thathas contributed to an
overwhelming number ofregistrations in the lottery.
Previously, you the governmentcould count on around maybe
300,000 or so h1 B petitions ayear, this year, it got over

(11:26):
750,000. And a lot of them werefrom the same person submitted
multiple ways. And what thegovernment suspects or what a
lot of immigration attorneyssuspect is going on is that
companies are setting up shellcompanies and entering a person
through one name and thenthrough another name. And then

(11:47):
potentially if they win, they'llfile another application for an
h one be transferred and movethem to the company where they
actually want that person towork. So it's it's quite a
scandal. But it has also reducedthe odds of winning lottery from
30 to 50%. In any given year.

Antone Gonsalves (12:08):
Why is it? Why is it reduced the odds? The 50?
Is it because the government nowis kind of put a hold on
approving visas?

Patrick Thibodeau (12:17):
No, it's it's it's going to improve, it's
going to improve, it's going togo through the visas that it's
selected in the lottery. So itgot 750,000 registrations it it
held it held the lottery andselected 110,000, which is above
the 85,000. But like a collegeadmission, they expect a certain

(12:37):
number won't go through or acertain number will be rejected.
And so the government will goahead and still issue visas to
legitimate companies with abonafide job for that visa
holder, they'll go ahead and dothat. But the sheer volume of
registrations in the lotterymeant that the odds of any

(12:58):
company winning fellsignificantly.

Antone Gonsalves (13:01):
Okay, so does any of this. I mean, given the
fact that we got massive layoffsin the tech industry, has h1 B,
the value of an h1 B visadiminished in in today's job
market?

Patrick Thibodeau (13:16):
Well, that's that's an interesting question.
But let me answer it this way.First off, there are a lot of
websites that count the numberof tech layoffs. But these tech
layoffs don't really tell youwhat's happening within the
industry. For instance, likeDropbox recently said it was
laying off 500 people around, Ithink 16% of its workforce, but

(13:39):
part of the reason they weredoing that sizable layoff was it
CEO said that they need adifferent mix of skill sets,
especially in AI. So they'reretooling their company and a
lot of what's going on in techright now is a retooling of
company to AI and othertechnologies that are more in

(14:00):
need. But in truth, the techindustry while it did see a
slight decline in overallemployment in the first three
months of this year is actuallyrolling again. So there is more
hiring going on the layoffs,despite the headlines

Antone Gonsalves (14:18):
in competition globally to competition for tech
talent is increasing, right. Imean, the US used to be the
number one spot that tech talentwanted to come to but now this
isn't necessarily the case.Right? I mean, companies I mean,
countries like Canada, Europeancountries are also offering
some, it's easier. It may beeasier to him to emigrate to

(14:41):
those to those countries.

Patrick Thibodeau (14:42):
Yes. Hiring for tech talent is getting more
competitive globally. And it'sbeen helped tremendously by the
advancements in remotetechnology tools that occurred
during the pandemic. So it's alot easier to work with somebody
remotely, which is which isreally opening Out the door for
a lot of things. But this nationstill has some huge competitive

(15:04):
advantages. It is the bestcountry in the world to get VC
funding. And without a questionthat remains true. And it also
is leading in a lot oftechnology areas, we are still
arguably ahead of China andother countries in AI
development. So if you want tobe involved in some of the best
work going on, you're stillgoing to want to come to the US.

(15:28):
I think the thing that isworking against us the most is
just some of the broader trendsgoing on in the United States.
The mass shootings are giving usan ugly reputation overseas, and
possibility of a default in ourstanding as the world's reserve
currency is a gigantic threat toour ability to have a strong
tech industry.

Antone Gonsalves (15:51):
All right, so that wraps up this week's show.
Thanks for watching and enjoythe weekend.
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