A Software Insider's Point of ViewNews Analysis

UNDERSTAND THE METHOD TO THE MADNESS The shock and awe from tariffs represent just one part of the Great Reset that’s being led by a President that has a once in a lifetime opportunity to transform America's standing and shape the POTUS legacy. Hampered by a failing WTO and short-term thinking that plagues the Western world, tariffs provide the biggest leverage point to both political and economic bilateral negotiations for access to the US $29 trillion economy.

Tesla Faces First Annual Drop In Deliveries Tesla reported production and delivery numbers and missed analysts estimates of 504,770 units delivered versus 495,570 estimated for the fourth quarter of 2024. This was the first ever drop in delivery numbers reported by the EV pioneer. While 9200 may not seem like a lot, the market perception of demand based on delivery numbers led to a 7% drop in stock price for the first day of trading in 2025.

Broad Reaching Survey Shows Insight Into Both Progress and Trends In Sustainability In the third annual “A World In Balance 2024” report by Capgemini Research Institute, 6500 consumers over the age of 18 and 2152 executives employed at 727 organizations with more than $1 billion in annual revenue were surveyed on their views, investments, and progress in sustainability. Overall findings show how organizations have prioritized investments with tangible return on investment (ROI), improved sustainable design, and doubled down on measurement. Key regulations such as the European Union’s corporate sustainability reporting directive (CSRD) will drive continued investments to address regulatory compliance.

AI Begins And Ends With Nvidia Despite the massive buzz on AI, only a few core companies that power the Age of AI will succeed. The high capital costs of research and development investment, the time required to take a product to market, and the ability to cross competitive moats create a massive barrier to entry. In fact, only a few vendors have shown significant profits in AI:

IBM's Focus On AI Built From Data And Cloud Competencies Four and a half years after Arvind Krishna was elected as IBM's Chief Executive Officer, today's IBM is a much different organization. A tight focus on data and cloud has helped IBM think through what clients need to not only be AI ready, but also AI first. With over 30,000 attendees at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center gathered at IBM's biggest event, the mood was energetic and excited about the possibilities for the Age of AI.

New Chips, New Business Models Ahead In Accelerated Computing Nvidia stock is up 267% YoY. With over 10,000 people in physical attendance and up to 100,000 people virtually attending, this could be the largest AI conference. All eyes on the next wave for AI with CEO Jensen Huang ready to keynote at 1:00 pm PT at the SAP Center in San Jose. The key things to look for in the keynote:

The Leap Year Brings Announcement Of A New Copilot - Finance Microsoft announced the public preview of Copilot for Finance. With tools such as Copilot, the user experience begins and ends with generative AI. In conversations with Vice President of Business Applications Engineering - Charles Lamanna, Corporate Vice President of Business Applications Marketing - Emily He, Vice President of AI-led ERP Engineering - Georg Glantshnig, users can now apply geneative AI across departments such as sales, service, finance, and IT with Copilot for M365, Copilot for Sales, Copilot for Service, Copilot for Finance, and Copilot Studio.

Sam Altman just faced his Steve Jobs moment when the OpenAI board fired him on Friday. The balance between too much governance and not enough innovation was the challenge OpenAI faced. This was a very immature board with members who had never built companies, never moved from ideology to commercialization, nor had any pragmatic board experience.

Three Factors Drive Growth In MATANA Stocks 1. AI Powers Valuation Growth, But Earnings Growth Keeps Momentum Going, 2. Ads Are Back For The Remaining Digital Giants, 3. Cloudy Times Ahead (For Now).

Temporary Slow Down Ahead All indications from Constellation's 1000 person executive network show a temporary 3 to 6 month slowdown ahead. This pause in general IT spending impacts mostly the North American markets.

The Q1 Tech Earnings Breathe Life Among The Digital Giants. With just Apple left to report in the tech earnings season, three major trends have emerged

Adobe Delivers Generative AI With Adobe Firefly At Adobe Summit on March 21, 2023, Adobe announced and delivered its generative AI offering known as Adobe Firefly. Adobe Firefly, is a collection of generative AI models built for creative applications. The offering joins the platform’s AI services. The first Firefly model will focus on image generation and text effects, trained on the hundreds of millions of Adobe stock images, openly licensed content, and public domain content where copyright has expired. Adobe plans to integrate Firefly into their Creative Cloud, Document Cloud, and Adobe Express product lines.