InsightJam.com

2026 Tech Predictions: The AI Reality Check The honeymoon phase is over. Here's what industry leaders are saying about AI in 2026: Jarrod Vawdrey calls it "The Great AI ROI Reckoning" — "2026 is when the music stops. CFOs are done writing blank checks for 'AI innovation' that can't be tied to actual business results." Audian Paxson puts it bluntly: "2025 was the year security teams discovered that AI wouldn't run their SOC while they went on vacation. The hype crashed into reality." Bennie Grant, COO at Percona, sees the shift: "Trust, not Perfection, Will Define the Next Phase of AI. The industry will stop chasing 'bulletproof' AI." The pattern is clear: 2026 won't be about what AI can do—it'll be about what AI actually delivers. What's your take? Are we ready for the accountability phase? #AI #TechPredictions #2026 #AIStrategy

Premieres soon: John Santaferraro explores the unglamorous but essential truth behind #AISuccess: #DataReadiness. With over 30 years covering databases, #Analytics, and #BusinessIntelligence, David Stodder reveals why organizations can't just throw #UnstructuredData at AI and expect results and what happens when agents operate at thousands of transactions per second with bad data. https://lnkd.in/dbDque-5

Why does everyone's inbox look exactly the same? John Santaferraro brought up something we don't talk about enough: email has been completely commoditized, but the interface hasn't evolved to match how different people actually think. Here's his take: some people are naturally more extroverted, and they'd love to see their inbox organized by people, with faces of their most important contacts front and center. Others? They're the opposite. Give them a clean search bar where they can ask "show me everything about these seven topics" and be done with it. One interface doesn't fit all personalities. Yet we're all stuck with the same dated email experience. John's insight: "What we've done in terms of personalization for marketing and sales, we now have an opportunity to do that same kind of personalization for users within a product." We've spent years personalizing the customer experience. Maybe it's time we did the same for the tools we use every day. #ProductDesign #EmailProductivity #Personalization #UX

🎙️ 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞: 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐓 Forget the jargon, the ego, and the endless acronyms - this InsightJam.com Jam Session is about 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆, not protocols. This amazing panel (of people I have 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 relationships with) explores how the most successful IT professionals, managed service providers, and consultants are redefining what it means to serve. 𝑴𝒀 𝑮𝑼𝑬𝑺𝑻𝑺: Kamal🚀 Maheshwari, Levi Martin, Peter DeFinis 𝑾𝑯𝑬𝑵: Friday, November 14 | 10 AM MST 12 PM EST 𝑾𝑨𝑻𝑪𝑯 𝑳𝑰𝑽𝑬: https://lnkd.in/ggEtXfBF For too long, the tech industry has been viewed as transactional - faceless vendors, rigid contracts, and “ticket first” support cultures. But behind every system, server, and solution are humans trying to solve problems, calm chaos, and earn trust. Our panel shares stories from the trenches that prove relationships are still the secret weapon in an increasingly digital world. We’ll talk about how empathy changes outcomes, how listening builds better architectures, and why collaboration always outperforms command-and-control approaches. Because at the end of the day, technology only works when people do - and great service isn’t about the stack you sell, it’s about the partnership you build. Join InsightJam.com for 𝑭𝑹𝑬𝑬: https://lnkd.in/gsPV_-dG #insightjam #solutionsreview #thedatanista #thejamsession #peoplenotprotocols #ITrelationshipsmatter #managedserviceproviders

What if AI just made the boring stuff disappear? Lara Shackelford attended a Salesforce presentation and noticed something interesting about their top Agentforce use cases: #1 and #2 were call notes and meeting prep. Not revolutionary, just practical. 30-40% of a salesperson's time goes to non-selling activities. And if you've ever been a sales leader trying to get your team to log follow-ups after in-person meetings, you know exactly how real this problem is. As Lara puts it: "I think we can automate so many of the things that make their job so hard." The best AI applications don't have to be flashy. Sometimes they just need to remove the friction that keeps your team from doing what they actually do best, selling. Often times in life, the most useful solutions to a problem are the simple ones, this is a great example of that. Watch the full conversation with Lara and John Santaferraro on his show The Digital Analyst (Link in the comments below!) #SalesEnablement #AI #CRM #SalesProductivity

AI readiness is like camping. You can buy all the gear, read all the trail guides, and still forget the lighter. Turns out, it’s not about the shiny new tools, it’s about knowing how to build the fire. 🔥 These are the topics we cover in my new Enterprise Resource Planning Solutions Review AI Readiness group. To help better understand the group format, we have opened up a 14-day free trial so you can try one of our group calls. I only have 6 spots left, so check it out here: https://lnkd.in/g9urj_Bs #AIStrategy #DigitalTransformation #SaaS #WomenInTech cc: InsightJam.com