AWS is gearing up for re:Invent, its annual cloud computing conference where announcements this year are expected to focus on its end-to-end data strategy and delivering new industry-specific services. It will be the second re:Invent with CEO Adam Selipsky as leader of the industry’s largest cloud provider after his return last year to AWS from data visualization company Tableau Software. “What we're really trying to do is to look at that end-to-end journey of data and to build really compelling, powerful capabilities and services at each stop in that data journey and then…knit all that toge ..read more

On any given day, Lily AI runs hundreds of machine learning models using computer vision and natural language processing that are customized for its retail and ecommerce clients to make website product recommendations, forecast demand, and plan merchandising. But this spring when the company was in the market for a machine learning operations platform to manage its expanding model roster, it wasn’t easy to find a suitable off-the-shelf system that could handle such a large number of models in deployment while also meeting other criteria. Some MLops platforms are not well-suited for maintaini ..read more

Hello and welcome to Protocol Enterprise! Today: AWS CEO Adam Selipsky talks product strategy for re:Invent 2022 and how customers are coping with economic uncertainty, and the latest venture capital funding rounds for enterprise technology startups. Drowning in data How enterprises can successfully mine the reams and reams of data at their disposal will be a big focus this month at re:Invent 2022, AWS’ annual cloud computing conference in Las Vegas. Many customers are drowning in their data and don't know how to use it to make decisions, AWS CEO Adam Selipsky told Protocol in a recent inter ..read more

AWS re:Invent starts two weeks from now, an end-of-year showcase typically reserved for the dominant cloud provider’s biggest service announcements, technology sessions, and customer success stories. This year’s event, however, comes amid global economic pain marked by soaring prices, months of tech layoffs, and a general belt-tightening among some enterprises that includes curtailing their cloud spending. And even AWS’ own growth, while still strong, has slowed. But CEO Adam Selipsky suggested that the worst of times often are the best time when it comes to enterprises investing in new serv ..read more

Hello and welcome to Protocol Enterprise! Today: why Twitter might be in big trouble (beyond all the other trouble) operating without a CISO for too long, AMD launches its newest server chip, and this week in (non-Twitter) enterprise moves. Bad job opening: Twitter CISO If speed is the enemy of security, as the maxim goes, then it should be no surprise that Elon Musk's product strategy for Twitter may be on the precipice of causing a cybersecurity crisis. If the Federal Trade Commission doesn't step in first, that is. The unraveling of Twitter may have just accelerated with the departure of ..read more

Salesforce recently updated its internal policies to make it easier for managers to terminate employees for performance issues without HR involvement, Protocol has learned, a move that comes as the software giant looks to shed as many as 2,500 jobs. Previously, Salesforce’s employee relations team was heavily involved behind the scenes in the process of putting employees on performance improvement plans or terminating them for failing to hit certain metrics, including prior to any formal discussions with workers. Now, managers will be able to put employees on performance improvement plans, o ..read more

Hello and welcome to Protocol Enterprise! Today: after years of delays, Intel’s newest server chips have arrived (in limited configurations), Okta has a plan to solve biometric data hacking, and security pros flee to Mastodon. Hey, Intel shipped a server chip After delaying high-volume production of its next generation of server chips for more than a year, Intel has unveiled the technical details of its first batch of high-performance silicon. Intel announced two processors Wednesday: a chip based on the long-delayed Sapphire Rapids design and a version of its forthcoming Ponte Vecchio serve ..read more

Okta has developed a new capability for its passwordless authentication system aimed at countering the illegitimate use of biometric login data, a move meant to head off a potential route for malicious actors who are becoming increasingly sneaky in their phishing attempts. "Threat actors are getting better and more sophisticated, and this is kind of a quest to make sure we stay one step ahead of them," Okta co-founder and CEO Todd McKinnon said in an exclusive interview with Protocol. The new capability for Okta's passwordless authentication product, FastPass, is now in an early access previ ..read more

Hello, and welcome to Protocol Enterprise! Today: lessons learned from our big series unpacking the narratives that surround the development of AI in the U.S. and China, why Twilio flew too close to the sun, and Nvidia plots a way around new U.S. export controls. The misconceptions underpinning the US-China AI race When I joined Protocol a year ago, I began to realize just how much the notion that the U.S. and China are in an “AI race” was driving AI industry PR, media coverage, and U.S. policy on AI and China. But the “AI race” narrative hinges on a slew of misconceptions and profit motives ..read more

Salesforce is preparing for a major round of layoffs that could affect as many as 2,500 workers across the software vendor, Protocol has learned, in a bid to cut costs amid a new activist investor challenge and harsh economic conditions. The company plans to lay off a large number of individuals, roughly 2,000 people or more, for "performance" issues, according to both an industry source and a former employee. Several hundred more, likely those workers who fall under a protected group like individuals with disabilities, will be placed on a 30-day review, with the intention of letting them go ..read more