Custom Research Helps a Technology Company Amplify its Thought Leadership Position

Background

Although artificial intelligence (AI) has existed since the 1950s, 2023 marked a significant turning point for this technology. The introduction of ChatGPT brought the world's attention to the immense potential of AI. With users rapidly adopting it and vendors and open-source projects driving innovation, enterprises are now compelled to leverage this technology or risk falling behind their competitors.

To train large language models (LLMs), a vast amount of curated data is required. Whether companies choose to build models from scratch or fine-tune existing ones, they encounter common challenges. These include data preparation and management, storing data in various database formats, data operationalization (DataOps), machine learning operationalization (MLOps), and effectively addressing concerns such as privacy and bias.

As an industry-leading data management platform company, a client of 451 Research, a renowned technology research group within S&P Global Market Intelligence, saw the potential impact of AI on enterprises and users. The client sought a market partner to assist with establishing the company as a thought leader and authority in the field. The goal was to gain a comprehensive understanding of the global drivers of AI adoption across various industries and geographies, with a specific focus on workloads and infrastructure procurement drivers. Key questions to address included the challenges of scaling AI, infrastructure limitations, the impact of AI on sustainability, and the workloads that drive AI adoption.

The Challenge

With the rise of ChatGPT and the growing interest in AI, the client faced several challenges with their marketing efforts. The company needed to differentiate itself in a crowded market and provide valuable insights that would resonate with its target audience. Key challenges included:

• Establishing thought leadership and authority in the AI space.
• Generating unique market intelligence to support their value proposition.
• Understanding the needs and challenges of different industries and regions.
• Identifying specific AI use cases and their relevance to various sectors.

The Solution

To address these challenges, we recommended our Strategic Advisory Services, which includes customized research and tailored materials for outreach purposes. Our experienced consultants and subject matter experts collaborated closely with the client's marketing team to design an enterprise market research survey. The survey targeted IT decision-makers responsible for purchasing AI products and covered a wide regional scope encompassing various industries and company sizes.

By leveraging the diverse capabilities of our consulting team, the client’s marketing team gained access to:

• Market dynamics and trends: Strategic Advisory Services provides custom research engagements designed to empower clients with research insights for both strategic and tactical decisions. This project enabled the client to obtain highly differentiated longitudinal data on the AI/ML landscape, as well as emerging trends and practices associated with enterprise AI/ML success.
• Identification of AI use cases per industry: The client acquired valuable insights into AI value drivers and use cases segmented by industry. This information enabled the company to refine its outreach strategy and target specific sectors with relevant messaging.
• Customized materials for outreach: The final deliverable included a co-branded Discovery report, which served as a powerful tool for the marketing team to create brand awareness and establish a leadership position in the AI thought leadership space.

The Outcome

Members of the marketing team recognized the value of having unique intelligence to support their value proposition. The customized survey results enabled them to create a compelling narrative through thought leadership pieces, underscoring a deep understanding of market trends in the AI space. This approach resulted in positive outcomes, including:

• Enhanced brand awareness and recognition in the AI market, with the thought leadership asset being the “highest performing marketing asset” in the history of the company.
• Access to deep insights into the risks and opportunities presented by disruptive technologies and new market participants.
• Improved understanding of regional and audience-specific needs, leading to more relevant and effective sales messages.
• Clearer identification of AI use cases per industry, supporting targeted sales strategies and efficient resource allocation.
• Valuable insights into the impact of AI on sustainability.