Matt Hicks, President and CEO of Red Hat noted that tech spends are expected to “remain stable, within the larger macroeconomic constraints.” Speaking at the Red Hat Summit 2024 in Colorado, Hicks noted that how and where businesses allocate these tech spends will be a far greater change. He said, “I think that spending will still remain strong, especially for software-based services which allow companies to reach a global audience more efficiently; however, you will see that more funds are allocated to AI and automation.”

At the summit, Red Hat, which is a subsidiary of IBM, revealed several announcements related to generative AI. Red Hat announced that it is going to open source its InstructLab project for enhancing large language models (LLMs).

The InstructLab open source project will provide a cost-effective way for enterprises to align LLMs with data for their specific use cases and it will open the door for people with minimal GenAI experience to get involved.

Red Hat also announced the setting up of Podman AI Lab. It gives developers the ability to build GenAI applications in containers, using their own laptops.

Speaking on the impact of AI on tech jobs and the recruitment process of new engineers, Hicks noted, “Having AI models which can understand and summarise code will solve the modernisation and maintenance challenge in IT jobs and open up time for IT workers, including myself, to spend more on the creative side of the business.”

“Therefore, AI will have an amplifying impact on the lives of workers who will be able to do far more work instead of feeling stuck,” he added. 

Speaking on the AI readiness of the Asia Pacific region including India, Hicks noted, “On the skill set side, those capabilities are not restricted to one region. Asia Pacific is perhaps the strongest region on that front.  The one area where there is a challenge today is on modelling in regional languages.” Hicks believes that certain use cases might not be potentially viable in areas where other regional languages have a stronger presence, “but that won’t be a problem for too long,” he said. 

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