2 TABLE OF CONTENTS © Copyright 2019 Daniel Sexton TABLE OF CONTENTS A TABLE OF CONTENTS Audience .............................................................................................................................................. 1 Author’s Note ........................................................................................................................................ 2 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................... 5 Building An Intelligent Edge Strategy ...................................................................................................... 7 Edge Project Types ............................................................................................................................. 7 The Early Adopter’s Problem ................................................................................................................ 9 Considering Life Cycles..................................................................................................................... 9 The Strategy Box .............................................................................................................................. 11 Intro to The Intelligent Edge ................................................................................................................ 13 What is The Edge? ............................................................................................................................ 13 Why Location Matters .................................................................................................................... 15 Edge & Cloud ................................................................................................................................ 15 What is the Intelligent Edge? ............................................................................................................. 16 Intelligent Edge Categories ................................................................................................................ 17 01. Edge Computing ...................................................................................................................... 18 02. Edge AI ................................................................................................................................... 20 03. Smart Devices, Supersensors, Actuators..................................................................................... 22 04. Edge Data Management ........................................................................................................... 24 05. Edge Infrastructure .................................................................................................................. 26 Edge Markets ...................................................................................................................................... 29 Horizontal Markets ............................................................................................................................ 29 Vertical Markets ................................................................................................................................ 30 Complementary Markets .................................................................................................................... 30 Venture Capital & Other Investments ................................................................................................. 31 Intelligent Edge Models & Terms .......................................................................................................... 32 Clarification of Terms ........................................................................................................................ 32 Edge Overview Diagram .................................................................................................................... 34 Intelligent Edge v. Cloud ................................................................................................................... 34 Device Edges v. Infrastructure Edges ................................................................................................. 35 Device Edges ................................................................................................................................ 35 Infrastructure Edges ...................................................................................................................... 35 Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Edges ........................................................................................... 41 Homogeneous Edge ....................................................................................................................... 41 www.redchipventures.com TABLE OF CONTENTS B Heterogeneous Edge ......................................................................................................................42 Autonomy and Local Interactivity ........................................................................................................43 Device Edge Characteristics ................................................................................................................45 Planning Your Strategic Edge Initiative ...................................................................................................47 Intelligent Edge Life Cycles ................................................................................................................47 Edge Data Management .....................................................................................................................53 Strategic Edge Data Design .............................................................................................................53 Edge AI ............................................................................................................................................58 A Brief History of AI ........................................................................................................................58 Categories of AI .............................................................................................................................59 AI Companies ................................................................................................................................60 Executive Interviews.............................................................................................................................67 Author .................................................................................................................................................69 © Copyright 2019 Daniel Sexton STRATEGY AT THE INTELLIGENT EDGE 1 AUDIENCE This report should be read by CIOs, CTOs, CMOs, RedChip Ventures. We have interviewed dozens of strategy executives, enterprise architects, and other executives, salespeople, engineers, designers, and technology executives and managers involved with visionaries at the cutting-edge of this field. Mentions technology planning. It aims to demystify Intelligent of companies in this document are intended as Edge technology and help leaders and companies illustrations of market evolution and are not intended derive strategic value from its expansion. It is the as endorsements or product/ service recommenda- result of over a year of research and reflection within tions. www.redchipventures.com AUTHOR’S NOTE 2 AUTHOR’S NOTE Years ago, I knew the chancellor of a major state university. Charlie, a former chemistry professor, was a brilliant guy. He worked on the first atomic bomb and loved to tinker with computers. He wrote and spoke about the Internet a lot. In the mid-1990s, he predicted that the Internet would become something like a worldwide, video-based CB radio. This seemed like an unusual prediction at the time, but watching my sons on Instagram this afternoon I am struck with how insightful it was. Charlie’s work had staying power like that. In the In 1998 I had the chance to talk with 1980s, he wrote custom software for an apartment Steve Jobs after he’d come back and management company. The application, which ran on a Mac, handled rent roll and maintenance. In the turned Apple around. I was there to early 2000s, this same company asked me to help help Telecom Italia try to do a deal them select new software. By that time, the company had grown and managed thousands of units. To my with Apple, but after that business amazement, they still used Charlie's custom software which had not been changed since the 80s. was completed I couldn’t help asking I recommended updating to a new, web-based a question. “Steve,” I said, “this system. As a self-proclaimed emerging technologist, turnaround at Apple has been I had no choice. At first the new software was not popular, but the users did eventually prefer it. In a impressive. But everything we know few weeks, the new system began delivering about the personal-computer measurable benefits. business says that Apple will always I learned through this experience that timing really does matter -- a lot. It turns out this company was have a small niche position. The not late to adopt this software as I had originally network externalities are just too thought. The timing was about right. Earlier efforts would have been much too slow and expensive. Later strong to upset the de facto ‘Wintel’ efforts would have inconvenienced tenants, standard. So what are you trying to increased costs, and threatened