For greater than a decade, Forrester has been dedicated to researching AI and ML applied sciences and platforms. Throughout my 13-year tenure at Forrester, I had the privilege of working alongside our gifted AI analysts. Collectively, we have now repeatedly refined our market definitions and analysis focus to remain aligned with rising tech developments and enterprise wants. On this weblog, we introduce a brand new branding strategy for the AI and ML platform market, making certain our insights stay related and helpful for our shoppers.
Forrester’s Decade Lengthy Journey In Serving to Purchasers Innovate With AI
Here’s a fast snapshot of Forrester’s protection of AI and ML applied sciences and platforms:
In 2015, we (kudos to Mike and Rowan) pioneered Forrester’s analysis within the discriminative AI area named predictive analytics. This analysis helped enterprise shoppers by offering actionable insights to anticipate buyer conduct and optimize decision-making to drive effectivity and income progress.
In 2017, we rebranded the market as predictive analytics and machine studying (PAML) in response to the rise of ML and DL. This rebranding helped enterprise shoppers assess instruments that additionally leverage superior ML and DL methods.
In 2022, we expanded this definition to AI/ML platforms, reflecting a broader view of AI with ML/DL on the core. This provided our enterprise shoppers a broader perspective to undertake full-lifecycle AI/ML options together with integrating them seamlessly into their atmosphere to drive AI innovation into enterprise processes.
In 2023, within the China model of AI/ML platform Wave, we integrated extra functionalities of basis mannequin help to replicate the market developments of generative AI. This China market analysis focuses on enterprise shoppers in China or doing enterprise in China to harness generative AI capabilities, unlocking new alternatives for content material creation, automation, and personalised buyer experiences.
In 2024, in Forrester’s international AI/ML platform Panorama and Wave, we formally outlined generative AI as one core use instances with devoted analysis standards. We additionally emphasised AI readiness by incorporating DataOps into our framework.
Additionally in 2024, we printed the devoted Panorama and Wave analysis on AI basis fashions for languages (AI-FML, a.ok.a. LLMs). This genAI targeted analysis assists enterprise shoppers to guage massive language fashions to assist help quite a few genAI use instances.
Over the previous 18 months, AI know-how has seen exceptional developments. Basis fashions (FM) have emerged as a cornerstone of recent AI, driving innovation and scalability. These fashions have led to breakthroughs in varied domains, together with mannequin algorithms, retrieval-augmented era (RAG), AI brokers, and AI {hardware} infrastructure. Companies worldwide are actively experimenting with these applied sciences, integrating AI into varied functions to boost effectivity and drive progress.
The convergence of AI/ML platforms and basis fashions
The AI/ML platform and basis mannequin markets are quickly converging via two key developments. AI/ML platform suppliers are increasing their basis mannequin capabilities throughout your entire AI improvement lifecycle – from information administration to mannequin improvement, deployment, and AI software improvement (notably in brokers, app era and agentic workflows). These platforms are additionally integrating with widespread third-party fashions to raised serve builders. In the meantime, basis mannequin distributors are broadening their choices to incorporate complete platform options like API integration, data retrieval, and agent improvement instruments. As our analysis reveals, enterprises sometimes don’t depend on a single massive language mannequin however reasonably combine a number of fashions as important parts of their broader AI infrastructure.
The convergence of AI/ML platforms and basis fashions signifies a profound transformation in AI adoption throughout 4 key dimensions:
From discriminative duties to extra generative duties. AI has transitioned from primarily performing predictive analytics to producing new content material of assorted modalities. Generative AI is being utilized in varied fields, similar to content material creation, customer support, doc automation, and TuringBots. This pattern highlights the rising significance of AI in augmenting human capabilities, automation, and increasing the boundaries of what machines can obtain.
From task-specific fashions to basis fashions Enterprise AI has advanced from specialised fashions requiring domain-specific coaching to large-scale basis fashions pre-trained on huge datasets that may be tailored for a number of use instances via fine-tuning and prompting. These basis fashions perform as versatile constructing blocks that may be custom-made via fine-tuning and compression methods. Organizations can adapt these pre-trained fashions for particular use instances with out the intensive information and computational necessities of conventional coaching approaches. This paradigm shift has dramatically accelerated AI improvement cycles and optimized useful resource utilization, enabling fast deployment of AI functions throughout numerous enterprise contexts.
From centralized deployment to heterogeneous structure choices. AI deployment has advanced from centralized approaches to a wide range of heterogeneous choices throughout multicloud, hybrid cloud, and edge. This shift affords structure choices to attain the proper steadiness of scalability, resilience, and flexibility. This permits AI platforms to function effectively in numerous and dynamic environments, respecting information gravity and optimizing efficiency and price. This pattern is especially essential for functions that require real-time processing and low-latency responses, similar to autonomous autos and IoT edge workloads.
From tightly prescribed conduct to better autonomy and self-improvement: AI programs are transferring from pre-determined eventualities that rely closely on human design and planning, to extra autonomous approaches. With enough intelligence, AI brokers have the potential to adapt to new eventualities via iterative studying, planning, and collaboration, making them goal-oriented, proactive, and environment-aware. This autonomy permits AI to deal with advanced and dynamic duties with better effectivity and effectiveness, decreasing the necessity for fixed human oversight. The event of autonomous AI is paving the best way for superior functions in robotics, healthcare, and different fields the place adaptability and decision-making are essential.
Rebranding the market to “AI Platform”
Because of this convergence, ranging from this 12 months, we’ll fold within the AI-FML into this bigger platform and additional evolve our market terminology into “AI platform”. We are going to repeatedly refine our analysis across the enterprise use case, key functionalities, and analysis standards design, aiming to assist our enterprise shoppers in refactoring or redefining your know-how methods in AI adoption. For extra particulars or if you need to share your ideas on this, please guide an inquiry or Steering Session with us to debate.
