Dell has canvassed an improved focus on artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity and data for better business development.
  
This was the focus at the ‘Innovate with Data Summit,’ organised by Dell held in Lagos.
  
The summit, with the theme: “AI Anywhere Data Everywhere,” enumerated the importance of data in digital transformation in this era of AI, saying, “Innovation is thinking about the future and filling in the gaps and these gaps that need to be filled with data.”
  

In his opening remarks, Regional Manager, Dell Technologies, Central West African Region, Abdelmoultssin Sarsri, said Dell Technologies’ strategy allows businesses to accelerate digital transformation from ideas to innovation.
  
He said: “Innovation is more important than ever in today’s rapidly evolving landscape, any idea big or small can improve efficiency, productivity and growth.”
  
According to him, a study conducted in 2023 called the “Innovation Index,” to see how organisations were innovating after the ascendancy that was created with the pandemic, revealed that innovation leaders and adopters were innovating across three areas: people, process and technology.
  
He said “At Dell Technologies, we believe that innovation is the engine that transforms and moves your organisation forward and it starts with your people and their ideas and it is filled with data. With Dell Technologies as your innovation catalyst, you will be able to accelerate from ideas to innovation.”
  
Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Data and AI Solutions, Dell Technologies CEEMETA Region, Hani Khalaf, said: “In AI, you need three things to succeed- fuel, engine and driver. The fuel is the data, the engine is the computer and the drivers are the algorithms and the expertise.”
  
According to Khalaf, AI has been around for a very long time. “In the year November 2022, something destructive happened, called “The iPhone moment” in AI which brought about the emergence of ChatGPT and the world started talking about generative AI. Generative AI is a disruptive technology because it is about creating new text, new content, new videos and even new audio”
  
He also explained that if Generative AI is done the wrong way there could be intellectual property loss, loss of credibility and integrity.
  
According to Khalaf, the potential of generative AI is helping reveal the potential opportunities for customers to extract and produce value from existing data, in terms of accelerating business operations, automating sales and marketing, advancing healthcare science, research and drugs discovery and converting billions of “cold” data points into high value.