The Year Ahead
Where did 2024 go? If ever a year flew by, this one was it.
It is hard to believe we will wake up in January five years from the start of Covid. My, what a different world. Yet one of our charters is to analyze this changing world — to evaluate each sector in the data, information, and b2b vertical tech economy, and how it’s changing.
People ask us to make sense of the non-sense and provide a hard-hitting perspective about what’s going on out there and what it means to the changing world of information-driven solutions. So, I did what I typically do this time of year and polled the team for the most important announcement they observed this past year based on its implications for the year ahead. In their words:
In Scholarly communications, the ONOS agreement will be seen as a landmark, leading to the breakup of paid for subscription models in publishing academic research.
Wiley’s announcement of its AI licensing deals started a lot of conversations amongst its peers about the perils and opportunities of AI licensing and set in motion other deals in the sector.
In terms of news events, there wasn’t a large or dominating event in financial info and technology in 2024, mostly due to the chill in M&A. There were multiple smaller moves in the direction of data integration using AI, sustainability, digital assets, and private assets. Notably — Data integration using AI with deals like Bloomberg and FactSet launching AI-powered earnings call summaries and analysis. FactSet launched AI-powered portfolio commentary and S&P Global launched GenAI search on its products. In Oct 2024, FactSet partnered with Perplexity.AI to integrate FactSet’s financial data into Perplexity’s AI platform to help mutual clients access data in Perplexity’s platform. All this against a backdrop about Sustainability: Bloomberg launched a sustainable investment screening tool. S&P Global launched price assessments in US-low-carbon and US-Lithium-carbonate to accelerate the energy transition and acquired World Hydrogen Leaders.
Whilst part of me would point to the eventual Springer IPO, I think I will go for quiet recognition of how good RELX, WK and TR have been for shareholders. And kudos to Nancy: since the start of 2020, RELX shares up 186%, TR up 237% and WK up 248%.
2024 saw the U.S. government taking decisive action to regulate AI in healthcare. The establishment of an AI Safety Program by HHS and efforts from CMS and ONC put forth rules addressing AI use in healthcare delivery and decision support systems, while multiple states have enacted laws focusing on algorithmic discrimination, patient consent, and transparency points to intervention that will help ensure AI’s safe, ethical, and equitable implementation to protect patient rights and safety.
The EU AI Act, effective from August 1, 2024, introduces the first comprehensive AI regulations, with staged implementation over three years, overseen by the European Commission’s new AI Office. For the information and software industries, it demands stricter compliance but will also force greater transparency among LLM providers and drive them to enter new licensing agreements for content used in model training.
Each referenced, the December 2 news that the long-awaited merger of Informa Tech and TechTarget was announced, creating perhaps the leading B2B growth accelerator for the technology industry. The new Informa TechTarget — publicly traded on NASDAQ, with 2,000 employees and serving some 7,500 customers — is a major data and market access play spanning intent and demand generation, intelligence and advice, brand awareness and thought leadership, all centered around permissioned first-party data.
Simon Alterman
Against a backdrop of increased global instability comes Donald Trump, returning to the US presidency with a to-do list of threats and promises both dramatic and potentially contradictory. In addition to the economic impact of high tariffs and tax cuts, businesses may have to deal with significant regulatory changes and the consequences of a muscular and unpredictable foreign policy. Fasten seatbelts.
In 2024, the generative AI movement reached groundbreaking heights, with significant advancements in AI tools, industry-specific solutions, and data integration. These developments are transforming business operations and driving substantial investments in AI-driven innovation. For this reason, I chose Salesforce’s announcement about Industries AI, which not only leverages data but also enhances how that data is processed, analyzed, and applied across various industries, enabling businesses to make more informed, data-driven decisions and reflecting how big tech is moving up the value chain.
Philipp Mueller shared his views in our annual Outsell Outlook, so there’s plenty there.
As for me?
We saw record stock market performance with big-tech leading the way, the largest mega-deal in advertising in quite some time with the Omnicom-IPG megamerger — a response to big-tech continuing to dominate the sector.
One cannot talk about our industry without having conversations about Google (Alphabet), Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Apple and now OpenAI. Let’s not forget Nvidia and the underlying technologies that power AI. And while they powered the stock market, they also power and impact companies in our sector.
In the year ahead we will continue to see new interfaces for engaging with information; changes to search and the way we discover and seek information and a new wave of voice applications to name a few.
And under an anti-regulatory-oriented administration it’s going to be interesting to see what happens to the regulatory environment for AI. And will we finally wake up to regulating social? I hope so. What happens to TikTok is key.
It’s nice to see that companies closer to home delivered shareholder value proving that public markets can still be kind to companies in our industry.
I am struck by the turnover in the corner office in 2024 and what it portends for 2025. In 2009 I spoke at our annual event about the extreme turnover we were seeing. In 2024 the cycle is repeating with CEO retirements, discontent, or all-out ousters by PE owners.
These things go in cycles — in waves and we have another one upon us. One leader I spoke with today sees the soul of companies change. Are better companies being shaped? I’m not sure. But this will be a personal passion of mine as we think about the CEO agenda and set out to research it in 2025.
No matter — technological, geopolitical, and economic winds continuously blow. Generational shifts occur. Their direction sets the stage for the coming year ahead and we will be here to analyze the future and share what it all means.
How are sectors changing? Which ones are growing or at risk? What new business models are taking hold? Are not? We’ll provide the headlights so you can drive, growth revenue, save money, and mitigate risk.
We’re here for you. For now — we’ll be signing off on noon Christmas Eve and returning to the office January 6th so our entire team can rest, recharge, and spend meaningful time with family and friends so we can return refreshed for you.
We wish you a great holiday season and fantastic 2025. Thank you for the pleasure and privilege of working with you.