Welcome Constellation's New VP & Analyst, Michael Ni ??

It's safe to say there's never a dull moment at Constellation Research. This month has been a whirlwind of events, announcements, and new content.?

We hosted #CX and #EX leaders at our?Ambient Experience Summit (AXS) last week in Woodinville, WA. It was rowdy time, with Constellation analyst Liz Miller leading the charge. We workshopped new ideas, debated leading enterprise issues, enjoyed a chef-inspired meal at Barking Frog restaurant, and celebrated the 2025 #AX100 executives.??? Visit ShinyRedPhoto for event photos.

This week, we welcomed Michael Ni to the team as a new VP and principal analyst covering data to AI-driven decision automation coverage.????Michael has 25+ years of experience driving automation, analytics platforms, and data strategies. He will?help CxOs align AI investments with business strategy, decision automation, and enterprise intelligence. Join us in giving him a warm welcome! ??

Our analyst team is currently in Menlo Park for Constellation's Artificial Intelligence Forum (AIF), spending a full day with technology executives to discuss AI advancements, impacts of new technology, enterprise use cases, and more. Follow?#AIF2025 and?@constellationr?on?X for live coverage!

Lastly, the 2025 SuperNova Award nomination form?is officially open!????Whether you’re applying for yourself or nominating a colleague, don’t miss this opportunity to showcase your achievements and be recognized as an industry leader.

Michael Ni Joins Constellation Research as VP and Principal Analyst to Lead Data to AI-Driven Decision Automation Coverage

Michael Ni was appointed as Constellation Research's vice president and principal analyst to research and advise clients on how enterprises operationalize AI, automate decision-making, and integrate data management and analytics into core business processes. His work will focus on how CxOs can align AI investments with business strategy, operationalize decision automation, and scale data and enterprise intelligence.

Ni brings over 25 years of executive experience in driving automation, analytics platforms, and data strategies. His research will cover the?evolving Data-to-Decisions landscape:

• AI & Decision Automation: Moving AI beyond pilot projects to enterprise-scale automation.
• Data & Analytics Platforms: Navigating the shift from static BI dashboards to intelligent conversations.
• Real-Time Intelligence & Decisioning: Embedding AI-driven insights into daily business operations.
• Data Integration & Orchestration: Fixing data silos before AI makes them worse.

The appointment of Ni reinforces Constellation’s ongoing commitment to providing strategic guidance to companies seeking to transform their business and disrupt markets by understanding, adopting, and leveraging future-forward strategies.

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AI Trends for 2025 and Beyond?

By Liz Miller and R "Ray" Wang

Artificial intelligence (AI) dominated boardroom discussions across 2024 as business leaders looked to capitalize on the buzz. But 2025 will prove to be a critical year for bringing AI into production. There are early warning signs that these experiments may not stand the test of time, with just 13% of proof-of-concept (POC) AI experiments having converted into projects in 2024.?

This Constellation Research report reveals and reviews key AI trends and predictions for 2025. As the demand for decision velocity gives way to the imperative for decision precision, AI leaders will focus on delivering on decision automation and decision intelligence rather than wild acts of AI experimentation.

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Employee Experience Platforms: Workday Peakon

By R "Ray" Wang

Amid macro forces of automation and AI, firms continue to invest in keeping their human employees happy and engaged. The EX platform market aims to improve the work environment through surveys, goal management, recognition, collaboration tools, and reporting and analytics.?

EX management platforms ensure that employees have the tools they need to be not only successful in their roles but actively engaged and aligned with the organization’s best interests. Happy employees drive improved customer, supplier, and partner experiences. A positive EX will increase productivity and satisfaction, resulting in higher retention, lower turnover, and more innovation.?

In this CR Pulse report, R "Ray" Wang unpacks the Workday Peakon Solution specifically and provides recommendations for technology buyers.?

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IBM and Palo Alto Networks formed a strategic partnership to help organizations transform cybersecurity through security platformization and advanced AI capability integration.

Constellation analyst Andy ThurAI ?interviewed Tim Van den Heede , VP of Global Security Services Sales IBM, and Kevin Kin , Global VP of GTM and SOC Transformation at Palo Alto Networks, to learn more.

Here's a snapshot of what they covered:

• The partnership is focused on helping clients achieve security platformization by combining technology, service capabilities, and trusted AI.?
• They're training 1,000+ experts across both companies on the joint value proposition for clients.
• Platformization is crucial to address the complexity and alert fatigue plaguing security operations (the average organization uses 83 different security solutions).
• The partnership delivers integrated solutions that simplify security, improve response times, and reduce risk.
• AI and agentic AI are incorporated throughout the offerings to automate threat detection and triage alerts and enhance security decision-making.

Watch the full interview to see how industry collaboration can transform cybersecurity.

Constellation Insights with Larry Dignan

• CoreWeaves IPO: What you need to know CoreWeave filed to go public and it's unclear whether the company's debut on the stock market will be a signal of an AI infrastructure top or just a milepost on a multi-year buildout.
• AI agents aimed at healthcare but data interoperability still a big issue Vendors keep rolling out healthcare focused AI and automation, but the industry still struggles with transformation as well as data interoperability.
• The year of quantum computing (already) Quantum computing is hogging the headlines in 2025 and it's ok to say it's the year of quantum--or maybe qubits--with 10 months to go in the year. The quantum computing developments are flying, but it's worth noting that we're years away from big commercial adoption.

VIEW ALL CONSTELLATION INSIGHTS

In the News

• Silicon Angle,?StudyFetch’s new conversational AI-powered tutor is a ChatGPT for students, February 27, 2025
• CXToday,?Salesforce Champions Unheralded Product Growth, Closes 5,000 Agentforce Deals, February 27, 2025
• Forbes,?Inside Apple’s Massive $500 Billion AI Bet, February 26, 2025

VIEW ALL MEDIA MENTIONS

DisrupTV

Last week on DisrupTV, we interviewed?Josefine Campbell, author of 12 Tools for Managing a Selfish Leader: Unlock Authenticity for Resilience.

Josefine discussed the traits of selfish leaders, emphasizing their focus on personal interests and lack of empathy. She draws parallels between managing such leaders and martial arts, highlighting core values like self-awareness and situational awareness. Campbell introduced the "power barometer," a technique for managing personal energy levels at work. She advises employees to be self-aware, seek supportive environments, and align with companies that share their values. Campbell also stressed the importance of honesty and transparency in organizational culture, using IKEA as an example.

Be sure to subscribe for the latest updates and live show reminders on Constellation's ?Twitter,?YouTube,?LinkedIn, and Apple Podcasts.

ConstellationTV

In ConstellationTV episode 99,?Holger Mueller and Liz Miller discuss the latest enterprise news, specifically SAP 's introduction of their new Business Data Cloud (BDC) solution. They dive into SAP's strategic shifts, key technology innovations, and how the BDC platform positions SAP for the future. Other topics include updates on Avaya, Amazon Chime, and the latest developments in quantum computing.?

Next, Holger unpacks his Constellation ShortList criteria for evaluating data lakehouse solutions - a critical foundation for building next-gen AI-powered applications.

Finally, Constellation analysts report LIVE from Constellation's Ambient Experience Summit (AXS) in Woodinville, WA, and share the leading themes and takeaways on customer and employee experience.

Subscribe and tune in for CRTV episodes through Constellation's?Twitter,?YouTube, and?LinkedIn.

Additional Research

• Midmarket CRM Suites: Zoho | By Martin Schneider
• Behind the Scenes: The Force Behind Agentforce | By Holger Mueller

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