The twenty-ninth episode of the podcast that you know and love as "We Love Ugly Data!" is out; available in audio form everywhere you get your podcasts from and additionally in video form via YouTube (which we've embedded below). As usual, it’s three topics in (just a touch over) 30 minutes, and the show notes are included just below the embedded video. Alan is back on with Matt this month, discussing the remainder of the latest Vendor Analysis Reports, our latest AI Agent research (focusing on scaling agents to execute,) and what a year's worth of MMI reports can tell us about AI adoption across the market.

In this month’s episode:

Topic 1: Vendor Research Updates

First up this month, Alan and Matt discuss 3 more of the latest Vendor Analysis Reports that were recently published for subscribers. Alan talks about the new reports on Egnyte and SER, while Matt talks through the debut report on Bardeen.

Topic 2: AI Agents Pt 2

We've recently published the (free to download) addendum to our popular AI Agent understander, in the form of "AI Agents Part 2: The Evolution from Single Systems to Complex Process Orchestration" and here Matt tries to outline what this second reports adds to the first and in the process reveals that he still can't say the work "specificity" reliably. To make up for that fail, the pair go on to talk about Matt's explainer blog post "Friendship is Agentic" on the needs that agents have to make them truly useful and Alan's blog post on what his most recent trip to Silicon Valley taught him about the state of Agentic.

Topic 3: AI Adoption Index?

Via what is definitely the first and probably the last mention of the MTV series "The Real World" (which to be honest, Matt had though had died in the 1990s, not realizing that it's still very much a thing) the pair go on to talk about the 12 months combined data collected and analysed for our MMI (Market Momentum Index) reports and what it can tell us about AI adoption across the markets that Deep Analysis looks at. Here, they talk about the dangers of extracting meaning from aggregated data (via the medium of hair length) and what the different corpora of data collected in the last 12 months indicate about the health of the business AI market.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm0_wooqPzc

Related Links for Series 4 Episode 7
Here's those latest updated vendor profiles (or VVs as we still call them internally).
...and here's the link to the whole catalog on those profiles (that you have access to read if you're a subscriber).
Download the new report "AI Agents Part 2: The Evolution from Single Systems to Complex Process Orchestration" in full.
The post "Friendship is Agentic" that Matt wrote to accompany the release of the report.
Alan's post about the state of the industry around Agenti

Support the show

The twenty-eighth episode of the podcast that you know and love as "We Love Ugly Data!" is out; available in audio form everywhere you get your podcasts from and additionally in video form via YouTube (which we've embedded below). As usual it’s three topics in (just a touch over) 30 minutes, and the show notes are included just below the embedded video. Dan is back on with Matt this month, discussing a first selection of the latest Vendor Analysis Reports, a sneap peak into the latest IDP research - this time a largescale survey of IDP use - and Dan's selections for the Banned Words List.

In this month’s episode:

Topic 1: Vendor Research Updates

First up this month, Dan and Matt discuss 3 of the latest Vendor Analysis Reports that were recently published for subscribers. Dan talks about the updated report on Infrrd and a new report on Cambrion, while Matt talks through some of the highlights of the latest report on EvoluteIQ.

Topic 2: New IDP Research

Ahead of the publication of (probably) the largest-scale IDP use survey that's been conducted, Dan talks through some of the early findings that you'll be able to read once the survey proper is released next month. This involves discussion about AI adoption, the need for process analysis, and [gasp] the growing amount of paper that's still driving business processes in 2025. And faxes, lots of faxes.

Topic 3: Banned Word List (Pt II)

After Matt and Alan got to have a go back in April, this time it's Dan's turn to choose a word (or phrase) he never want to see or hear every again about technology and in return they nominate a cliché of their own they they like to use, but will give up in return. So this time, let’s wave goodbye to “at the end of the day” and “game changer”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZHuG4MH4xw

Related Links for Series 4 Episode 6
Here's those latest updated vendor profiles (or VVs as we still call them internally).
...and here's the link to the whole catalog on those profiles (that you have access to read if you're a subscriber).
Last year's Deep Analysis AIIM "Market Momentum Index: AI and Unstructured Data Management" which Matt mentions, which has some other paper related statistics.

Support the show

The twenty-seventh episode of the podcast you know and love, "We Love Ugly Data!", is now available. You can find it in audio form on your preferred podcast platform and in video form on YouTube, which we've embedded below. As usual, it’s three topics in (just a touch over) 30 minutes, and the show notes are included just below the embedded video. We're back with Matt and Alan again this month, featuring discussions on planning for agents (with a return of the "5 Questions" graphic), a major dispute between business application vendors (with a mention of a breaking M&A transaction), and the distinction between tactical and strategic advice.

In this month’s episode:

Topic 1: 5 questions for agentic planning

To kick off this month, Matt and Alan discuss last year's infographic "Is your organization ready for Artificial Intelligence?" that Deep Analysis produced in association with AIIM, in light of a blog post that Matt published, where he takes those original 5 questions and asks them again specifically for agentic. There's a big discussion about projects; discovery phases, go-no go decision, subject matter experts, and process analysis (because, of course).

Topic 2: Biz App Knife Fight

Back on the January edition of the pod, Matt and Alan discussed the concept (popularized by Satya Nadella) that business applications are in danger of seeing their business logic being ripped out and placed with agents. With regard to recent comments from both Salesforce and ServiceNow, Reworked recently published an article with comments from both Alan and Matt, largely concerned with their public battle to be the AI platform for business. Here, the pair discusses this battle, what it means about M&A, and the core business application market. Right at the end, Salesforce's deal to acquire Informatica, which was announced 5 minutes before recording, is discussed in the context of this battle.

Topic 3: Tactical vs Strategic

Alan's been writing about the difference between strategic and tactical and how they need to be aligned. He and Matt discuss this in the light of the work that Deep Analysis does on a day-to-day basis for our clients.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U1-jqWhNkw

Related Links for Series 4 Episode 5
Matt's "5 Questions for Agentic Planning" blog post
The original AIIM infographic "Is your organization ready for Artificial Intelligence?"
The article on Reworked "ServiceNow and Salesforce Fight to Be the Center of AI Agent Operations"
The "....a load of CRUD?" topic on business applications, agents and business logic" in January's podcast (it's topic 2)

Support the show