AI Companies With A Winning Hand: The 2024 CRN AI 100

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the IT industry with the most powerful tech companies on the planet, along with some special unicorn startups, investing significantly in AI and generative AI.

There are 100 companies who are standing out from the crowd by leading the AI revolution in 2024 by providing AI solutions for cloud computing, cybersecurity, data and analytics, edge computing, data centers, PCs and software.

From Nvidia and Microsoft to Dell Technologies and Wiz, these 100 artificial intelligence market leaders are the ones making waves in the boiling-hot AI industry with billions expected to be poured into new AI technology this year.

CRN’s inaugural AI 100 list breaks down the 100 companies you need to know about in the AI market in the five major categories: cloud, security, data and analytics, data center and edge, and software. Before jumping into the list of 100 AI companies, here’s what to know about each category.

AI For Cloud

Cloud computing is one of the most popular delivery options for AI and generative AI applications at scale, with companies like AWS, IBM, Google, Microsoft and Oracle making the list as well as several cloud startups.

The rapid advancement in large language models (LLMs) and foundation models (FMs) are driving AI and GenAI capabilities and business use cases with many cloud companies leading the way.

“Because of its scale and shared services model, cloud technology is best-suited for the delivery of GenAI-enabled applications at scale and the development of general-purpose foundation models,” said Gartner Analyst Sig Nag in a recent report.

AI For Cybersecurity

Both AI and machine learning technologies are under the hood of just about every major cybersecurity capability out there—from threat detection, to user authentication and access management, to analysis of network traffic and many other key security functions.

GenAI has gone viral in the cybersecurity industry, with countless vendors introducing new capabilities powered by LLMs in the wake of OpenAI’s debut of ChatGPT in late 2022. In the security landscape— including email, collaboration, code security, protecting the use of GenAI itself—products are being enhanced with the help of AI.

Cybersecurity firms securing AI on various fronts range from CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks to Wiz and Vectra AI.

AI For Data Center, PC And Edge

AI is powered by processors, servers and data storage devices, while PCs and laptops have become one of the hottest AI topics in 2024.

From data centers to edge computing and end-user PCs, AI is infiltrating across the IT landscape in the shape on new CPUs, AI-powered data management as well as AI copilots initiatives to boost AIOps.

In this category, AI superstars like Nvidia, Cisco, Intel, HPE and Supermicro made the list alongside AI startups such as Prosimo and Run:ai.

AI For Data And Analytics

Data is the fuel that AI needs to work. IT companies in the data management space—including suppliers of tools for collecting, managing and preparing huge volumes of data—play a huge role in the AI wave sweeping the industry.

Also participating in the AI tsunami are many data analytics companies, both established vendors and startups, that are incorporating AI and generative AI into their software to go beyond traditional business intelligence and reporting to provide sophisticated, AI-powered search and analytics tools and natural language querying capabilities.

Data and analytics all-stars who made CRN’s list include Alteryx, Couchbase, Databricks, Dataloop and Informatica, to name a few.

AI For Software

From AI virtual assistants to the automation of administrative IT tasks, AI software companies are critical to the industry.

Early AI software use cases focus on improving operations for businesses, creating new revenue streams and boosting productivity such as AI for generative code and content.

Research firm IDC predicts enterprises will spend over $38 billion worldwide on generative AI software and related infrastructure hardware and services, with the number reaching $151 billion by 2027

Companies driving AI for software include the likes of Connectwise, CrushBank, Dataiku, SAP and ServiceNow.

For CRN’s inaugural AI 100 list, we highlight the work 100 top-notch AI providers are doing that is powering the AI and GenAI world of the future.

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