Welcome to the KuppingerCole Analyst Chat. I'm your host. My name is Matthias Reinwarth, I'm an Analyst and Advisor with KuppingerCole Analysts. My guest today is Osman. He is a Research Analyst with KuppingerCole. Hi, Osman. Good to have you.
Hi Matthias, how are you doing?
I'm doing fine. And we've mentioned that in my description, I'm an Analyst and Advisor and you are a Research Analyst. And today we don't want to look at a specific technical or analyst topic. We want to look at the topic of an analyst. So our topic today is a day in the life of a tech analyst. And you are a research analyst. So you are a perfect subject to talk to and that's great to have you. So. You work all day as an analyst. Could you walk us through a typical day in your life as an analyst? What are your main activities? How can people imagine what you're doing eight hours a day?
Thank you, Matthias. It's actually an interesting question and also an interesting timing because we are both located in Germany. We just came back from a holiday. So maybe it's time to think about what do we do as personally and what have we succeeded to come to this point? And sometimes it's also nice to have a break from the very serious research that we are conducting at work, right? So as you said that I am a research analyst and I've been working for KuppingerCole for two years now. And when I think about my daily activities, I could say that I have two types of days. It's not like today is the type one and tomorrow is type two, but when I think about my monthly schedule, it is really like 50/50. The one type I would say the research days and the second type I would say for briefing days. So I can maybe quickly describe how they look like. And the research day, as the name states, I do research a lot. But it is more like the day I have more free time, like answering my emails, finishing my incomplete works, or helping my colleagues if they ask me anything. But on top of that, the major thing is that... We read a lot and I'm sure I'm not the only one on those days. We read a lot and then we do our research to conduct our researching and finally write the papers that we are supposed to finish. And we have to also find the necessary tools, necessary websites. And sometimes I go and find the information from the vendors libraries. They have lots of technical materials and it's sometimes difficult to find what you're looking for and you have limited time to come up with some certain information about them. And another thing, it's not challenging, but it is something you must have within yourself that you have to be willing to read and write a lot. And in order to write also, you have to find a compelling language. We don't use our daily languages, like for example, the language we are using in this call, but you have to find a compelling language. It doesn't have to be an advanced English or advanced technical language, but it has to be a language that everyone reading our research papers understanding the output. And they are mostly consumers and users and also from vendors. So, we have different type of people reading our products at the end of the day, our research, our product. So you have to find a really nice way to express yourself. And the second type of days, I would say briefing days, these are a bit different. In those days, yeah, I also do other stuff like I do in the research days. It depends how much briefings I have, but if I have one or two, they are occupying more than half of my day. And in those days, I have to do some preliminary research about the vendors that I'm going to have a briefing with so that I don't ask them unnecessary questions. And when they mention one thing, I understand it right away. Because this is crucial for us when we are having a briefing. They're around one hour long or 30 minutes long. And during those briefings, as analysts, we take notes. And you have to be really agile for doing that. So you have to be understanding everything, the person explaining you about their solutions or their technology. And other than that, after the briefings, you need to take some actions, informing the necessary colleagues and summarizing the briefings and taking notes on our systems. And this is how I could sum up my main activities in those two different types of days, as I said.
Analyst sounds like lots of desk work and it is desk work, but it's not only reading and writing, as you said, it's also being able to be a good communicator, to talking to people, to be quick at understanding feedback that you get from the vendors in the briefing. So there's much more communication than one might want to expect when it comes to being an analyst. It's really about lots of communication, talking to people, understanding the technologies, understanding the way to move forward within an industry. And I think one important part of this podcast for me is also to show how this sector of analysts can really grow. There is a need for good analysts and the focus is on good analysts So the question is for those who are interested in becoming a tech analyst, who are comfortable with what you just described, what would be a primary or what are the primary access points to these industries? And you've mentioned already some key qualifications. Are there others that you would like to mention when it comes to making people feel comfortable? Yeah, I can do that. I want to be a tech analyst. I want to work like Osman.
Well, it's interesting that I actually studied business administration in my bachelor's, but after a while I developed an interest working for IT companies in general. Now that I, for example, I am mostly covering cybersecurity and it wasn't my field up until two years ago. Yes, and sometimes I wish that... I should have studied maybe a discipline like computer or software engineering or maybe information technology or information security systems in a bachelor's level or in master's level. Yes, I am not regretting that, but those will be a big plus for those who are interested or who are already studying those fields regardless on which level they are studying, of course. You should be familiar with the technologies aspects from hardware to software to emerging technologies like cloud or concepts like Zero Trust or one of the emerging technologies we talk the most is AI, right? And then it is not related to hardware or software that everyone used to learn in the school, right? And therefore you need to come from a discipline that is related to technology first of all. How did I actually fill up that gap was working for technology companies from the year I graduated from university. So it's been like seven to eight years now that I'm in this industry. And first of all, I started with a distributor company and that gave me a chance to learn what big vendors are doing. If not all vendors, but big vendors. I don't want to name, but you can name lots of technology companies in your mind. But I want to ask those people, do you really know what they do? For example, a vendor could be a laptop, like an end user vendor, but then in 10 years, they invest to become a robotic company. So you never know what they do, what they want to invest. So you have to really understand what is trending and what is going to be the future. And... It is not super difficult to predict, you know, because technology is evolving. So we add up to where we are now next year and the upcoming year, we reach a point that is a bit more developed than today. So it is not super like science fiction to know. And unless if it is disruptive technology, you can actually predict it what is coming to you. You just need to be familiar blend your life in that. And other than that, I think that you should know which direction you want to be in. I would say that either enterprise technologies or consumer technologies or both. For example, we do research on the enterprise side most of the time. So for those who are interested in learning about laptops or computer technologies, it's not here. You have to focus on the consumer technologies and there are also super interesting technologies there. This is what I could say about the like how to become a tech analyst. When I think about like yeah, you have to start showing interest to the profession that you want to have one day.
And I think it's, of course, a basic knowledge, just as you described, having a degree in an area that is related to what you're doing as an analyst is important. But the day you start, you will have to learn new things. And I'm a bit older, I'm a few days older, I'm longer in this industry. And the thing that I really love about this job that we're doing is that we have to learn every day and that what we do today, has more or less nothing to do with what we did at university or at school or in education anyways, because the market has changed, the industry has changed, as you said, gradually, organically, sometimes disruptively, but it has changed. We are no longer there with what we've learned. So I think one of the key characteristics is the willingness to learn, to adapt, to grow within that field and also to be equipped with a strong opinion when it comes to looking at the market. Are these the skills in...
Yeah, and I could add this. A couple of years ago, I was really interested in cloud security, and then I actually was working around cloud security. But after coming to KuppingerCole, I almost changed my direction totally. And now I am trying to become a cybersecurity expert, because where I see the future is more related to a general concept of cybersecurity, not only cloud security. And I think that in this industry, you have the chance to adapt yourself according to the emerging technologies and where you see is more interesting, where you think might be more relevant to you. Yeah.
Absolutely. And if we look at it from a different perspective, I've just asked what you should be like or what an analyst should be like. When you look at your daily work, what is the most rewarding for you? What is most fun for you doing that job? Which are the parts of the... Is it the writing, the reading, the talking to people, maybe doing a webinar or being on stage for an event? What is most rewarding?
Matthias, I am doing my dream job and I'm not exaggerating that. And you know, this is a perfect question for me to answer. And I think that I learn every day something new and this is amazing. Well, maybe every day learning something might not sound appealing, but I'm telling people this when they ask me, Osman, what is your job? I'm saying that almost every month I am learning what a solution does. For example, I've been working on attack surface management. It's an emerging market. And in the last couple of months, I've worked on web application firewalls. It's a mature market. Most people in the IT sector know it. But it was something new for me. I have conducted the research around it, a research that will take hours to write and read also. And in order to do that, you have to have some certain knowledge. And then you have to know what that solution does, what it used to become, sorry, what it used to look like, and how is it doing now? And in the future, what else it might actually bring to the table. So this is like really interesting. And it is like having a front seat to the technologies, emerging technologies, and knowing what's going to happen before everyone else. And this is the case in most of the solutions that we are working with. Also, even if it's not the area of our expertise, it's not the area that KuppingerCole is working, we can still have an eye on what is going on because we are spending so much of our time learning and following the technology trends. And at the moment, one of the most interesting things I could say is the... The proactive cybersecurity systems are my area of interest, I would say, like the research I've conducted a couple of months ago, attack surface management and threat intelligence and the utilization of AI in that sector, in that solution segment, is very interesting. But on top of that, Matthias, I have a passion for graphic cards and then how they can actually produce this artificial images that look so much like our real life. like simulating the real life actually. It is really interesting, although it is in the consumer side, but you never know what the future will bring. Maybe we will also have a research field in KuppingerCole around the simulation materials or the artificial images. You never know.
Exactly. And if we look at just a slight bit beneath that, I had an episode together with Annie, our colleague, and we talked about synthetic data. It's not images, but it's providing data that looks as if it was native, it was data that results from a specific research field, but it's not. It's anonymized, it's synthetic, it's generated, but it's capable of... acting as training material, as reference material, for example, for cybersecurity. I think that's already very close and this is the enterprise sector. For example, using that for defensive cybersecurity systems. And so I think, yes, this is also merging. These are technology trends that are meeting many areas of our expertise right now. If you look ahead, when you've joined two years ago, and of course you're a seasoned expert already, how do you see the role of the tech analyst evolving? Are we all being taken over by AI or are we still needed in two years?
It's difficult to predict and whoever is trying to predict that may fail actually, there is a risk of that. So I would rather stay on the safe side and just share my humble opinion on this. Yes, advanced AI technologies are affecting our lives. A couple of weeks ago we had this discussion whether we should start using generative AI in our work, is it ethically correct? I also asked this question to myself. But Matthias, can you imagine rejecting using Google or any other search engine companies today? It's impossible, right? It will be impossible without them, our life, our technological life on our phones or behind our laptops or anywhere we touch there. So what I'm thinking is... But if you go back to 2005 and ask people, they might say that, yes, I can imagine a life without Google. I have my encyclopedia books. I have my white papers, the physical ones. They would thought that all the information is there and they thought they had all the time to do research. And now that I think that this should be a good example for us. And from here to 10 years, let's say, maybe, AI technologies will replace most of the daily utilities, the daily tools that we are using in our life and they will become the essential set of tools that we are using every day. So there will be no way escaping from them. But as long as it is going to be in our life, it will negatively affect some professions as you brought up. And I also see that inevitable. But I say that as analysts, we will be there to make sure that the information is up to date. At least today, the problem with generative AI or AI in general is that the credibility of the information is not always 100 % correct, or it is not accurate all the time, or it can be manipulated by the touch of human factor. And so I expect that we will be there to make sure that AI works properly and accurate enough to serve the humanity under control.
Yeah, absolutely. I would fully agree because the aspect that AIs cannot now, as I understand it, and will not in the future, at least not very soon, what they cannot do is to provide what I mentioned earlier, being opinionated, to have a strong opinion, to really do an analysis that goes beyond the facts and really adds your human experience as an analyst to the bad data that you have and even especially when you're using large scale LLMs like ChatGPT or whatever, they build upon information that is already there. They cannot add that level of interpretation, of analysis, of an opinion of an analyst on top of that other than what they gathered somewhere else. Could be yours, could be somewhere from our competitors, but it's still something that they reproduce. What you add, what is your delta of the 20 % that AI cannot provide in my opinion is the opinion, the analysis, the interpretation, and the look at how things will evolve. I think that's important. And that will also give us the chance to work longer in that field as all these AI proponents would like us to expect, right?
Yeah, and also on top of that interpretations you mentioned, we can also talk about experience also. That's also one of the most important things. The human experience is different than what an AI can experience. But above all, I am also thinking like, you know, this is something that I've been thinking recently that maybe there will be a way to encrypt data from the reach points of the AI. the LLMs as you mentioned, so that there will be some confidentiality, some privacy in life. For example, let's say that you have a financial report of a... As a company, you have a financial report that you only publish with your stakeholders. This is very confidential data, right? And now we are protecting it through the security measures. And such information, and also the personal information like our health data, our personal data, those are actually protected. So AI, hopefully, will not have access to those data. So you will at least have someone to analyze the data and express it in an indirect way when it's needed. I don't know if AI is capable of doing that indirect way that I'm talking a human can achieve. You understand what I mean?
Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think that's really the important part. And final question, of course, for such a podcast, would you do it again?
Yes, yes, as I said, this is my dream job. And then maybe two years ago, if you asked me, Osman, is this your dream job? To be honest, I wouldn't know. And I would probably say no. It looks like an appealing job, but I'm not sure if it... But as I said, I learn a lot, every month, a solution. And this is just amazing for me. And for those who are interested to become like us as an analyst, I would say that they should invest their time trying to figure out what is the future of technologies, what are they like in both enterprise and consumer side. And they should do a lot of readings and they should not just read those news on the magazines, but they should really go and search for what vendors are doing. And I'm talking here about the big vendors that everyone knows. Go to their websites and read what they do. They do a lot of things that we never heard of. And this is how they invest for the future. And then they probably look for young talents who are going to understand these technologies in a blink of an eye.
Absolutely. So, Osman, thank you very much for talking about that, for talking about your job and how you are working within this company. I think this holds true for many of our colleagues. We have a lot of analysts working with KuppingerCole to produce all these papers and documents that we produce. Thanks again for being my guest today and for sharing your knowledge. And of course, my final sentence always in these episodes when it comes to... to when we are running up to June this year. You will be at EIC in Berlin. I will be there. If you have any questions around the job about the way we work, just reach out to us. And if you have any other questions, of course, also reach out to us. Looking forward to meeting you there, Osman, in Berlin. Looking forward to talking to our audience.
Yeah, I also look forward to meeting everyone listening to us in EIC in Berlin. And thank you very much for having me today, Matthias. It was a pleasure.
Thank you very much, Osman. Looking forward to meeting you. Bye bye.
