back to article Generative AI slashes cloud migration hassles, says McKinsey partner

The use of generative AI is cutting down cloud migration efforts by 30 percent to 50 percent when done correctly, according to McKinsey's Bhargs Srivathsan, speaking at a conference in Singapore on Wednesday. "This is only starting to scratch the surface. As the large language model (LLM) matures, this timeline to migrate …

  1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    It sounds like a house of cards.

    1. cyberdemon Silver badge
      Holmes

      And when your house of cards comes crashing down after the generative AI migrates your database into /dev/null, who will you pay to sort it all out?

      McKinsey, of course.

      They will charge a princely sum for migrating a database back out of /dev/null, though.

      1. MyffyW Silver badge

        dd if=/dev/random of=/opt/your-actual-database-file.db count=10000000 bs=1024

        ...there we go - now you've turned a problem of an absent database into a problem of linguistics.

        [With due apologies to Messers Adams and Gently]

        1. cyberdemon Silver badge
          Trollface

          And of course messrs McKinsey will be charging £300/hour while they wait for that command to complete

          For an extra £100/hour they will employ an intern to wiggle your mouse to make the 'migration' go faster. (who they will pay the minimum wage, natch)

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why would anyone trust someone from McKinsey?

    Aside from the company being a training ground for crooks*, my partner (an ex-McKinsey person) says the last thing anyone there has is hands-on expertise.

    *Rajat Kumar Gupta, Jeffrey Skilling, Puneet Dikshit, Anil Kumar ...

    1. MyffyW Silver badge

      Re: Why would anyone trust someone from McKinsey?

      They are my best exemplar for purveyors of fine slideware (though others also have form in borrowing my Elsa-from-Frozen watch and telling me the time).

    2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: Why would anyone trust someone from McKinsey?

      Are you calling your partner a crook?

      1. cyberdemon Silver badge
        Devil

        Re: Why would anyone trust someone from McKinsey?

        Honour among thieves.. But not business consultants

  3. Howard Sway Silver badge

    The use of generative AI

    At last, someone has been found whose job really could be replaced by a generative AI. Because that vague, buzzword heavy hype speech certainly sounds like it was written by one.

    Have the AI folk actually invented an autogartner?

    1. Dr Who

      Re: The use of generative AI

      Maybe this is a test by El Reg? Can the readers spot the AI generated articles? If so, I'm calling this one - definitely AI.

      However, she recommended not skimping on an API gateway between an organization and the outside world in order to surface some of the "real-time alerts" if developers are accessing non-proprietary models or data they shouldn't be touching.

      In no instance of the multiverse does this mean anything to anyone.

      1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

        Re: The use of generative AI

        Maybe this is a test by El Reg? Can the readers spot the AI generated articles? If so, I'm calling this one - definitely AI. ..... Dr Who

        :-) That is most definitely a task nowadays becoming increasingly difficult to reliably accurately call, Dr Who, is it not? And when AI does not suffer the company of fools with blunt ineffective tools, where do you think that leaves humanity adequately enabled with what to do?

      2. MyffyW Silver badge

        Re: The use of generative AI

        'twas also my thoughts, I suspect you might be right @Dr_Who.

      3. Korev Silver badge
        Black Helicopters

        Re: The use of generative AI

        > Maybe this is a test by El Reg? Can the readers spot the AI generated articles?

        Maybe the real reason why they downgraded the English to American, it'd make it much easier to sneak in AI-written articles...

  4. Eclectic Man Silver badge
    Facepalm

    "when done correctly"

    I do like the caveat that it helps in cases when it is done "correctly", without any indication of how you might check or ensure that at the time (although it might be in the paper, I suppose).

    I mean, major government procurements succeed "when done correctly", but that hasn't prevented a whole load of completely ballsed-up projects here in the UK, and, dare I say it, quite possibly elsewhere.

    I thought that LLMs actually just did a probabilistic analysis of what word is most likely to 'come next' in the sentence, and did nothing much else, so are not 'intelligent' in any meaningful sense of the word. That McKinsey and Co wants to experiment, sorry, use this 'technology' for their customers (is there an example where McKinsey did it to themselves I wonder) reduces them even lower in my estimation.

    On the bright side, I only need one more term to get a full line in my buzzword bingo card.

    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge
      Flame

      Re: "when done correctly"

      Yes indeed. Those are the magic words that enable the idiot that spouted them to hide behind the bullshit if it doesn't work.

      It's the business version of "you're holding it wrong".

      Honestly, to publicly state that some absent-minded text-spewing robot that doesn't even understand the significance of what it says improves cloud migration should be a one-way ticket to the padded hotel room.

      Such deceit is despicable.

      1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge
        Mushroom

        A Devil of a Hellish Hobson’s Choice for Global Operating Devices. An Alien Intervention or Nay?

        Honestly, to publicly state that some absent-minded text-spewing robot that doesn't even understand the significance of what it says improves cloud migration should be a one-way ticket to the padded hotel room. .... Pascal Monett

        Quite so, Pascal Monett. And exactly the same can be said of the absent-minded text-spewing robots infesting the likes of the Palace of Westminster and Senates and Congresses worldwide whenever they be spouting forth on whatever vested interest might keep them in office claiming benefits and expenses to be paid for by others.

        To be worried about SMARTR Virtual AIMachines and NEUKlearer HyperRadioProACTive IT ProgramMING taking over from the Exclusive Elite Executive Suite Administration Systems responsible for those sorts of Toxic Abominations and Democratic Abortions which have badly and inadequately programmed humans pulling levers and pushing buttons that do nothing good and of last great benefit to all, is a rich vein of madness and hubris to exhaustively exploit, employ and enjoy watching them do self-destructive battle in current future challenges presently designed to defeat them at every readily made available opportunity.

        It’s a heavenly gift that just keeps on giving, and it cannot stop itself. The gazillion dollar question then presents itself to a certain mix of Greater IntelAIgent Game Players and they would be asking of themselves ..... Do we want to stop it or are we enjoying the mayhem and chaos too much and be quite content to have the spectacular disgraceful debacle continue on apace further into the darkness of those freely chosen by absent-minded text-spewing robots/badly and inadequately programmed human spaces ‽ .

    2. Tim 11

      Re: "when done correctly"

      in my experience, highly paid consultants also do "....a probabilistic analysis of what word is most likely to 'come next' in the sentence, and did nothing much else, so are not 'intelligent' in any meaningful sense of the word"

      1. Eclectic Man Silver badge
        Joke

        Re: "when done correctly"

        Tim 11: in my experience, highly paid consultants also do "....a probabilistic analysis of what word is most likely to 'come next'

        OI!, I was a consultant, and did my work diligently and carefully.

        Oh, but wait, I wasn't a 'highly paid consultant'.

        As you were.

  5. JamesTGrant Bronze badge

    Source?

    I’d be genuinely interested in the source of the data which caused the AI is cutting cloud migration costs - coz I suspect it’s data which the speaker is using ‘creatively’.

    I’ve a formula, take a known pain point that executes understand enough to talk about (cloud-costs in this case). Take the new thing that they don’t, but feel like they should, combine them - presto. Only works if you deliver confidently, even if it’s total nonsense - like the article.

    To see the current state of’AI’ - ask gtp to construct a jq query with more than one selection criteria.

    BTW - I think GTP-3.5 and 4 are fantastic tools which I use everyday, brilliant for discovering methodology or for suggesting functions which I’d not considered, excellent at ‘what does this code do’ questions.

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