How five top CEOs described the AI boom in 2024

Throughout 2024, CNBC Jim Cramer discussed the seemingly limitless rise of artificial intelligence with dozens of CEOs in the tech world. Here’s how five leading business leaders characterized the meteoric rise of AI this year.

1. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the “AI computing ramp” is just beginning and will last for years.

   Huang in March painted a picture of the AI ​​landscape, saying that investments in new technology remain in the early innings. He predicted years of growth ahead and suggested that AI can drive innovation in a variety of fields, including science and health.

   Nvidia is a titan of the AI ​​revolution, as it designs and sells advanced technologies essential to technology. The company is the first provider of GPUs, which are used to develop and implement new AI software such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Big Tech is widely calling for Nvidia products, including customers Meta, Tesla, Microsoft and Amazon shell out billions. Nvidia’s stock is currently up more than 176% year to date, and sometimes this year overcome Apple to become the most valuable company on the market.

2. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said that cybercriminals are on the level: “It will be the battle of AI in the future.”

   Kurtz in February described how his cybersecurity company is fighting cybercrime that is “more active than ever” as the ranks of hackers grow and become more advanced with new AI technology in their arsenals. He said generative AI democratizes “very esoteric techniques and attacks,” so less skilled cybercriminals can still carry out advanced attacks.

   “What we talked about in the earnings call is the ability to create more opponents with lower skill levels, but operate at a much higher skill level, leveraging generative AI,” Kurtz said, “Naturally, on the security side, we’re leveraging generative AI to help protect our customers, so it’s going to be the battle of AI in the future.”

3. Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy said generative AI will keep him “busy for many years to come.”

   Ramaswamy took over at Snowflake in February, and he described the way the data analysis software maker plans to use the new AI technology.

   “We have so much ambition to do more, whether it’s applications that run on top of Snowflake, or, of course, using the power of generative AI, which I focused on last year, to democratize access to enterprise data, so that even more people can access data quickly to get value,” said Ramaswamy. “So I think there is a huge opportunity in the world of data applications and AI that will keep me busy for many years to come.”

   Snowflake collaborated with Nvidia, and in May, Ramaswamy teased a new project with the expensive AI. According to him, Snowflake’s product pipeline, “especially in AI, has been in overdrive.”

4. AMD CEO Lisa Su described the competition with Nvidia: “There is no one size fits all in computing.”

   Although Nvidia leads the pack in the red semiconductor design industry, the competition is tough, with companies like AMD and Intel licensing for customers who are willing to pay top dollar. But in September, when asked about the competition with Nvidia, Su suggested there is room for more than one major player in the sector. According to her, “the technology ecosystem” works well when there is competition and partnership, and customers want the ability to choose between many solid options.

   “The way to think about it is that there is no one size fits all in computing,” Su said. “There’s not, you know, one architecture. You actually need the right calculation for each application.”

   Su said she believes that “AI will impact everyone’s life,” and that the world is beginning to understand what the new technology can do. She also said that people should not be impatient about the impact of AI because “technological trends are meant to play out over years, not months.”

5. Generac CEO Aaron Jagdfeld CEO said the pressure on the power grid “is only going to get worse” from climate and technology.

   Hunting money warned that the pressure on the energy network is only going to increase as the demand for data centers and other technologies related to artificial intelligence continues to grow. 40% of the generator company’s business comes from commercial and industrial-type products, he said, such as backup for manufacturing plants, distribution centers, hospitals and data centers.

   “This has become a very critical talking point,” Jagdfeld said. “This is only going to get worse.”

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Disclaimer The CNBC Investing Club Charitable Trust owns shares of Nvidia, AMD and CrowdStrike.