This week we feature articles from Kurt Cagle, and Ethan Mollick.
Additional reading comes from Jacob Steinhardt, Tony Seale, and Tom Krazit.
News comes from Microsoft, Snowflake & Observe, WP Engine & Big Bite, and Squirro.
Our next issue arrives 1/28/26.
All previous issues are available at https://gilbane.com/gilbane-advisor-index
Opinion / Analysis
Context Graphs, Data Traces & Transcripts
Some thoughts on the latest buzzwords
Kurt Cagle: “A knowledge graph is a valuable tool… and a critical part of AI infrastructure moving forward. However, the central idea of context graphs is that you should be able to determine exactly when a decision was made and why, and that is something that a knowledge graph by itself can only give you VERY indirectly…”.
However, Cagle provides a “stunning” example of context capture with “a graph, a schema, and a bit of a taxonomy.” (15 min)
https://ontologist.substack.com/p/context-graphs-data-traces-and-transcripts
Claude Code and what comes next
With the right tools, AI can accomplish impressive things
With a single prompt, Ethan Mollick asked Claude Code to create an idea for a new business with a working website where you could purchase the product — it took a little over an hour. (Link provided with actual purchase function turned off).
This is an easy, non-technical read that illustrates current AI coding capabilities. (10 min)
https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/claude-code-and-what-comes-next
More Reading
- Oversight Assistants: Turning compute into understanding via Bounded Regret
- Lots of great data… Global sector trends on Generative AI (PDF) via similarweb
- The year of Ontology via Tony Seale
- Nvidia’s path to the AI-native chip via Runtime
Content Technology News
Microsoft announces agentic AI capabilities for retail
Built for the full retail value chain, Microsoft’s agentic AI streamlines workflows to accelerate decisions by augmenting human expertise across the enterprise.
https://news.microsoft.com/source/2026/01/08/microsoft-propels-retail-forward-with-agentic-ai-capabilities-that-power-intelligent-automation-for-every-retail-function/
Snowflake to acquire Observe
Observe’s observability platform will integrate directly into Snowflake to allow enterprises to ingest and retain all their telemetry data at lower cost.
https://www.snowflake.com/en/news/press-releases/snowflake-announces-intent-to-acquire-observe-to-deliver-ai-powered-observability-at-enterprise-scale/
WP Engine acquires Big Bite
Strategic acquisition of a go-to partner for global publishers adds media industry and technical expertise to provide new solutions to enterprise customers.
https://wpengine.com/blog/wp-engine-acquires-big-bite/
Squirro announces Squirro Release 3.14.4
Squirro Release 3.14.4 introduces new capabilities designed to close the gap between structured enterprise knowledge and ad-hoc user workflows.
https://squirro.com/news-and-events/new-release-december-2025-enhanced-chat-multimodal-reasoning
The Gilbane Advisor is authored by Frank Gilbane and is ad-free, cost-free, and curated for content, computing, data, web, and digital experience technology and information professionals. We publish recommended articles and content technology news most Wednesdays. We do not sell or share personal data.
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