About this book:

In "Compute Wars: Inside the 2025 AI Gold Rush—and the Playbook for Building Amid GPU, Power, and Data Bottlenecks," the author argues that 2025 marks a pivotal compute inflection point in artificial intelligence. Beyond mere algorithmic advancements, the true battleground for AI dominance lies in securing, deploying, and scaling AI systems amidst acute resource constraints. The book meticulously details these bottlenecks: the chronic scarcity and rising cost of GPUs, the escalating energy demands straining datacenters and power grids, and the complex challenges of acquiring, curating, and licensing high-quality data. It emphasizes that success in this new era requires disciplined execution, strategic resource management, and a shift from speculative hype to measurable outcomes, providing a comprehensive playbook for navigating these critical constraints.

This indispensable guide empowers founders, product leaders, technical executives, and investors to build durable AI products and secure competitive advantage. It systematically breaks down the modern AI stack, from optimizing unit economics and managing complex supply chains to navigating intricate IP and licensing landscapes. Chapters delve into crucial strategies such as effective model selection (open vs. closed), the increasing importance of on-device and edge AI, and the rigorous processes required for enterprise AI adoption, especially in highly regulated domains like healthcare and finance. With actionable templates, checklists, and scorecards, "Compute Wars" offers practical, evidence-based guidance for every stage of the AI lifecycle, ensuring your initiatives not only launch but thrive.

"Compute Wars" goes beyond technical deep dives, offering critical insights into the human and organizational elements of AI success. It addresses the vital shift from artisanal prompting to disciplined prompt engineering, the complexities of orchestrating reliable multi-step AI agents and workflows, and the evolving threats of AI security. Moreover, it provides a roadmap for building high-performing AI teams, aligning incentives, and adapting to the dynamic geopolitical landscape that impacts global compute access. By analyzing real-world case studies of wins, misses, and turnarounds from 2023-2025, and sketching plausible scenarios for 2026-2030, this book offers a pragmatic 90-day plan to convert knowledge into immediate, tangible progress, making it an essential resource for anyone aiming to win the AI gold rush.

What You'll Find Inside:

• **Navigating Resource Bottlenecks:** Understand how to secure and optimize scarce resources like GPUs, energy, and high-quality data in a highly competitive AI landscape.
• **Strategic AI Model Selection:** Learn the critical trade-offs between open-source and closed-source AI models, considering cost, control, compliance, and intellectual property implications.
• **Building for Durable Moats:** Discover how to move beyond basic demos to create AI products with sustainable competitive advantages, focusing on proprietary data, workflow ownership, and deep integrations.
• **Enterprise AI Adoption & Security:** Master the complexities of shipping AI in enterprise and regulated domains, addressing procurement hurdles, stringent security requirements, and proving measurable ROI.
• **Operationalizing AI with Modern Stacks:** Explore the evolving AI technology stack, including Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), memory, tool use, and comprehensive observability for reliable, scalable AI systems.

Who's It For:

This book is essential for founders, product leaders, technical executives, and investors operating in or entering the artificial intelligence sector. It provides a practical playbook for navigating the critical resource constraints, strategic decisions, and operational challenges inherent in building and scaling AI solutions in the competitive landscape of 2025 and beyond. Anyone looking to move AI initiatives from experimental pilots to durable, profitable products will find invaluable guidance.