Harnessing AI with NVIDIA: A Professional's Perspective

I sat at a communal table with two colleagues on the lush grounds of the NVIDIA corporate campus, each of us enjoying lunch from one of their chef-curated culinary stations. Warm sun on our shoulders, we were mid agenda on the first day of our two-day AI training.

“We are sitting among the smartest minds in the world,” I said between bites. My colleagues quickly thanked me for celebrating their respective brain power before each of us laughed uproariously—our end of the table probably dropped the average NVIDIA corporate IQ by 20 points.

Much has been written about the storied career of founder and CEO Jensen Huang and NVIDIA’s evolution from gaming innovator to a driving force of all things AI. A darling of Wall Street, both a harbinger of what is and what is possible in this field of study, so much has been written about NVIDIA that anything I might say about the two days on their corporate campus seems reductive.

CRN Channel Chief, Craig Weinstein, NIVDIA’s Vice President America’s Partners Organization, opened our session by acknowledging the tenure in our group, reminding us of our shared experiences as IT professionals. He suggested that this training would be unlike anything we’ve experienced prior, and he was right. Led by their incredible team Stacey Lynar, Sr. Global Sales Enablement Manager; Rupali Deshpandi, AI Learning Specialist; and Dr. Sepi Seifzadeh, the training made me feel as though parts of my brain were building new neural pathways, replacing the parts that I reserve strictly for coffee. I returned to my hotel room each night, unable to do more than work on a sleep score of 99.

A score of 99 is NOT what I scored on the final NVIDIA exam, though the act of passing felt extraordinary. I proudly hold my AI Advisor sales certification from NVIDIA. Our channel team, John Fahmy, Sr. Partner Business Manager, and Michael Stys, Sr. Manager, Channels, had equipped us well with course requirements and pre-work that ensured our team of 26 was prepared.

It was once believed that humans only used 10% of our brains, an idea rooted in bogus science, now thoroughly de-bunked by better research and a deeper understanding of human neural networks. We use the totality of our brains, each part responsible for our thoughts and decisions, memories and emotions, movement, balance and coordination, perception of sensations, breathing, heartrate and sleep, organ function and language. Artificial neural networks built on data center-scale AI solutions use incredible compute power to harness information and data in ways that weren’t possible before, ways that the human brain can’t access on its own.

Cynics will say that the machines are coming to get us and point toward a dystopian future, but I’m taking a more optimistic point of view: responsible use of AI deployed by responsible humans. I’m encouraging my friends who have rising juniors and seniors in high school to pursue STEM careers with dual majors in liberal arts fields, pairing data scientist, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and engineering majors with linguistics, anthropology, psychology, sociology, English, and history degrees. We’re all going to need this pairing between oft-called “touchy-feely” majors alongside those that have STEM rigor.

As Connection’s Director of Healthcare, I’m often asked whether we’ll cure cancer in my lifetime. I’m not a doctor, and I defer to those who have selflessly dedicated their careers to the research and treatment of a disease that globally claims 10 million lives every year. I don’t know if we’ll cure cancer in my lifetime, but the computational power available to us, leveraged against decades of research, will bring us closer to better treatments that could include new drugs with fewer side effects. Whether we cure cancer or find ways to live quality lives with cancer because of new discoveries, I’m confident that artificial intelligence will play a role. We’ll need doctors and researchers, together with data scientists, to steward clinical and ethical efficacy.

In a field considered shiny and new by many, at the CNXN Helix Center for Applied AI and Robotics, we harness the unparalleled potential of advanced AI to craft tailored, efficient, and cost-effective solutions that drive our clients’ success. By converging the brightest minds in AI, we demystify the intricate landscape of artificial intelligence, guiding healthcare organizations through our vertical expertise and ensuring a seamless transition into the AI era. Our offerings include AI advisory services, AI skills development, data orchestration, infrastructure design and optimization, modeling, training and inference, kinetic bridging, machine learning operations (MLOps), and support management.

Connection’s healthcare practice brings maturity to the space as well: industry-leading partnerships, membership in the best healthcare IT consortia, and a deep understanding of the critical challenges facing payers, providers, and pharmaceutical and life-science organizations. With more than 20 years of healthcare industry experience and a team of healthcare-focused sales professionals, we’re an extension of partners like NVIDIA, helping our clients design, implement, and manage these highly technical solutions.

The time at NVIDIA, though brief, ignited my imagination in ways that few things have from a technology standpoint in years. I glimpsed a future where our healthcare providers have the data and insights that will allow them to serve their patients’ healthcare needs in new and curative ways.

To learn more about the work we are doing in the AI space, explore our AI Solutions and Services Healthcare Solutions and Services and check out the additional resources below:

Jennifer Johnson

Jennifer Johnson, Director Healthcare Strategy and Business Development, joined Connection in 2010 starting in field sales and joined the healthcare practice in 2015. Jennifer has more than 20 years in IT, including prior roles in distribution and manufacturing. Jennifer holds her Certified Digital Health Leader designation from the CHIME organization and is a member of HIMSS, where Connection is a diamond sponsor. Jen was named CRN Women of the Channel in 2023 and 2024 and holds certifications from NVIDIA (AI Advisor- Sales) and Dell Technologies (AI Champion- Partner Sales).

Harnessing AI with NVIDIA: A Professional’s Perspective

Jennifer Johnson