AI Disruption: Systems, Identity, and Search Threaten Growth

4 little bits of Tech, that you might find interesting…

Good morning and happy Tuesday. Welcome to issue 16 of The Tech Stop.

Exploring AI web crawlers, the Model Context Protocol, outdated software risks, and Google's 'AI Mode'!

1. AI-oriented web crawlers (especially GPTBot) are quickly becoming a dominant force in indexing content; many sites aren’t clearly indicating what’s allowed via robots.txt or using enforceable blockers, exposing content rights, privacy, and infrastructure risks. More.

   POV: Control which bots can crawl sites, or risk unauthorised content use, unplanned traffic, higher cost and potential legal/privacy exposure.

2. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) lets AI agents link to company systems so they can fetch data or act, but existing identity/authentication gaps let those agents hallucinate or access what they shouldn’t, undermining trust, increasing exposure, and stalling real deployment. More.

   POV: Ensure precise control over identity, permissions, and auditing, or risk data breaches, compliance violations, damaged reputation, and wasted investment.

3. Running outdated/legacy software that can’t support cloud or AI is massive technical debt that exposes security risks, slows innovation, inflates costs, and prevents leveraging AI-driven productivity gains – putting firms behind competitors who modernise. More.

   POV: Failing to modernise will cost far more through risk, missed opportunities, and inefficiency than the cost of upgrading.

4. Google is preparing to make its “AI Mode” the default search experience: instead of blue-link results, users may see AI answers first; traditional organic links may get buried, making it harder for websites to drive traffic. More.

   POV: Adapt, or online visibility, traffic, and customer acquisition via search could drop sharply, reducing leads, brand exposure, and revenue.

And just for fun… Play text adventure games, or build your own.

That’s all for now, see you in seven days 😀

find out more by emailing techstop@ctogap.uk