AI and cloud technologies will converge to enable AI-driven DevOps and MLOps practices: Dell Technologies

As India accelerates its digital transformation journey, the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing is emerging as a pivotal force reshaping the business landscape. In an exclusive interview, Srinivaschary T, Lead – Solution Architect at Dell Technologies India, shares his insights into the current global landscape of AI and cloud computing adoption and their intersection. In an interaction with Amit Singh, he discusses how companies leverage the scalability and accessibility of cloud platforms to deploy AI solutions, the innovative services introduced by cloud providers, and Dell Technologies’ role in capturing this opportunity. From improved data management to cutting-edge AI services, Srinivaschary T provides a comprehensive overview of how AI-powered cloud solutions are driving innovation and unlocking new opportunities for growth across various industries in India.

Amit Singh: Can you share insights into the current global landscape of AI and cloud computing adoption and their intersection?

Srinivaschary T: The intersection of AI and cloud computing has been deepening as companies want to leverage the scalability and accessibility of cloud platforms to deploy AI solutions. Cloud providers have since introduced AI-specific services such as machine learning (ML) platforms, AI model hosting, and AI training tools, making it easier for businesses to integrate AI into their workflows without needing extensive in-house expertise. From cloud-native interoperability to innovative database technologies and infrastructure solutions, businesses are on the lookout for delivering efficient data management options. Service providers like Dell Technologies have moved ahead to capture this opportunity and introduce services that help to unlock the capabilities of multi-cloud design and AI seamlessly with the convenience of customized platforms.

Dell Technologies in particular has launched data management solutions that simplify locating, accessing, and processing data across environments. To enable streamlined integration of AI and cloud computing, our solutions allow quicker access to data to speed model tuning and business outcomes so that a business can leverage a turnkey experience that simplifies purchase, deployment, and lifecycle management.

Amit: How do you see AI transforming cloud services in India? What are the elements of cloud services that AI is transforming?

Srinivaschary: According to the Dell Technologies Innovation Catalyst research, only 26% of Indian businesses said they are well-established with GenAI tools. 61% of businesses currently require GenAl-ready devices with computing, memory, and storage to handle heavy Al development and deployment. In India, only 29% of organizations have a multi-cloud infrastructure.

This situation needs to transform for the better especially if Indian businesses want to progress in the future of work. The integration of AI and cloud holds promise in a market like India where competitive speed and data-to-market processes help in gaining competitive advantage. Algorithms driven by AI in cloud computing drive cloud data storage, making analysis more effective. Businesses can use machine learning models to extract actionable insights from existing information repositories. In the forthcoming era of AI algorithms deployed via cloud services, the capability to anticipate future trends and outcomes by analyzing past data patterns will be heightened. This advancement has empowered advanced analytics and predictive modeling functionalities. Alongside the growth of cloud-based AI, edge computing and edge AI has gained traction. Edge computing is also growing to process data closer to the source of generation, reducing latency and bandwidth usage. Edge AI will let AI inference be performed on edge devices, such as IoT devices, enabling real-time decision-making and autonomous functionality without relying solely on cloud connectivity.

Amit: What unique opportunities or challenges do AI-powered cloud services present for industries in India? Srinivaschary: AI-powered cloud providers offer specialized services that enable developers to easily integrate AI and ML capabilities into their applications. This democratization of advanced technologies empowers businesses to harness the potential of data-driven insights, automation, and intelligent decision-making, fostering innovation across diverse sectors. Successful adoption of Cloud Computing empowers organizations to innovate, improve customer experiences, and optimize operations without compromising performance and security.

However, executing this adoption successfully requires careful planning, preparation, and continuous review of strategies. According to the recent Innovation Catalyst Research, 89% of the organizations in India face challenges when building a cloud strategy to support innovation. Businesses should partner with experts who understand their transformation vision and possess the expertise to guide them through their journey of transformation. It is crucial to ensure a robust multi-cloud solution that offers flexibility, scalability, and seamless deployment of emerging technologies like AI/ML. Businesses must proactively manage inefficiencies and regularly review their strategies to stay ahead of the innovation curve.

Amit: What factors are driving or hindering the adoption of AI-powered cloud services in India’s business landscape?

Srinivaschary: The lack of AI skills and confidence in AI as an enterprise technology is one of the key factors hindering its integration with the cloud as a platform. According to the findings of the Dell Technologies Innovation Catalyst research, while 95% of Indian respondents believe AI and GenAI will significantly transform their industry, 89% of organizations have employees facing challenges with driving innovation and a similar

percentage of businesses face challenges when building a multi-cloud strategy to support innovation.

Organizations with existing legacy systems and on-premises infrastructure may encounter difficulties integrating AI-powered cloud services into their existing IT environments.

In India, 55% of organizations are unable to currently turn data into real-time insights, according to the findings of the Dell Technologies Innovation Catalyst research.

Data privacy can also arise as a concern against AI powering cloud infrastructure. Organizations may be hesitant to migrate sensitive data and workloads to the cloud due to concerns about data privacy, security breaches, and regulatory compliance. According to the Dell Technologies Innovation Catalyst research, 73% of businesses fear Generative AI will introduce new security and privacy challenges. Ensuring robust data encryption, access controls, and compliance with industry regulations is crucial for addressing these concerns.

To drive the adoption of AI-powered cloud technology, businesses need to recognize the potential of AI in driving innovation. It can enhance operational efficiency, and help gain a competitive edge in the market. Adopting AI-powered cloud services will allow organizations to experiment with new AI-driven capabilities and quickly bring innovative products and services to market. The proliferation of data sources and the increasing connectivity of devices and systems generate vast amounts of data that can be leveraged for AI-driven insights and decision-making

Amit: Could you share detailed examples illustrating AI-powered cloud solutions’ practical applications and benefits in various industries?

Srinivaschary: AI and cloud computing adoption have a lot of potential in key sectors like healthcare, finance, manufacturing, retail, and transportation leading the way in implementing AI-driven solutions tailored to their specific needs and challenges. As more organizations adopt hybrid and multi-cloud strategies to maximize flexibility, cost-efficiency, and resilience, they can choose the best cloud services for their specific AI workloads and easily scale resources as needed.

The convergence of AI and cloud computing is reshaping industries, revolutionizing businesses, and opening up a world of possibilities. For instance, in the healthcare space, AI algorithms deployed on cloud platforms can analyze medical images such as X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans making diagnoses more accurate. This can lead to earlier detection of diseases like cancer and improved patient outcomes. Financial institutions leverage AI algorithms on cloud platforms to analyze vast amounts of transactional data in real time and identify suspicious patterns indicative of fraudulent activities. By detecting and preventing fraud more effectively, banks and financial services firms can safeguard their customers’ assets and maintain trust in the financial system. In the larger business domain, harnessing the benefits of cloud-based AI has become pivotal, reshaping how businesses operate. Among these advantages, cost savings are a beacon of efficiency, spearheaded by including AI in cloud computing. So, consider a manufacturing industry striving to streamline regular operations. By adopting AI cloud solutions, they can optimize their resource allocation through real-time analytics, ensuring that machinery operates at peak efficiency, and minimizing downtime.

Such use cases help demonstrate how AI-powered cloud solutions can drive tangible benefits across diverse industries by enabling advanced analytics, automation, and optimization of key processes and workflows.

Amit: How do you anticipate AI and cloud technologies evolving and converging to drive further innovation and disruption across industries?

Srinivaschary: The initial proof of concepts for edge AI will evolve into tangible improvements across the manufacturing, retail, healthcare, and transportation sectors. Customers will develop and deploy specialized models tailored to their specific domains, fields of study, and processes. Organizations need to leverage their data for training and refining new models, performing inference at the point of data generation. With an increasing number of resources moving to the network’s edge, computation, and data storage will become more prevalent.

Organizations will increasingly adopt multi-cloud and hybrid cloud strategies for AI deployments, leveraging multiple cloud providers and on-premises infrastructure to maximize flexibility, resilience, and cost-efficiency. Interoperability standards and open-source frameworks will facilitate seamless integration and portability of AI workloads across heterogeneous cloud environments. AI and cloud technologies will converge to enable AI-driven DevOps and MLOps practices, facilitating the end-to-end lifecycle management of AI applications from development to deployment and monitoring. Cloud-native tools and platforms will incorporate AI capabilities to automate workloads.

The varied requirements of enterprises will drive the emergence of smaller, adaptable, and more effective language models. As AI becomes decentralized and algorithms evolve to accommodate smaller models and datasets, the demand for appropriately sized, energy-efficient infrastructure grows in significance.

Dell Technologies is well-positioned to understand customer requirements and provide consulting services to build robust multi-cloud strategies for accelerated digital transformation. It is also fully prepared to provide customers with AI solutions and expertise that unlock the power of AI, automate intelligent decisions, and help define their paths to the future.