On-prem gen AI gains momentum as enterprises shift from POC to production – News

Organizations are rethinking their AI strategies as the limits of cloud-only approaches come into focus. On-prem gen AI is emerging as a pragmatic counterweight — delivering advanced models with the control, security and high-performance computing needed for production-grade work, all without relying on external cloud dependencies.

Dell is leaning into that shift. Its AI Factory gives enterprises a centralized path to build and deploy gen AI without starting from scratch, streamlining infrastructure choices, supporting open-source models and removing the friction that slows down early adoption, according to Mindy Cancila (pictured), vice president of corporate strategy at Dell Technologies Inc.

“We already have 3,000 customers today using the AI Factory that are already getting benefit out of those use cases,” Cancila said. “They’re in POC. They’re moving into production. When I think about the most strategic thing on the Dell side is we’ve always said data’s a differentiator. Generative AI loves data. One of the stats out of our survey said 84% of organizations are looking to do generative AI on prem.”

Cancila spoke with theCUBE’s John Furrier at theCUBE + NYSE Wired: AI Factories – Data Centers of the Future event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, News Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the critical role of on-prem gen AI and how Dell is accelerating its adoption. 

Why on-prem gen AI is becoming the enterprise standard

As enterprises increasingly focus on cost savings and revenue growth, on-prem gen AI delivers the ideal balance of power, control and customization. It provides a secure, scalable foundation for building private, high-performance AI ecosystems — especially for organizations managing sensitive data or heavy workloads, according to Cancila.

“Every conversation I have continues to be deep in AI,” she said. “How am I going to make sure that I have the right environment so that I can really drive that productivity and revenue generation? Fifty-eight pecent expect to transition generative AI use cases from proof of concept to production. As we think about that, I think it is an interesting statistic.”

Agentic AI is a rising priority for organizations because it doesn’t just generate insights — it takes action. By autonomously executing tasks, orchestrating complex workflows and delivering measurable outcomes, it becomes a true workforce multiplier and a strategic growth engine for modern enterprises, Cancila pointed out.

“We’re seeing 68% of organizations already think they’re mature and agentic,” she said. “It’s gone from buzzword to media implementation. That prediction could not have been more correct. Not only that, 76% of those organizations expect to move their agentic workflows from POC into production this year. The aggregate of that and what it means for businesses across the board, every organization is really focused on the right set of use cases that are going to move from ROI into generating revenue.” 

AI can transform businesses, but unplanned investments risk wasted resources and low adoption. Prioritizing mission-critical use cases — those that boost revenue, cut costs or enhance customer experience — maximizes ROI. Dell supports this approach with a robust ecosystem, offering high-performance compute and networking solutions to deploy AI efficiently and securely in critical environments, according to Cancila.

“We think about classical segmentation of customers across the AI workloads,” she said. “Their footprint from an infrastructure perspective looks radically different. Today, Dell is supporting the bulk of a lot of those AI workloads that are being driven by those that are standing up training in GPU as a service. Those training the model providers, that’s a critical foothold because it allows us to understand the infrastructure they need, the scale, their requirements, their talent.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of News’s and theCUBE’s coverage of theCUBE + NYSE Wired: AI Factories – Data Centers of the Future event: 

Photo: News