Data observability at the forefront of Dynatrace’s OpenTelemetry project

Adopting generative artificial intelligence in a secure way can be a difficult journey for many customers, with data observability being a crucial factor in monitoring AI models.

Dynatrace LLC has deep roots in data observability, driving AI advancements with its OpenTelemetry (OTel) observability project and Davis CoPilot, an AI engine for increasing productivity. However, gen AI is not an all-in-one solution, according to Michael Winkler (pictured), senior director of product management at Dynatrace.

“[Gen AI]’s not this magic tool that you have and it does all the work for you,” he said. “It’s a productivity boost. There was a discussion a few weeks back also from Google that said 25% of their code is already generated by AI, but a lot of it is around auto-completing methods … this is what we see ourselves, as well, as we apply Davis CoPilot, how customers use it. It’s a productivity boost. It’s not this magic thing that solves everything for you, but it makes you smarter and more productive.”

Winkler spoke with theCUBE Research’s Savannah Peterson and Rob Strechay at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, News Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed data observability, why security is making a comeback and Dynatrace’s AI strategy. (* Disclosure below.)

Merging security and data observability

With OTel, Dynatrace aims to enable all of its customers to track and secure their data. The tool provides automatic insights on user data which can be especially useful for managing AI models.

“We try to make ingest[ion] of data into Dynatrace  as simple as possible,” Winkler said. “No one brings in data for the sake of bringing in data. Where we see the biggest advantage of the easy button of Dynatrace is that we provide answers and opinionated feedback automatically. Not everyone is a subject matter expert in observability, but they still need to understand what they see.”

Dynatrace’s Davis AI has a Kubernetes monitoring solution so that customers can receive alerts from Davis about warning events in their system. Winkler is heartened to see security make a comeback in the AI space. 

“I was in Chicago and Amsterdam [KubeCons], and if you looked at the taglines of the different vendors  and at the different booths, there was all AI and automation observability, but there was not so much security,” he said. “I hope or believe that maybe security is back because platform engineering makes it more easier to adopt. It’s not an afterthought. It’s not a different department.”

Dynatrace is confident that its long history in data observability will carry it through this period of AI adoption. A trustworthy stream of information is essential for maintaining a long relationship with customers, Winkler emphasized.

“We’ve been doing it for so long that our customers trust our Davis A,I because they know that we have a good root cause analysis,” he said. “They know that we can pinpoint what the problems really are.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of News’s and theCUBE Research’s coverage of KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA:

(* Disclosure: Dynatrace LLC sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Dynatrace nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or News.)

Photo: News