NetApp retools for company-wide, AI-driven innovation – News

A business comprises several operational cogs, from product to marketing, IT, sales and finance. And each of these have to function efficiently to drive the larger business forward. For NetApp Inc., a broad strategic overhaul is in play, retooling its product delivery and go-to-market approaches to suit its AI-driven ambitions better.

“We agree that we are here to find new ways to help our customers,” said Gabie Boko (pictured, right), chief marketing officer of NetApp. “But I think, most importantly, when you think about that, that all to me says that in this age of data that we’ve been living in, that especially NetApp has grown up in that cloud storage AI, and that we’re ready for all of it. I think that those kinds of principles are what we’re passionate about.”

Boko, alongside Dallas Olson Jr. (second from right), chief commercial officer of NetApp; Ashish Dhawan (second from left), senior vice president of cloud sales at NetApp; Srivatsan Vaiyakarnam (left), chief customer success officer at NetApp; and Gabriel Indalecio (middle), senior vice president of worldwide GTM operations at NetApp, spoke with theCUBE’s Rob Strechay at the “Architecting Outcomes in the Era of Intelligence” event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, News Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed NetApp retooling for a smarter, AI-driven future, rather than resting on its laurels. (* Disclosure below.)

NetApp recalibrates for AI-driven business differentiation

Despite being a 30-year veteran of Silicon Valley, NetApp seeks to stay agile, viewing its history not as baggage, but as a foundation for progress. At the heart of this evolution is a mission to make data more accessible and secure, wherever it resides. Whether in the cloud, on-premises or at the edge, NetApp wants to power a data-first future without compromising control or flexibility, Boko added.

“Innovation is what we do, innovation is who we are at our very core, and we do that against the data backdrop,” she said. “Where we’re going to innovate for our customers, for our partners, for the industry as a whole is going to be about making data accessible — secure access anywhere.”

AI aligns naturally with NetApp’s core strengths. With 85% of organizations’ data still on-premise, AI-driven initiatives often falter due to data missteps, according to Olson. NetApp’s value proposition lies in solving that challenge by offering robust data access, fortified security and strategic movement between platforms.

“If you look at the opportunity in the market, there are three areas in the market that we’re looking at,” he said. “One is data lakes. The second is that we’re looking at AI software development. And then the third is we’re looking at our AI factory capability. When I think about the three things that we’re best at, and I think about what these three opportunities in the market represent.”

However, AI-driven transformation must be operationalized through a strategic lens, according to Vaiyakarnam. By asking questions about competitive differentiation, the delivery of superior customer experiences and scalability, companies can assess their current states and future needs for AI.

“As our customers are trying to be very differentiated, they are using AI to understand their customers’ information so that they can be more personalized,” Vaiyakarnam said. “I think that’s why it’s a very fascinating world — how AI is transforming the way we look at data.”

Operational simplicity as a strategic defense

NetApp’s strategic ideology is fostering operational excellence through intensity and focus, according to Indalecio. Under his stewardship, the operational model has been reshaped to become a trusted business partner to sales, prioritizing real-time seller enablement.

“This fiscal year is going to be about simplification,” Indalecio said. “When you’re looking to the pros, they do one thing well, and I want to be sure that we write that level of professional focus for the operational excellence by simplifying. We want to unify the technology stack and ensure that the sellers have what they need at the right moment to be sure that they are present and they position it as the key player for the customer.”

By eliminating friction, NetApp gives sellers the data and tools they need precisely when and where they need them. The result is a streamlined process that helps representatives show up as solution-oriented partners to customers.

The parroted idea of a cloud-only future is unrealistic, according to Dhawan. NetApp’s reality is more nuanced: True hybridity. Customers want to move workloads, such as those running VMware or SAP, to the cloud, but not all workloads make sense to run off-premises. NetApp’s workload-first approach enables customers to shift dynamically between cloud and on-premises environments based on what delivers the most value.

“What’s most important to understand is that our customers are at different stages of cloud adoption,” Dhawan said. “Cloud adoption is always dependent on what workloads work best on the cloud or on-prem. We follow a very workload-led approach. If VMware is a workload that customers want to migrate to the cloud, we’ve got services with Azure, we’ve got services with AWS and Google Cloud that’ll help them migrate to the cloud.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of News’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the “Architecting Outcomes in the Era of Intelligence” event:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the “Architecting Outcomes in the Era of Intelligence” event. Neither NetApp Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or News.)

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