NetApp’s vision for enterprise AI readiness at scale – News

Modern AI models demand massive, fast-moving datasets, and that pressure is exposing limits in existing infrastructure, especially for companies pursuing enterprise AI readiness across hybrid and multicloud environments.

NetApp Inc. is sharpening its focus on enterprise AI readiness with a platform strategy built for speed, security and data-centric operations, according to Rob Strechay, managing director at theCUBE Research. The company’s Intelligent Data Infrastructure supports many of the world’s largest cloud platforms and is designed to meet the performance demands of today’s artificial intelligence-driven environments.

“We see NetApp aiming to redefine what’s possible at the intersection of AI, data and cloud by delivering a unified, intelligent infrastructure that simplifies complexity and secures data everywhere it lives,” Strechay said. “We expect more announcements covering the innovation that brings AI to the data, not the other way around — unlocking faster decisions, better outcomes and seamless operations across hybrid and multicloud environments.”

That vision will take center stage during NetApp’s “Architecting Outcomes in the Era of Intelligence” event on May 13. TheCUBE, News Media’s livestreaming studio, will welcome data platform specialists, cybersecurity architects and cloud strategists to examine how intelligent infrastructure is evolving to support enterprise AI readiness amid growing complexity and risk. With AI model complexity surging and threat vectors expanding, the event is set to explore technical strategies for scalable performance, built-in cyber resilience and next-generation data management. (* Disclosure below.)

Data-layer defense and enterprise AI readiness: A new blueprint for trust

The rising tide of AI-enhanced cyberattacks prompts enterprise security leaders to rethink where and how they harden defenses. NetApp is responding with new capabilities that embed protection directly into the storage layer, where data resides and breaches can be the most devastating. The company’s expanded BlueXP platform adds ransomware-specific role-based access controls and extends protection to native cloud workloads. NetApp has introduced backup and recovery enhancements for Microsoft SQL Server, VMware and Kubernetes environments, alongside post-quantum cryptography for file and block storage.

“Backup and recovery is an important part of security at the storage layer, but NetApp’s comprehensive security capabilities expand the role of primary storage with built-in automated ransomware detection and response that enable customers to take a proactive approach to keep their data secure,” Gagan Gulati, senior vice president and general manager of data services at NetApp, said in a recent release. “With built-in security capabilities that secure our customers’ data on any workload, anywhere, NetApp has made storage as critical to a sound cybersecurity strategy as perimeter and endpoint security tools.”

These developments lay the foundation for enterprise AI readiness by prioritizing resilience, scalability and data-layer trust. As enterprises expand AI across their environments, NetApp’s investments in storage-layer defense signal a broader commitment to building confidence in data-driven systems. That balance between protection and progress is expected to shape key discussions at the event.

NetApp is reinforcing a message it has carried all along: The real challenge lies in aligning infrastructure and data. Chief Executive Officer George Kurian continues to emphasize the need to simplify data management so AI efforts can move beyond experimentation and deliver business impact. That focus on unifying infrastructure and intelligence is expected to underscore some of the technical discussions unfolding during the event.

“AI has been implemented as a silo from an infrastructure, data and process perspective, which is why so many of the AI projects never make it to production,” Kurian told theCUBE during a recent interview. “The algorithms are only as good as the data that you feed them, so it’s super important that you have a really good data strategy and a data management approach that helps the algorithms understand your business better so that you can use [them] to drive business advantage.”

Kurian advocates for an inclusive model of AI innovation that depends on data access and shared data and platform standards. That perspective continues to shape how NetApp approaches solution development and partnership strategy, and Kurian doesn’t mince words about the need for broader inclusion.

“We believe that for AI to have the transformative impact that people talk about today, it can’t just be the largest organizations, but it has to be every organization, whether it’s educational institutions — whether it’s governments, whether it’s underdeveloped countries, all of them have to be able to access,” Kurian said.

TheCUBE event livestream

Don’t miss theCUBE’s coverage of NetApp’s “Architecting Outcomes in the Era of Intelligence” event on May 13. Plus, you can watch theCUBE’s event coverage on-demand after the live event.

How to watch theCUBE interviews

We offer you various ways to watch theCUBE’s coverage of NetApp’s “Architecting Outcomes in the Era of Intelligence” event, including theCUBE’s dedicated website and YouTube channel. You can also get all the coverage from this year’s events on  News.

TheCUBE Insights podcast

News also has podcasts available of archived interview sessions, available on iTunes, Stitcher and Spotify, which you can enjoy while on the go.

News also has analyst deep dives in our Breaking Analysis podcast, available on iTunes, Stitcher and Spotify.

Guests

During NetApp’s “Architecting Outcomes in the Era of Intelligence” event, theCUBE analysts will talk with data platform specialists, cybersecurity architects and infrastructure thought leaders from NetApp and its ecosystem partners to examine how intelligent infrastructure is evolving to meet the AI moment.

(* 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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