Featuring:
Michele Pelino, Principal Analyst and Naveen Chhabra, Principal Analyst
Show Notes:
Is technology infrastructure still a strategic differentiator in today’s AI-driven world? Or is it time to rethink infrastructure spending? This is one of the hottest debates in tech today. On this episode, Principal Analysts Michele Pelino and Naveen Chhabra share some intriguing insights and even a couple of predictions about the future of infrastructure.
The episode starts with Pelino and Chhabra discussing how rising AI aspirations have put infrastructure plans into the spotlight. Chhabra emphasizes that “the demand for AI hosting and thus AI infrastructure is simply growing,” but some aspirations are being slowed due to equipment shortages, ongoing challenges with supply chains, and even power supply concerns. How much are these trends impacting AI plans? Pelino points to one of Forrester’s 2025 predictions, which states that a major high-tech vendor will scale back its AI infrastructure investment by 25% this year.
The conversation also touches on the somewhat revived question of cloud vs. on-prem for IT infrastructure. Pelino says that growing concerns about cloud costs and security have spurred new interest in on-premises deployments, which can change infrastructure needs. But when the complications created by the Broadcom acquisition of VMware were added into the mix last year, the decision-making and planning got even more challenging. For example, Chhabra cites two real-world examples of firms that have already moved thousands of virtual machines out of their VMware stack and onto alternative options after Broadcom made changes to its licensing agreements.
Pelino also points out that unmet expectations from AI initiatives may soon lead to reduced investment in AI infrastructure as more executives lose patience around AI ROI. “When only 25% of decision-makers see measurable benefits, it’s natural for companies like Microsoft and Oracle to reassess overly ambitious plans,” she explains.
Later in the episode, the analysts discuss some of the latest trends in satellite technology and its role in an enterprise tech infrastructure plan. Pelino points out that satellites have a growing list of enterprise use cases and, as a result, she’s getting more requests from clients on how to build out a strategy for leveraging satellite technology.
The episode closes with each analyst providing their final thoughts on the future of infrastructure, particularly as it pertains to AI development, so be sure to stick around for that.