The collaboration between Dell Technologies Inc. and Taboola.com Ltd. underscores the growing importance of artificial intelligence technology in enabling businesses to leverage data-driven solutions at scale.

By combining Dell’s expertise in server infrastructure with Taboola’s AI-driven content recommendations, the partnership showcases the potential of on-premises AI infrastructure to handle massive data processing and deliver personalized experiences.

“We provide approximately 4 billion webpages a day,” said Ariel Pisetzky (pictured, right), vice president of information technology at Taboola.com Ltd. “We see about 1.5 billion unique users a month. And we do all of that powered on Dell servers. So, we have about 12,000 Dell servers. And for each and every customer, for each and every user that comes to our website or comes to a publisher website, we provide personalized content to do that personalized content.”

Pisetzky and Jonathan Seckler (left), head of server and solution product marketing at Dell Technologies, spoke with theCUBE industry analyst Dave Vellante and Lisa Martin at Dell Technologies World, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the significance of data strategy in AI implementation, Dell Technologies’ commitment to refining its AI portfolio and the company’s role in driving innovation and supporting organizations on their AI journeys. (* Disclosure below.)

The importance of data strategy in AI implementation

Dell Technologies World 2023 in Las Vegas gathered the brightest minds in the technology industry, and one of the prominent discussions revolved around the intersection of AI and data management. The interview with Seckler and Pisetzky sheds light on how Dell servers power Taboola’s AI-driven content recommendation platform and the significance of data strategy in AI implementation.

Taboola leverages AI, including inferencing at the edge and deep learning at the backend, to provide personalized content and the best user experience. The company infers everything in real time without requiring user login or personal information, ensuring a blank slate approach.

When asked why Taboola chose to deploy its AI infrastructure on-premises rather than in the cloud, Pisetzky highlighted the cost-effectiveness and performance benefits. Operating AI and machine learning in the cloud can be expensive, and the total cost of operations is significantly lower when using Dell servers and proprietary IT systems. Seckler emphasized Dell’s extensive experience in supporting AI infrastructure, citing its collaboration with Taboola over several years and the evolution of validated designs for artificial intelligence.

“The short answer, it’s easy, it works, it’s reliable,” Pisetzky said of working with Dell. “And then we can go into a much longer answer of our transition from other vendors into really being a Dell shop through and through because we wanted to have that one-stop shop for support for the management of the servers themselves, for the security, making sure that we’re secure from the chip set to the firmware to the software that we place on the servers.”

Dell’s servers have been optimized to handle high-performance computing and heat management efficiently. By enhancing server airflow, the company enables running servers at higher temperatures while maintaining performance. This capability is crucial, considering that computers generate heat when processing mathematical operations, which is inherent in AI applications. Dell’s expertise in managing heat and airflow contributes to the successful deployment of AI infrastructure, according to Seckler.

Taboola’s AI-driven content recommendation platform

Taboola’s AI stack is highly scalable, which currently runs over half a million cores across thousands of servers. The company leverages Dell servers and Ethernet connectivity, utilizing 25-gigabit networking for optimal performance. The potential shift to 100-gigabit networking in the future as CPU capabilities increase and costs decrease is a possibility.

Dell has also benefited from working with Taboola’s massive deployment. It has been able to refine its support services, offering global support, AI expertise and configuration assistance to customers. The future of AI lies in unique models and tools tailored to each enterprise’s specific needs, rather than relying solely on generalized AI frameworks, according to Seckler.

“We’ve been working with Taboola on their deployments in Israel, but also all across the world,” Seckler said. “And it has really spurred the need to really understand, you know, from a customer standpoint or a support standpoint, being able to deliver that global support no matter where Taboola is.”

The collaboration between Dell and Taboola demonstrates the value of on-premises AI infrastructure, leveraging Dell’s expertise in optimizing server performance, managing heat and providing scalable networking solutions. As AI continues to evolve, Dell remains committed to refining its AI portfolio and support services based on customer learnings. The company understands the importance of tailoring AI models and tools to meet the specific needs of each enterprise, empowering them to achieve optimal performance and efficiency.

During the interview, both companies highlighted the vital role of data strategy in AI implementation. Taboola’s success hinges on its ability to process vast amounts of data and leverage it for tasks like natural language understanding. The need for robust data management and ingestion strategies becomes even more apparent as AI expands its capabilities and operates across multiple languages.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Dell Technologies World:

(* Disclosure: Dell Technologies Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Dell nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE