VMware Inc., a leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, has been at the forefront of technological innovations for more than two decades.

Its historic run in shaping the technology landscape has been marked by bold pivots, remarkable resilience and an unwavering commitment to community and tech-savvy solutions. As the company enters a new era under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Raghu Raghuram (pictured), it’s eyeing an artificial intelligence-driven future, with a focus on solving the multicloud challenges that enterprises face today.

“Our multicloud phenomenon … did not just come out of the woodwork, right?” Raghuram said. “We saw this multi-cloud phenomenon fairly early. And then with AI, we are seeing the exact same thing.”

Raghuram spoke with theCUBE industry analysts John Furrier and Dave Vellante at VMware Explore 2023, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. In an exclusive interview, Raghuram shed light on VMware’s vision, its approach to AI, the significance of the multicloud phenomenon and the Broadcom Inc. planned acquisition. (* Disclosure below.)

A multicloud and AI vision

The integration of cloud technology with traditional on-premises solutions has given rise to a host of problems that many enterprises are grappling with. Raghuram highlighted the unique perspective that VMware brings to the table.

“We always look at two extremes,” he said. “One is what are the engineers geeking out about? The second is what are the customers trying to do but they’re not getting done?”

By understanding this early shift, VMware has positioned itself as a solver of problems. There’s a huge need to think differently about data and compute, Raghuram added.

“You’ve got to be thinking about how do I bring the compute and the model to the data, not the other way around all the time,” he said. “That’s a multicloud problem; that is exactly how we came about it.”

AI has emerged as a tailwind for VMware, allowing the company to accelerate its already robust company strategy. Also important in this equation is GPUs, networking technology, storage technology and the overall system’s cost in building an AI infrastructure, according to Raghuram.

“That’s where we excel, and that’s where we save people a ton of money, because we found better ways to do all of those things,” he said.

The AI-native apps revolution and the pace of innovation

VMware’s vision extends beyond infrastructure to the application market. With AI at its core, Raghuram expects a revolution in enterprise applications, comparing AI’s role to that of a database.

“Every application in a business is going to use some part of what makes the company unique, which is their IP,” he said. “That’s why we see this pattern being repeated over and over again.”

Raghuram further elaborated on how AI-native apps will evolve, saying, “What is the AI at the end of the day? What are we trying to do? It is distilling the core company’s IP on top of which you build a business process or a customer interaction, et cetera.”

The pace of innovation in the cloud space is breathtaking, but it’s not without challenges. Issues of compliance, legal actions and IP leakage can pose significant hurdles. Raghuram acknowledged these concerns and highlighted VMware’s approach.

“We are not serving the consumer and the enterprise; we are focused only on the enterprise,” he said. “We are not going to have a solution that doesn’t pass muster with our legal team.”

The Broadcom acquisition and the future

The conversation concluded with discussion surrounding the planned Broadcom acquisition of VMware. What does the company’s future direction look like after the acquisition?

“I’m super optimistic,” Raghuram said. “In personal conversations, [Broadcom CEO Hock Tan] would tell you … he is very committed to continuing the tradition of engineering excellence and engineering innovation.”

The combination of an engineering approach and the increased availability of R&D investment is promising, he added.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of VMware Explore 2023:

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

Photo: SiliconANGLE