One of the core themes during Google Cloud Next 2024 was ecosystems. It was clear to analysts from theCUBE Research that AI is accelerating the velocity of some of the partnerships and the collaborative plays on the floor at Google Cloud Next.

That rings true for Kyndryl Inc. Such collaborations have become a new fuel, according to Barry Becker (pictured), senior vice president and general manager of the U.S. strategic alliances market at Kyndryl.

“The collaborations with partners, the clients expect us to show up together, to show up well-informed, integrated, having that point of view,” Becker said. “The velocity that we have to move at, we have to do it as a community. We have to drive that collaboration. As I walk around here at Google Next, the amount of relationships is apparent, the amount of collaboration is infectious.”

Becker spoke with theCUBE Research analysts Rebecca Knight, Savannah Peterson and John Furrier at Google Cloud Next 2024, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the transformative impact of AI on business partnerships and the critical role of data governance in unlocking the potential of AI-driven strategies. (* Disclosure below.)

Data viewed as crucial en route to the next chapter

Ecosystem partnerships are critical in today’s multivendor and multicloud world, as the enterprise must build a new bridge to the future and then cross it. In that world, organizations have to show up in front of their board of directors and explain their AI and data strategy, according to Becker.

“A lot of what we’re doing is really compelling in terms of not only the collaboration that we’re doing with them, the co-creation, the co-innovation association with it, but having that informed point of view,” he said. “A lot of our clients have said, ‘I’ve made a large investment. I don’t know if this moving to cloud journey has given me the full ROI associated with it.’”

Those clients are challenging Kyndryl to work with multiple parties — including extended ecosystems, platform providers, hardware providers and software providers — and then come forward with what the transformational strategy is, according to Becker.

“In the area of AI, it’s all about the data, and that’s someplace we’ve been very relevant,” he said. “Data protection, data democratization, data privacy, data sovereignty and helping them understand how to harness that as they move into this next chapter.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE Research’s coverage of Google Cloud Next 2024:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Google Cloud Next 2024. Neither Google LLC, the primary sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE