This week’s Dell Technologies World brought the intensity with AI workshops, product announcements and insightful keynotes.

A standout among those insights is the dual relationship between AI and networking — epitomized by Dell’s announcement of the XE9680 server class.

Wrapping up Dell Technologies World 2024 with theCUBE analysts.

“Getting up on main stage and having Dell talk about networking was huge for me to be able to hear that and great for the overall community,” said theCUBE Research principal analyst Bob Laliberte (pictured, right). “I think Dell did a great job of talking about how to get started with AI. They even have an accelerator workshop. If you’re not familiar with it, go ahead and talk to your rep about that. It’s free, and it’ll help get you started.”

Laliberte was joined by theCUBE Research executive analyst John Furrier (left) and industry analyst Savannah Peterson(middle) to wrap up coverage of Dell Technologies World, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed overarching AI themes from the show, including networking infrastructure, community development and ecosystem partnerships. (* Disclosure below.)

Networking and AI: A symbiotic relationship

Networking for AI focuses on the physical infrastructure necessary to support AI applications. As networking environments grow more complex and distributed, the need for comprehensive observability becomes paramount. This ensures end-to-end visibility and effective management, pivotal in today’s technologically advanced landscape, according to Laliberte.

“[I’m] looking at observability space as well,” he said. “As these environments get a lot more distributed and complex, you need to be able to have visibility in that end-to-end environment. So, really looking into that, researching and figuring out how all that comes together so that organizations can manage their environments more effectively.”

Another notable show theme was partnerships and ecosystems. By aligning with companies like Nvidia Corp., with its Spectrum-X and BlueField-3 DPUs, and Broadcom Ltd., with the Thor 2 and Tomahawk 5 switches, Dell has created a functional AI ecosystem.

“The deep tech will lead the product,” Furrier said. “I think what they’re doing is incredible work, because the custom silicon that is coming out from the Broadcoms of the world — the Nvidias and AWSes of the world — that’s going to power a lot of stuff, and it’s the nexus of all networking storage.”

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

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Dell Technologies World. Neither Dell Technologies Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE