Multicloud AI strategies are revolutionizing how organizations approach secure, scalable and integrated artificial intelligence solutions across complex technology landscapes. As businesses prioritize seamless connectivity and robust data access, industry leaders at Microsoft Ignite 2024 spotlighted innovative approaches to simplifying AI deployment and enhancing productivity.

Simplifying connectivity has become a critical focus due to the growing need for consistent access to data and applications in multicloud environments, according to theCUBE Research’s Rob Strechay and Bob Laliberte.

TheCUBE Research’s Rob Strechay and Bob Laliberte talk about how the industry’s collective effort at AI simplification enables organizations to innovate with confidence in an interconnected, AI-driven future.

“You’re starting to see a greater awareness that the network is not just basic plumbing,” Laliberte said during an analyst segment at Microsoft Ignite. “It’s required for these highly distributed environments and especially when you’re going to cloud and multicloud environments. That connectivity is going to be critical to ensure that all the data gets to where it needs to go and that people can access the information they need to access.”

Strechay and Laliberte spoke with industry-leading technology and cloud innovators at Microsoft Ignite 2024, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. Discussions explored advancements in AI simplification, strategies enabling teams to independently leverage AI and upskilling initiatives designed to enhance productivity and adoption. (* Disclosure below.)

Here are three key insights you may have missed from theCUBE’s coverage:

1. Multicloud AI strategies drive trust and resilience in hybrid cloud landscapes.

As AI and hybrid cloud infrastructures evolve, multicloud AI strategies remain a top priority for enterprises navigating complex multicloud environments. Dell Technologies Inc. has emphasized zero-trust security measures with its APEX Protection Services for Microsoft Azure, integrating data immutability, encryption and multi-factor authentication to safeguard customer data. These measures offer resilience alongside robust protection, according to Varun Chhabra (pictured), senior vice president of product marketing at Dell.

Aviatrix’s Chris McHenry talks with theCUBE about multicloud security and Aviatrix’s new platform.

“It delivers enterprise-grade protection for customers and their data, but it has a unique focus on resilience,” he told theCUBE during the event. “With APEX Protection Services from Microsoft Azure, what customers get is secure storage. There are multiple layers of zero-trust security built into it, data immutability, encryption, multi-factor authentication and role-based access controls.”

Aviatrix Systems Inc. contributes to multicloud AI strategies by enhancing security measures tailored for AI workflows, according to Chris McHenry, senior vice president of product marketing at Aviatrix. The company provides customers with streamlined operations and robust security for AI applications in multicloud landscapes through integrations with Microsoft Security Copilot and Secure Service Edge.

“Azure is going to be changing the way that applications access the internet,” McHenry said during the event. “Organizations are going to have to make a choice as to how they implement internet access. They call this the default egress change. We think that we have one of the best options out there.”

Here’s theCUBE’s complete video interview with Varun Chhabra:

2. Strategic partnerships fuel hybrid cloud innovation to support AI workloads across diverse industries.

Partnerships between cloud providers and technology leaders are unlocking new possibilities for AI-driven hybrid cloud infrastructures. Nutanix Inc. has partnered with Microsoft Azure to create a hybrid AI infrastructure that enables seamless operation across on-premises and cloud environments. This partnership delivers flexibility for industries such as healthcare and finance by supporting multicloud AI strategies that operate efficiently from edge locations to virtual private data centers, according to Lee Caswell, senior vice president of product and solutions marketing at Nutanix.

Hitachi Vantara’s Rollen Roberson discusses the company’s evolving partnership with Microsoft in the delivery of a hybrid cloud solution.

“Apps are now the competitive currency,” he said during the event. “That’s part of the Nutanix Enterprise AI solution. With that, you get your choice of [large language models] fully certified down to [graphics processing unit]-enabled servers from all of our top partners. Now you can go and run that right across the full hybrid experience from the edge into the virtual private data center and then now connect it into Microsoft Azure.”

Similarly, Hitachi Vantara LLC is advancing its collaboration with Microsoft to deliver an AI-ready platform for hybrid cloud environments, according to Rollen Roberson, vice president of hyperscalers and cloud at Hitachi Vantara. The Hitachi Unified Compute Platform for Azure Stack HCI enhances cloud management capabilities while supporting AI application development in regulated industries. This effort aims to balance on-premises performance with cloud scalability.

“AI is a very customized type of workload that is specific to the business that our customers are in,” Roberson said during the event. “To help with that journey, we’ve teamed up with our sister company, Hitachi Solutions … one of Microsoft’s premier services companies that helps build many of the applications and products you see today on Azure. We’re providing the underlying data fabric, storage capability, compute [and] a lot of the weight that data brings.”

Here’s theCUBE’s complete video interview with Lee Caswell:

3. Innovative technologies and multicloud strategies are redefining scalability and efficiency for enterprise AI.

Emerging technologies, such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence and next-generation networking, are transforming enterprise operations, according to theCUBE’s Strechay and Laliberte. Key innovations, such as hollow-core fiber, are critical in reducing latency and meeting the increasing demands of AI-driven data flows, making them essential for enterprise scalability.

Oracle’s Kambiz Aghili talks with theCUBE about Oracle Cloud Infrastructure’s multicloud strategy.

“Hollow-core fiber essentially enables organizations to carry more capacity over greater distances with a lower latency,” Laliberte said in an analyst segment during the event. “It just seems like this is a technology that everyone is going to be implementing. Microsoft is saying, ‘Hey, this is a great application for it in those backend AI data centers,’ and not only within the data center, but across data centers and being able to stretch that out.”

As enterprises adopt multicloud strategies, smooth integration and operational efficiency have become priorities, according to Kambiz Aghili, vice president of Oracle cloud infrastructure at Oracle Corp. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure addresses these needs by providing cross-cloud redundancy and interoperability, enabling businesses to access Oracle and non-Oracle data states wherever needed.

“Customers want access to Oracle and non-Oracle data states wherever they need them, and right next to one another, they want to be able to build new applications that benefit them,” Aghili told theCUBE during the event. “They want to be able to use relational data, non-relational machine learning graph, text spatial operations right next to one another with the same [structured query language and] REST API as they are used to.”

OCI simplifies AI deployment and supports multicloud AI strategies through integration capabilities, 24/7 availability and comprehensive data governance. Eliminating complexities such as patching and maintenance helps enterprises scale efficiently while ensuring compliance, according to Aghili.

“Customers do not want to deal with patching and maintenance of getting from version to version,” he said. “So, making these online services — from online security to patching — for customers that really need 24/7 availability, when you put that in conjunction with the data governance and the compliance that they really need us to meet on their behalf, making that absolutely a checkbox has been super successful and well-received with the customers today.”

Here’s theCUBE’s complete video interview with Kambiz Aghili:

To watch more of theCUBE’s coverage of the event, here’s our complete event video playlist:

(* Disclosure: Dell Technologies Inc. and Nutanix Inc. sponsored segments of theCUBE’s coverage of Microsoft Ignite 2024. Neither Dell nor Nutanix have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE